UPDATE. 12:43 p.m.: There will be no presidential debate on ABC tonight for DirecTV customers.

“Unfortunately, DirecTV has declined our offer,” a Disney spokesperson just told Deadline bluntly. While talks with DirecTV about a new broadcast deal are ongoing and Disney channels continue to not broadcast the service, the Mouse House proposed granting a three-hour primetime exception for the first debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Nearly 10 days after the dispute began that effectively wiped all 16 of DirecTV’s Disney channels, the satellite cable company said today that it had no interest in a one-time deal for tonight’s historic debate – a decision that was made because DirecTV apparently feared it would confuse its subscribers.

“On Tuesday, Disney requested a one-time exception to allow ABC to re-air tonight as it hosts the 2024 presidential debate, an event that will be widely seen on other major networks and news outlets,” DirectTV wrote online this afternoon. “Unfortunately, re-airing Disney’s ABC stations from across the channel portfolio for a limited 3-hour window will cause confusion for customers who will only see the debate briefly and lose the channel again shortly afterward.”

Or is DirecTV all about football?

In a rather lengthy blog post on Tuesday, the company further explained: “DIRECTV has agreed to return ABC in time for today’s presidential debate if Disney also agrees to return all of its channels across all platforms by the end of the year. at 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, September 17. Returning the Disney-owned channels for the next week while we work on a new agreement would benefit customers, who would then have access to ABC again for the debate and the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 16, as well as their favorite college and professional football games on the ABC and ESPN, ACC or SEC networks.”

DirecTV stresses that its offer to bring back ABC and the 15 other Disney channels for a week “remains on the table.”

By the way – the Emmys are on September 15, not September 16, as DirecTV just wrote in the heat of this fight. While the debate is unavailable on ABC tonight at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, it will be simulcast on CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News, the BBC and C-Span.

BEFORE, 11:43 AM: The first debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will be available to DirecTV customers tonight, despite the broadcast dispute between the company and Disney – provided the satellite cable company accepts the Mouse House’s offer.

“As we announced in May, the ABC News presidential debate will be widely available on television, cable and streaming,” a Disney spokesperson told Deadline this morning, just hours before the candidates meet in Philadelphia.

“While we have not yet reached an agreement, we are providing a three-hour feed of ABC News coverage to all affected DirecTV customers at no charge because we want all Americans to be able to watch today’s debate at this important moment in our history,” the spokesperson added. “We continue to negotiate with DirecTV and restoring our programming to their subscribers is entirely in their hands.”

If all goes according to plan, the three-hour time slot will begin at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT with pre-debate coverage and then the debate proper, moderated by Linsey Davis and David Muir. We’re told there will also be a short post-debate segment airing for DirecTV customers and everyone else across the country.

However, this all depends on DirecTV agreeing to Disney’s temporary, no-lock offer. We’re told the offer has been on the table, so to speak, for hours with no response from the Bill Murrow-led company. Deadline has reached out to DirecTV and will update this post if we hear back.

Over a week after Disney’s dispute with DirecTV and a day after the NFL’s season debut Monday Night Football DirecTV subscribers didn’t see any of it yesterday, but the savvy move by the Bob Iger-led media giant today comes as DirecTV cracked down on Disney on Tuesday. The company, majority owned by AT&T, accused Disney of “blocking the presidential debate” and began using an on-air program to urge viewers to go to “CBS, FOX, NBC, C-SPAN or any of the 24/7 news networks” to watch the Harris-Trump slugfest, which is tied in the polls.

Despite the harsh words of DirecTV CFO Ray Carpenter shortly after the shutdown of the 16 Disney channels on DirecTV, it was a surprise in this dispute that no agreement was reached before the MNF.

With the debate now in the realm of possibility, the next big thing will be the Emmy Awards hosted by ABC on Sept. 15. Although Disney has the most nominations this year, there is currently no streaming plan for DirecTV customers who want to watch the ceremony hosted by Eugene and Dan Levy. In fact, today’s offer of an exemption for the highly anticipated debate could be a stress test for Disney for a similar move for Sunday’s big TV night.

However, if CNN’s plans for the June 27 simulcast debate are any indication, it will be immediately clear to any viewer of the debate, with so much at stake, that it is sponsored by ABC News, no matter what channel you watch it on tonight.

In the Philadelphia Convention Center’s Media Storage Center and Spin Room, the ABC News logo was placed everywhere: on walls, on circular banners, and on backdrops.

The actual debate is taking place several blocks away at the National Constitution Center, cordoned off by a security perimeter that takes up about half of Independence Mall. Although no signs for the debate are visible from outside the fence, some campaign supporters had already gathered in an open area of ​​the mall. One man’s sign read “Kamala loves Hamas.” A woman’s large banner read “Loser” in the Trump campaign font. There was at least one vendor selling exclusively Harris merchandise, including a T-shirt that read “The Prosecutor vs. The Felon.”

No further debates between Vice President Harris and former President Trump have been officially scheduled. However, their respective running mates, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota and Senator JD Vance (R-OH), will face off on October 1 on CBS.