(WWJ) - Michiganders tuning into the first big football game of the season on Thursday evening weren't in good spirits when they put on ESPN and saw nothing, but a black screen.
ESPN, which is part of a number of Disney Entertainment channels, went off the air on Aug. 31 due to a carriage dispute with Charter Spectrum, the nation's second-largest cable TV provider.
In addition to ESPN, the Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, FX, FXX, Nat Geo, local Disney-owned ABC stations and more all went dark at the same time.
WWJ's Jeremy Jenkins said he first believed something was wrong with his TV or cable box when he saw the black screen, but about 10 minutes later, a message from Spectrum flashed on the TV.
"The Walt Disney Company, the owner of this channel, has removed their programming from Spectrum which creates a hardship for our customers," the message read. "We apologize for the inconvenience and are continuing to negotiate in good faith in order to reach a fair agreement."
Spectrum officials said their company offered Disney a "fair deal," but Disney is "demanding an excessive increase."
'They also want to limit our ability to provide greater customer service choice in programming packages, forcing you o take and pay for channels you may not want. We are very disappointed with their position, which has negatively impacted our customers."
Spectrum went on to say that they will continue to fight to keep costs down, as well as protect the customer's right to choice on their platform.
It wasn't immediately clear if Spectrum was open to possible future negotiations with Disney.
"The rising cost of programming is the single greatest factor in higher cable TV prices, and we are fighting hard to hold the line on programming rates imposed on us by companies like Disney," the cable company wrote.
"We understand this is an inconvenience and hope to return this programming soon. We appreciate your loyalty and look forward to continuing to serve you," Spectrum added.
At the same time the football game went dark, ESPN2 -- which was showing the U.S. Open tennis tournament -- also went off the air for Charter Spectrum's 14.7 million subscribers.
There's no indication when the dispute will be settled.