The complaint sought class action certification and a jury trial. Instead, the parties reached a settlement agreement in March (PDF). 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.
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.
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. 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.
Disney didn’t respond to Ars Technica’s request for comment in time for publication.
