Disney agreed to $50M settlement over claims it made live-TV streaming expensive
Disney agreed to $50M settlement over claims it made live-TV streaming expensive
迪士尼同意支付 5000 万美元和解金，以回应关于其推高直播电视流媒体价格的指控
The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay $50 million to subscribers of YouTube TV and DirecTV’s live TV streaming services to settle a lawsuit that claimed that Disney forced these services to raise their prices. 华特迪士尼公司已同意向 YouTube TV 和 DirecTV 直播电视流媒体服务的订阅用户支付 5000 万美元，以和解一场指控迪士尼强迫这些服务商提高价格的诉讼。
In November 2022, four YouTube TV subscribers filed a class action complaint against Disney in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. They accused Disney of entering “anticompetitive agreements with YouTube TV” and other companies that provide access to broadcast channels via the Internet. 2022 年 11 月，四名 YouTube TV 订阅用户在美国加利福尼亚北区联邦地区法院对迪士尼提起了集体诉讼。他们指控迪士尼与 YouTube TV 及其他通过互联网提供广播频道接入服务的公司达成了“反竞争协议”。
The complaint argued that Disney forced over-the-top (OTT) live TV services to cost more by requiring distributors to include ESPN, which Disney owns, with their base packages. Additionally, by raising prices for ESPN and for Hulu + Live TV (Disney’s own OTT live TV service that includes ESPN), Disney drove up prices across the industry, the complaint argued. 诉状称，迪士尼通过要求分销商在其基础套餐中捆绑其旗下的 ESPN 频道，迫使 OTT 直播电视服务的成本上升。此外，诉状还指出，通过提高 ESPN 和 Hulu + Live TV（迪士尼自有的包含 ESPN 的 OTT 直播电视服务）的价格，迪士尼推高了整个行业的价格。
The filing claimed that Disney had “pricing power over the entire” streaming live pay TV (SLPTV) market for two main reasons: … these carriage agreement mandates—which now cover all of Disney’s leading competitors in the SLPTV Market—allow Disney to use ESPN and Hulu to set a price floor in the SLPTV Market and to inflate prices marketwide by raising the prices of its own products. And this is exactly what Disney has done in the past three years, since it took operational control of Hulu. 该文件声称，迪士尼在流媒体直播付费电视（SLPTV）市场上拥有“定价权”，主要原因有二：……这些传输协议强制要求（目前已覆盖 SLPTV 市场中迪士尼的所有主要竞争对手）使迪士尼能够利用 ESPN 和 Hulu 在 SLPTV 市场设定价格底线，并通过提高自身产品的价格来推高整个市场的价格。而这正是迪士尼在过去三年中，即自其接管 Hulu 运营权以来所做的事情。
The complaint pointed out that YouTube TV’s base package increased from $35 to $65 after adding Disney-owned channels. It also noted that during YouTube TV and Disney’s 2021 carrier dispute, YouTube TV said that its base plan would be $15 cheaper without Disney-owned channels. 诉状指出，在加入迪士尼旗下频道后，YouTube TV 的基础套餐价格从 35 美元涨至 65 美元。诉状还提到，在 2021 年 YouTube TV 与迪士尼的传输协议纠纷期间，YouTube TV 曾表示，如果没有迪士尼旗下的频道，其基础套餐价格可以便宜 15 美元。
The complaint sought class action certification and a jury trial. Instead, the parties reached a settlement agreement in March. The court preliminarily approved the agreement later that month. A final approval hearing is scheduled for January 14, as first reported this week by local Alabama news outlet AL.com. 诉状寻求集体诉讼认证并要求进行陪审团审判。然而，双方最终在 3 月份达成了一项和解协议。法院于当月晚些时候初步批准了该协议。据阿拉巴马州当地新闻媒体 AL.com 本周早些时候报道，最终批准听证会定于 1 月 14 日举行。
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Disney agreed to pay a settlement amount of $50 million. Customers eligible to receive part of the settlement purchased a YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, DirecTV Now, and/or AT&T TV Now subscription between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2026. 根据和解协议条款，迪士尼同意支付 5000 万美元的和解金。有资格获得部分和解金的客户需在 2019 年 4 月 1 日至 2026 年 3 月 31 日期间订阅过 YouTube TV、DirecTV Stream、DirecTV Now 和/或 AT&T TV Now 服务。
Disney admits no wrongdoing under the agreement. It also agreed to “consider” offering distributors that it’s negotiating with the option to offer their subscribers fewer Disney-owned channels, including ESPN, for three years after the final approval of the settlement. Still, per the agreement’s language, Disney doesn’t seem required to provide more affordable or skinnier bundles of its channels. 迪士尼在协议中并未承认任何不当行为。该公司还同意在和解协议最终批准后的三年内，“考虑”为其谈判的分销商提供选项，允许其向订阅用户提供更少数量的迪士尼旗下频道（包括 ESPN）。不过，根据协议措辞，迪士尼似乎并不被要求提供更实惠或更精简的频道套餐。
Also, Disney can easily afford the $50 million settlement amount, considering it made $4.6 billion in total segment operating income in its most recent fiscal quarter. Still, for affected streaming users who feel slighted by Disney’s practices, the settlement agreement may provide some feeling of justice. 此外，考虑到迪士尼在最近一个财季的总部门营业收入高达 46 亿美元，这 5000 万美元的和解金对其而言负担并不重。尽管如此，对于那些因迪士尼的做法而感到受损的流媒体用户来说，这份和解协议或许能带来些许正义感。