Entertainment
Yes, Streaming Services Are Conspiring Against You
By Jennifer Asencio
| Published
Disney has endured in charming memory for decades, but all that shines isn’t always King Brian’s gold. The company has been in the news in recent weeks, and for none of the right reasons. There was the recent shakeup in leadership in addition to being sued by their head of games for discrimination. When you add in the negative press by Snow White star Rachel Zeigler, they have been weighed down more heavily than the chains of Jacob Marley. On March 5th, 2026, Disney reached a tentative settlement with the courts and regulators on its anti-trust actions.
Replacing Cable By Becoming Cable
After acquiring Hulu and ESPN, Disney began to enforce strict policy terms. Companies like YouTube TV and DIRECTV stream were required to offer more expensive packages for ESPN if they wanted other Disney products, forcing up the cost of streaming services. Leveraging the sports network’s popularity, the Magic Kingdom refused to offer lower-cost packages that didn’t include ESPN, so anyone who wanted Disney content was forced to buy the more expensive sports package. The class action lawsuit, which was filed initially back in 2023, has finally concluded in a settlement in which Disney avoided further litigation by settling rather than admitting fault.
The $50-million-dollar settlement will affect anywhere between 11 and 17 million people. With the higher price floor and contract terms, those companies had to pass the cost on to their customers. Disney has also agreed to immediate relief by giving companies the option to offer fewer or even no Disney-owned networks, like ESPN, in the packages that previously had them.
As more streaming services come up and more silos are created, content becomes even harder for people to reach. The streaming giants that once started to counter the stranglehold that traditional cable companies operated have now taken their place. The public is burdened with higher costs, too many options, and limited content over who has what and for how long. In the future hopefully, this lawsuit will demonstrate to those entertainment giants that they will be held accountable for their actions.
What the next phase in entertainment will be is still being decided. Will people ditch streaming like they ditched the dish, the box, and the cord? If more anti-trust suits like this one turn up while streaming services gobble up every bit of content they can, it may be inevitable.