The feud between YouTube TV and Disney keeps getting worse. Both companies failed to reach a negotiation by October 30, leading to 20 network channels going offline on YouTube TV. Now, Disney wanted YouTube TV to temporarily restore ABC for a day in the public interest to allow subscribers to watch Election Day coverage. YouTube, however, rejected the request and shared the email publicly sent to Disney’s executives.
In its email, YouTube TV says restoring ABC on its cable streaming service for only a day will only create more confusion among viewers as they would “lose it again shortly after.”
Instead, YouTube points viewers to plenty of other options to tune into for election news. This includes “other broadcast stations and news networks on YouTube TV, as well as on the main YouTube service.” And for that added burn, the email even notes that during the last two US election days, most YouTube TV viewers decided not to watch ABC.
The email further notes that Disney can always live-stream election coverage on the ABC News YouTube page — all for free and without restrictions.
YouTube proposed a better solution to Disney for the benefit of their mutual customers: restore the ABC and ESPN network channels on YouTube TV. These are the channels its subscribers actually watch, while negotiations continue in the background.
If Disney executives agree with the proposal and give the necessary approval, YouTube says it can restore these channels on its service in a few hours. It ends the email by saying, “More importantly, let’s get a fair deal done so we can get back to providing our mutual customers with the content they want.”
That hasn’t happened yet — a clear sign that Disney’s executives aren’t agreeing to YouTube’s proposed terms.
YouTube TV and Disney’s dispute could drag on for a while
YouTube has taken the public route with its negotiations with Disney to put further pressure on the company. So far, though, that approach hasn’t worked, and it seems the two sides are still far from reaching common ground.
If the negotiations continue for a while, expect YouTube to give you a $20 monthly credit to make up for the missing Disney channels.
