Disney Might Pull Its Channels From YouTube TV

Update from 10/31/2025 at 14:00:

Disney and YouTube have reached an October 31 deadline with no end in sight to negotiations. Thus, more than 20+ Disney-owned channels have been removed from YouTube TV. To find out more, read here.

Nothing says Halloween like a spooky countdown. Subscribers right now YouTube TVThe company's live TV service is waiting to find out if it will still have access to Disney-operated channels, including ABC and ESPN, on Oct. 31. This is the latest conflict in the ongoing royalty disputes between Google and various content providers, but even if Disney takes the ball and goes home, you won't be left completely without options.

When might Disney channels go dark on YouTube TV?

According to DiversityIf Disney and Google can't reach an agreement by the end of Thursday, all Disney channels will disappear from YouTube TV on October 30 at midnight ET. These include Disney Channel, ESPN, ABC News, Disney Jr., FX, FXX, FRXM, NatGeo, Freefrom, and even local ABC stations.

This isn't the first time YouTube has encountered something like this. Last February Paramount made a similar threat before eventually reaching an agreement that there would be no disruption to customers' access to its channels. Since then, YouTube has had similar conflicts with Fox Company, NBC UniversalAnd Univisionand only the Spanish-language network failed to reach an agreement before its channels went dark.

It's all about licensing fees

Everything that happens here comes down to license fees. To offer channels like the cable providers it is trying to replace, YouTube TV must continually pay content providers a commission, and sometimes those providers offer higher commissions. This puts YouTube in a difficult position as it tries to balance between paying a fair price to its partners and avoiding raising prices for its subscribers.

Disney told Variety that “[t]This is the latest example of Google using the “at the expense of its customers” stance, implying that Google risked taking away channels its customers paid for by refusing to compensate Disney “fair rates.” Google, in turn, asserts that agreeing to Disney's “costly economic terms” would force the company to “raise prices on YouTube TV” and would also leave the service at a disadvantage compared to Disney's own Live TV offering, Hulu + Live.

What happens if no deal is reached

Personally, I wouldn't take either company's announcement too seriously, at least based on previous conflicts between Paramount and NBC Universal – there's a good chance a deal will be reached before YouTube TV subscribers are impacted. But as in previous conflicts, YouTube is willing to make amends to its customers if they lose access to Disney content.

“If this [Disney content] remains unavailable for an extended period of time, we will offer subscribers a $20 credit,” YouTube said. This will be enough to subscribe for a month Disney+, Hulu and ESPN bundle with advertisingalthough YouTube has not said whether the credit will be repeated.

Currently YouTube TV Basic Plan starts at $72.99 per month for the first three months and then increases to $82.99 per month, making it slightly cheaper than Hulu + Live long term ($64.99 per month for the first three months, then $89.99 per month after that). Whether prices will remain the same if Disney closes its channels remains to be seen.