YouTube TV Subs: Don’t Like the $20 Credit? Then Do This Instead! (YOU Have the Power!)

By Phillip Swann
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TV Answer Man, I can’t understand what Google is thinking with this $20 credit that you have to apply for. Can’t they have some mercy on us and just apply it to our bill? Don’t they care?! Plus, $20? What a measly gesture! We should get more money for not having ESPN this long!!! – Johnnie, North Beach, Maryland.

Johnnie, I feel your pain. The now 12-day long blackout of the Disney channels, including ESPN and ABC, has triggered some serious anger in the YouTube TV audience. But people are not only mad about losing the channels, they are also irate that the Google-owned YouTube TV is offering a mere $20 credit. And they are livid that the streamer is requiring you to go into your account and officially request the credit.

YouTube TV could have just applied the credit to your next bill, but chose instead this method, presumably to save money because some subscribers will forget to go into their Settings and ask for the credit. In those cases, YouTube TV won’t have to pay up. And, if enough people forget to ask for the credit, Google could save scores of millions of dollars. (DIRECTV handed its credit distribution the same way during its carriage blackouts in 2022, 2023 and 2024.)

Many subscribers, such as Johnnie, have complained that the $20 credit is insufficient to cover the damage of losing the Disney channels. YouTube TV sports fans have now lost two weekends of college football action and two editions of Monday Night Football. If there’s one thing you don’t mess with in America, it’s someone’s ability to watch a football game.

So, if you don’t think the $20 credit is enough, I have some advice for you. Contact YouTube TV and ask for more.

If it were me, I would ask for $29.99 which would cover one month of ESPN’s Unlimited app. Then, even if the blackout goes another month, you wouldn’t miss any of the college and NFL games on ABC and ESPN. And you wouldn’t have to pay another dime. (The $29.99 is just $10 more than the official credit amount so it seems fair and reasonable to me.)

You might say that YouTube TV will not approve a larger credit if you contact them. But listen to me: Before the 2025 NFL season began, I told people to contact the streamer and ask for a discounted rate for the Sunday Ticket. Several readers contacted me after trying this to tell me that it worked. A few also said it didn’t work so there’s no guarantees. But it’s worth a shot. YouTube TV now is worried about losing more subscribers and will likely be receptive to making a few deals to keep more folks from cancelling.

Bottom line: Just don’t take it. Fight back!

If you think this makes sense, click here to see the YouTube TV Help page. This is a good place to start in contacting the streaming service.

Johnnie, I hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!

And if any YouTube TV subscribers have success contacting the streamer and getting a bigger credit, let me know.

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