Ahead of big sports weekend, dispute with Disney leaves millions of cable subscribers in the dark

A dispute between Disney and Charter Communications has left nearly 15 million Spectrum TV cable television subscribers without some of their favorite networks. Sports fans are feeling it most acutely: The ESPN networks are off the air for the start of the college football season and during the U.S. Open tennis tournament. The cable company said Friday that a short-term extension to restore the network was rejected. These disputes are not uncommon but typically involve how much money a cable system must pay to carry certain networks. Charter says it needs more flexibility in what customers are offered at a time so many people are cutting the cable TV cord.