YouTube TV vs. Disney, Day 11: Is It Over, Part 2 (Monday Night Football Edition)
By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Follow me on X.
As of 3:30 p.m ET today, the YouTube TV-Disney carriage fight is still on, meaning that tonight’s Monday Night Football clash between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers will be blacked on the nation’s largest live streaming service.
The TV Answer Man normally publishes the Disney-YouTube TV ‘Is It Over’ update in the early morning hours. But there have been some interesting developments related to tonight’s game so let’s do a part two here. At the end of the three new items, I will repost today’s part one stories.
Disney Chief to Guest Tonight On ESPN’s ManningCast
Talk about going into the Lions’ den, or to be more accurate, the Eagles-Packers den, Disney CEO Robert Iger will be a guest tonight on ManningCast, ESPN’s alternative Monday Night Football broadcast featuring NFL QB legends, Peyton Manning and his brother, Eli. Omaha Productions, which announced the Iger appearance earlier today, did not say why the Disney honcho will appear. But he presumably will comment on the YouTube TV blackout, assuming it isn’t settled by kickoff at 8:15 p.m. ET tonight. While there, maybe he can also order Peyton and Eli to tell everyone to go to that Disney web site where you can learn how to order a streaming alternative to YouTube TV.
You Can Watch Monday Night Football With a Paper Clip?
The Wall Street Journal on Saturday published an article on how sports fans are getting creative in finding ways to watch Disney’s live sports without YouTube TV. The examples included one Steven Neely who last week discovered he could get a signal from his local ABC affiliate by inserting a paper clip in his TV’s coaxial port. The TV Answer Man says, yes, it can work, but you might want to go with a real antenna first. I’m not fond of putting the sharp end of galvanized steel wire into an electric socket. I know, call me crazy. To read the WSJ story, click here.
Fubo & DIRECTV Still Offering Free Trials
If you don’t have a paper clip, or antenna, live streamers Fubo and DIRECTV are still offering free trials to their services, both of which include the entire Disney lineup. This will enable you to watch tonight’s game without the need of a MacGyver.
YouTube TV Adds Insult to Injury With $20 Credit
YouTube TV announced today that it will begin providing $20 credits to subscribers. You might think this would (somewhat) ease the frustration of customers who have been clamoring for financial relief during the blackout. However, in yesterday’s customer e-mail, YouTube TV said the credit would not be automatically applied to your bill; the streamer will send yet another e-mail with instructions on how to redeem the credit, which will likely be going through a series of steps in your Settings in your online account. In other words, you’re going to have to work for it. The news did not sit well with many YTTV subs who took to social media to complain.
YouTube TV & DIRECTV: Great Minds Think Alike!
If you’re wondering where YouTube TV got the idea for forcing customers to work for their credit, DIRECTVused the same method for distributing credits during its carriage blackouts in 2022, 2023 and 2024 (that last one was with Disney). And why would the idea appeal to YouTube TV, you ask? By not applying the credit directly to the bill, there’s a likelihood that many subscribers will either not see the e-mail with the redemption instructions or just decide not to redeem because of the hassle. Either way, YouTube TV saves money compared to automatically taking $20 off every one’s bill; in fact, the savings could be in the scores of millions. Great minds think alike, huh?
Why Monday Night Football Might Not Force a Settlement Today
The National Football League is arguably the most powerful force in the TV industry. So tonight’s juicy Monday Night Football matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers on ESPN and ABC would normally increase the pressure on both sides to settle before fans start heading for the pitchforks and torches. However, with YouTube TV issuing the $20 credit, the streamer might be inclined to let this thing continue for a while longer. With every day, YouTube TV saves money in Disney carriage fees ($5 million a day), which then can be used to help pay the credits. Plus, subscribers are less likely to cancel now – at least, until they get their credit. (Assuming they figure out how to get it.) So YouTube TV has a greater incentive now to hold out for the deal it really wants. Of course, this could prompt Disney to modify its demands, which could persuade YouTube TV to say yes. But I’m not hopeful for a Monday settlement.
And Speaking of Snow…
Once upon a time, using a TV antenna to watch your local channels meant dealing with ‘snow’ – electric static that caused the picture to break up. But with the digital TV transition in 2008, the antenna picture is a bit more reliable today although not every one can receive a strong signal for each local channel. I’m telling you this to remind you that Monday Night Football will be available on ABC tonight; so if you have YouTube TV, you might want to dust off that old antenna.
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I’ve been watching over the air sports every weekend since 2020, when I dropped cable. My $17 indoor antenna has saved me hundreds in cable fees.