Disney Execs Dampen Enthusiasm For YouTube TV Deal

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Buy Me a Coffee!

After reports yesterday that Disney and YouTube TV may be enroute to working out a solution to their two-week carriage dispute, top Disney executives this morning swiftly crushed any positive vibe the streamer’s subscribers may have felt.

The parade of negative Nellys began today soon after Disney issued its new quarterly financial report. Company CFO Hugh Johnston told CNBC that Disney was prepared for a lengthy fight, adding “that these discussions could go for a little while…we’re ready to go as long as they (YouTube TV) wants to.”

Disney CEO Robert Iger, last seen in Green Bay discussing the Eagles ‘Tush Push’ on ESPN’s Manningcast Monday Night Football show, chimed in with a similar non-committal forecast during the company’s investors call.

“And while we’ve been working tirelessly to close this deal and restore our channels to the platform, it’s also imperative that we make sure that we agree to a deal that reflects the value that we deliver, which both YouTube, by the way, and (Google) Alphabet, have told us is greater than the value of any other provider,” Iger said. “So we’re not trying to break new ground. The offer that’s on the table is commensurate with deals that we’ve already struck with, actually, distributors that are larger than they are. We’re trying really hard, as I said, working tirelessly, to close this deal, and we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to do so on a timely enough basis to at least give consumers the opportunity to access our content over their platform.”

Neither Johnston and Iger spoke of any potential ‘momentum’ for a deal, as described in Andrew Marchand’s The Athletic story published yesterday. For YouTube TV subscribers who heard of or read The Athletic story, waking up to the less-than-glowing reports from Iger and Johnston was probably enough to send them back to bed.

However, it should be noted that it’s possible, maybe even likely, that the Disney executives were purposely trying to downplay any progress in the negotiations to maintain their leverage with YouTube TV. If they said something like, ‘we’re close,’ it would have set an expectation for an imminent deal, which would in turn increase the public pressure on Disney to produce one. Until there’s actually signatures on a contract, it’s wise for both sides to appear cautious in public.

Bottom Line: Marchand’s report, the contents of which were later largely echoed by other top journalists, is undoubtedly on the money. But don’t forget that The Athletic story emphasized that the two sides were still stumbling on the issue of how YouTube TV should pay for the non-sports channels owned by Disney. Marchand said there could be momentum for a settlement, but he did not say it was close, or anything close to that.

The TV Answer Man will continue to monitor this situation and report back here if anything significant changes.

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