YouTube TV vs. Disney, Day 13: Is It Over? (Prediction; $20 Credits; Dancing With the Stars)
By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Follow me on X.
YouTube TV on Halloween (October 31, 2025) lost all Disney-owned channels, including ESPN, the ABC affiliates and FX, due to a carriage dispute between the companies. Until there is a settlement, The TV Answer Man will post a daily notice here on whether the blackout has been lifted. I will publish the update in the early morning hours so when you wake up, you can check whether the two sides have settled. I encourage you to bookmark the site for easier reference.
So, it’s day 13 of the dispute. Wednesday at 4:10 a.m. ET. Is the blackout over? Nope, not yet. Let’s go to the updates:
Morgan Stanley: One of the 7 Deadly Sins Will End the Blackout This Week
Since yesterday was Veterans Day, the two fighters stayed in their corners for the most part. Consequently, we have fewer items to share today than in our usual ‘Is It Over’ updates. But we do have news from the financial firm, Morgan Stanley, that Disney is losing $4.3 million every day of the dispute; the losses come from the company no longer receiving carriage fees from YouTube TV. For a company Disney’s size, $4.3 million is basically the pocket change you would find pillaging about your sofa. However, if the carriage scrap goes for, let’s say, ‘an extended period of time,’ even Disney would start to feel the impact. Ergo, Morgan Stanley says it thinks the blackout will end this week. With both sides draining dollars (and YouTube TV losing subscribers), wiser heads will finally prevail, the firm concludes. Greed, arguably the most motivating of the Seven Deadly Sins, at least in corporate headquarters, will stay undefeated. To learn more, see this Variety story here.
Get Mad as Hell And Don’t Take It Anymore!
As usual, the lowly consumer is caught in the middle in this clash of financial titans, Disney and Google (owner of YouTube TV). The latter did offer a few breadcrumbs this week with its flawed offer of a $20 credit for your troubles. But I’m here to tell every YouTube TV subscriber that you shouldn’t accept this – no, not not (sorry for the double not) accept the credit, but the size of the credit. You lost the entire suite of Disney channels, including ESPN and ABC, and all Google can do is to offer you a double sawbuck that won’t even show up until your next bill?! I urge you to contact YouTube TV and ask for more, at least the amount ($29.99) required to get a full month of ESPN’s new Unlimited app. Why should Google decide what your suffering is worth? If it wants to keep you as a customer, it needs to show it. YOU have the power. To learn more, see my article here.
Dancing With the Stars Blackout Has Fans Hopping Mad
Much ink is devoted to the blackout of Disney’s live sporting events on YouTube TV. But viewers who enjoy other fare such as Disney’s children’s shows and ABC’s high-stepping competition program, Dancing With the Stars, are being inconvenienced as well. A new episode of DWTS aired last night and the show’s YouTube TV followers took to social media to vent:
That’s it for now. Come back later today for more updates on the YouTube TV-Disney fight. And definitely come back early tomorrow morning for our new ‘Is It Over’ column, assuming the two sides haven’t settled by then.
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