Sept 14 (Reuters) - Walt Disney ( DIS ) and DirecTV

announced they have reached an agreement in principle on

Saturday, restoring college football and other programming to

the satellite TV provider's more than 11 million subscribers.

The deal affords satellite TV subscribers greater choice and

flexibility, the companies said in a joint statement. DirecTV

customers had lost access to ABC, ESPN ( DIS ) and other Disney ( DIS )-owned

networks on Sept. 1, after the two sides reached an impasse in

renewal talks.

DirecTV will be able to offer multiple genre-specific

programming packages, including those focused on sports,

entertainment, kids and family programming. The satellite TV

provider sought to change its offerings to better address

consumer tastes in the streaming TV era.

Disney's ( DIS ) streaming services, Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, will

also be included in certain DirecTV's packages. The satellite TV

provider also has the rights to distribute the streaming version

of its flagship ESPN ( DIS ) network, when it launches.

The entertainment giant gained improved economic terms

under the new agreement, according to two sources familiar with

the deal.

"DirecTV and Disney ( DIS ) have a long-standing history of

connecting consumers to the best entertainment, and this

agreement furthers that commitment by recognizing both the

tremendous value of Disney's ( DIS ) content and the evolving

preferences of DIRECTV's customers," the companies said in a

statement.

The dispute resulted in DirecTV subscribers losing access to

coveted programming, including ESPN's ( DIS ) carriage of college

football games and the U.S. Open tennis tournament. DirecTV

subscribers also were unable to watch the ABC News-hosted U.S.

presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and

Republican candidate Donald Trump on the ABC broadcast network.

Vince Torres, DirecTV's chief marketing officer, said the

programming blackout was costing the satellite TV service

subscribers, in remarks Thursday at the Goldman Sachs

Communacopia + Technology Conference in San Francisco.

Disney ( DIS ) and DirecTV came to an agreement ahead of Sunday's

broadcast of the Emmy Awards on ABC, in which the media giant

appears poised for historic gains, on the strength of three of

the most-nominated series of the year, "Shogun," "The Bear" and

"Only Murders in the Building."

Distributors like DirecTV and programmers such as Disney ( DIS )

have bickered for decades over rates as the cost of television

packages have soared.

What has helped prop up the TV industry is the

decades-old

practice of "bundling,"

or requiring pay TV distributors to pay for and carry

less-viewed networks, such as Freeform, to gain access to the

prized programming of ESPN ( DIS ). Contractual terms also specify how

broadly a distributor makes this content available to its

subscribers.

Sports have historically provided a bulwark against the

decline of the pay TV industry, continuing to attract viewers

even as cable and satellite TV distributors shed subscribers.

But as viewers migrate to streaming, sports has

followed. Marquee events, such as the just-ended Olympics, have

moved to streaming, along with professional sporting contests

from the National Football League and the National Basketball

Association.

Venu Sports

, a planned sports streaming service that brings together

programming from joint-venture partners Disney ( DIS ), Warner Bros

Discovery ( WBD ) and Fox, threatens to further

accelerate the decline of pay TV.

Venu's launch has been delayed

, pending the outcome of an antitrust trial.

DirecTV has said it wants the opportunity to offer its

subscribers genre-based programming packages, tailored to their

viewing tastes, in the mold of Venu, without forcing customers

to pay for a fat bundle of TV channels they don't watch.

"That's a genre offering that we believe is good for

consumers, that we want to offer consumers," said Torres.