It’s now been two weeks since YouTube TV customers have been able to watch any of Disney’s streaming channels, including ABC, ESPN and the ACC and SEC networks. Disney’s portfolio of channels was removed from YouTube TV on Oct. 30, and there’s no indication when the outage will end, despite the potentially devastating losses both companies are suffering.
On Thursday, Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger said his company is “working tirelessly” to close a deal with YouTube “on a timely basis” to restore its channels to the platform.
“We’re not trying to really break any new ground,” he said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. “It’s also imperative that we make sure that we agree to a deal that reflects the value that we deliver.”
The disagreement causing the ABC and ESPN outage stems from the “carriage fee” that YouTube TV pays Disney to broadcast its channels. Disney has faced similar negotiating standoffs with other broadcasters in recent years, including an earlier 2021 outage on YouTube TV that was resolved in two days.
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Disney says YouTube TV isn’t paying enough to stream its channels. YouTube TV, owned by Google, has the most subscribers among all internet TV providers, with over 9 million. Hulu, owned by Disney, is second with 4.3 million subscribers through its Hulu + Live TV offering.
“The deal that we have proposed is equal to or better than what other large distributors have already agreed to,” Iger said Thursday.
While the two sides wrangle over the fees, they risk further losses. Nearly a quarter of YouTube TV subscribers (24%) have canceled or intend to cancel their subscription because the service “no longer delivers the core content they signed up for,” according to a survey cited by Variety.
Disney, meanwhile, is losing an estimated $30 million in revenue per week while its channels are unavailable on YouTube TV, according to a Morgan Stanley research note cited by Variety. That’s a significant chunk of change because each week Disney’s networks are dark on YouTube TV, Disney’s adjusted earnings per share drop by 2 cents, analysts say.
When will ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels return to YouTube TV?
Disney is no stranger to carriage fees feuds, and as with previous disputes, negotiations are under wraps, and how long it will continue is anyone’s guess. Disney’s contract conflict with Sling TV in 2022 lasted just two days, while the one with Spectrum/Charter in 2023 wasn’t resolved for 10 days.
Disney’s contract conflicts from previous years were mostly resolved in a week or two, but Google has considerably more bargaining power than those other platforms.
Thursday marked 14 days that Disney’s channels had been blacked out on YouTube TV — a day longer than the Disney outage on DirectTV last year. How much longer this outage will continue is unknown, but the Morgan Stanley analysts who pegged Disney’s weekly losses at $30 million sounded an optimistic note in predicting that the outage will be resolved later this week.
When a deal is reached between Disney and YouTube, the missing channels will return “in a matter of hours,” according to Variety.
What are Disney and YouTube TV saying about the dispute?
On Oct. 30, YouTube TV posted on X, “Members, when we renew our contracts with network partners, we advocate for fair pricing to offer you the best TV experience.”
“Google’s YouTube TV has chosen to deny its subscribers the content they value most by refusing to pay fair rates for our channels, including ESPN and ABC,” Disney said in a statement to CNBC.
In a memo to employees on Oct. 31 that was also reported by CNBC, Disney accused YouTube TV of deleting “previously recorded shows and events from their subscribers’ libraries.”
“YouTube TV and its owner, Google, are not interested in achieving a fair deal with us,” Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in the memo. “Instead, they want to use their power and extraordinary resources to eliminate competition and devalue the very content that helped them build their service.”
Disney is also asking its viewers to ask YouTube TV to bring back its broadcasting via the keepmynetworks.com site.
Which Disney channels were removed from YouTube TV?
Sports fans aren’t the only viewers left sidelined by the loss of Disney channels from YouTube TV. Here are all the channels that have been removed from the streaming service:
- ABC
- ABC News Live
- ACC Network
- Baby TV Español (Spanish Plan)
- Disney Channel
- Disney Junior
- Disney XD
- ESPN
- ESPN Deportes (Spanish Plan)
- ESPNews
- ESPNU
- ESPN2
- Freeform
- FX
- FXM
- FXX
- Localish
- Nat Geo
- Nat Geo Mundo (Spanish Plan)
- Nat Geo Wild
- SEC Network
How can YouTube TV subscribers watch football games during the Disney outage?
YouTube TV subscribers with an aerial TV antenna can still watch Monday Night Football and college football games on ABC if they live close enough to receive an over-the-air broadcast signal from a local ABC affiliate.
Other than that, the only real option for viewers who want to watch all of the college football and basketball games this weekend and Monday Night Football at home is to subscribe to another service that provides ABC and ESPN, including ESPN+, Sling TV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo or DirecTV Stream.
Sling TV offers a $5 Day Pass that could be a good option for viewers who want to watch one specific game, as well as a $10 Weekend Pass that would give you college football and basketball games for both days.
For those looking to find football games at local establishments, this handy app can help you find places that are showing the games.
A $20 credit for YouTube TV subscribers?
CNET received its own email from YouTube TV about claiming the $20 billing credit.
YouTube TV had promised subscribers a $20 credit for the streaming service if the Disney channels outage continued for an extended period, and on Sunday, the streaming service announced the details of that credit.
Some YouTube subscribers will receive the $20 credit automatically, and others will need to claim it online. According to a YouTube spokesperson, subscribers who pay with Google Play billing or through their mobile service should receive the $20 credit automatically.
If you need to claim the $20 credit, you should receive an email from YouTube TV this week. After you’ve received your email, follow these steps:
- Log in to YouTube.com with a web browser
- Click or tap on your profile picture
- Click or tap Settings.
- You can also directly browse to the URL at https://tv.youtube.com/settings/service_updates.
- At the bottom of the menu on the left, select Updates.
- On the following screen, which explains the Disney channels outage, click or tap the blue button marked Claim Credit.
Emails from YouTube TV started going out Sunday night and several Reddit posters have already reported receiving the $20 credit. All of the credits for YouTube TV subscribers should be issued by Wednesday, Nov. 12, according to Variety.
The $20 credit will be applied to your next billing cycle.
We asked YouTube if additional billing credits would be offered to subscribers if the outage continues. A spokesperson replied, “This is a situation that is evolving, and we will let subscribers know of future additional credit offers. Our main priority is to reach an agreement that restores Disney’s content to YouTube TV.”
Correction, Nov. 5: An earlier version of this story failed to note that Sling TV day and weekend passes can be used to watch local ABC affiliates only in certain markets.
