‘Monday Night Football’ Ratings Shrink With Loss of DirecTV

(Bloomberg) — Walt Disney Co.’s fight with the DirecTV pay-television service is costing the companies.

Disney’s Monday Night Football broadcast on ABC and ESPN attracted a US TV audience of 20.5 million viewers in its season debut, the company said Tuesday, a drop of 9.7% from last year that reflects the blackout of DirecTV’s 11 million or so customers.