ESPN Sues Verizon Over Skinny Bundles that Do Not Include ESPN

ESPN obviously sees the Verizon skinny bundle as a bigger threat than DirecTV’s skinny bundle. Verizon excludes ESPN from the base tier, relegating ESPN to an optional sports tier.

DirecTV does something similar, albeit on a smaller scale, by allowing consumers to purchase a basic tier without ESPN, though most of the packages do seem to include ESPN.

So Verizon’s approach likely is going to affect more consumers. Verizon has been sued, and DirecTV has not been sued.