YouTube TV Loses Disney, ESPN, ABC In Carriage Dispute

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Follow me on X.

YouTube TV this morning is without the entire suite of Disney channels, including ESPN and the ABC affiliates, due to a carriage dispute between the companies.

The old carriage pact expired at 11:59 p.m. ET and YouTube TV alerted its subscribers last night that the Disney channels would be removed. The streamer said that if the blackout is ‘extended,’ it would provide a $20 subscriber credit.

“Last week Disney used the threat of a blackout on YouTube TV as a negotiating tactic to force deal terms that would raise prices on our customers,” YouTube TV said in a blog post at its site. “They’re now following through on that threat, suspending their content on YouTube TV. This decision directly harms our subscribers while benefiting their own live TV products, including Hulu + Live TV and Fubo. We know this is a frustrating and disappointing outcome for our subscribers and we continue to urge Disney to work with us constructively to reach a fair agreement that restores their networks to YouTube TV. If their content remains off YouTube TV for an extended period of time, we’ll offer subscribers a $20 credit.”

Disney charged that YouTube TV, which is owned by Google, is trying to use its growing subscriber base to force the programmer to offer a discounted rate. YouTube TV now has roughly 10 million subscribers, nearly double that of its nearest live streaming competitor, the newly formed Hulu Live/Fubo company.

“With a $3 trillion market cap, Google is using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor,” Disney said in a statement.

The two sides are battling over how much YouTube TV should pay to carry the Disney channels as well as other issues including whether the streamer’s subscribers should get free and full access to the new ESPN Unlimited app.

The Disney channels that have been blacked out on YouTube TV include:

• ABC
• ESPN
• ESPN2
• Freeform
• FX
• FXX
• Disney Junior
• SEC Network
• Nat Geo
• Nat Geo Wild

• Disney Channel
• ESPNU
• FXM
• ABC News Live
• ACC Network
• Disney XD
• Localish
• ESPNews
• ESPN Deportes (Spanish Plan)
• Baby TV Español (Spanish Plan)
• Nat Geo Mundo (Spanish Plan)

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