More than 10 million YouTube TV customers have lost access to ESPN, ABC and other Walt Disney Co. channels. after contract negotiations collapsed Thursday night in one of the biggest television blackouts in years.
The power outage at Disney was scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Thursday, interrupting ESPN's “Sports Center with Scott Van Pelt” and ABC's “9-1-1: Nashville” and “Grey's Anatomy.”
The two television giants have been arguing for weeks over broadcast fees for Disney channels, including FX, Disney Jr. and National Geographic. YouTube TV – now one of the largest pay TV services in the USA — refused to meet Disney's price demands, fueling a dispute that extended beyond Thursday's deadline for a new deal.
Without the agreement, Google-owned YouTube TV no longer had the legal rights to distribute Disney channels.
“We know this is disappointing and frustrating for our subscribers,” a YouTube spokesperson said. “We continue to encourage Disney to work constructively with us to reach a fair agreement that will restore their YouTube TV channels.”
If the outage lasts “an extended period,” YouTube said it would offer subscribers a $20 credit.
The blackout underscores heightened tensions in the television industry.
Programming companies including Disney are pushing for higher commissions on their channels to offset the increased cost of sports programming, including contracts with the NFL and NBA.
But pay-TV providers such as YouTube are fighting back, trying to draw a line as customers tire of ever-increasing monthly bills.
They don't want to lose subscribers to a competing service or force them to unsubscribe. Over the past decade, more than 40 million pay-TV homes have had the cord pulled, according to industry data.
Disney becomes the latest TV programmer to claim Google is interfering in contract negotiations.
People close to the Burbank entertainment giant accuse YouTube TV of refusing to pay market prices for popular Disney channels or accept terms accepted by other pay-TV distributors. Disney has struck deals with six other pay-TV companies this year, including the nation's largest channel distributors Charter Spectrum and Comcast.
“Unfortunately, Google’s YouTube TV has chosen to deny its subscribers the content they value most by refusing to pay a fair price for our channels, including ESPN and ABC,” Disney said in a statement. “Without a new agreement, their subscribers will not have access to our programming, which includes the best live sports coverage based on the NFL, NBA and college football, where 13 of the top 25 college teams play this weekend. With a market capitalization of $3 trillion, Google is using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undermine the standard industry terms we have successfully negotiated with all other distributors.”
Since August Rupert Murdoch's Fox Corp., Comcast's NBCUniversal and Spanish-language broadcaster TelevisaUnivision have complained that YouTube TV is trying to use its influence to extract concessions from them now that YouTube TV has become so popular among consumers.
Ultimately Fox and NBCUniversal signs new distribution deals with Google without turning off your channels.
Univision was less fortunate; his channels are disconnected from YouTube TV almost a month.
YouTube TV, for its part, claims that it was Disney who made the unreasonable demands. The San Bruno, California-based platform cited recent agreements it reached with NBCUniversal and Fox.
“Last week, Disney used the threat of a YouTube TV shutdown as a negotiating tactic to force deal terms that would increase prices for our customers,” YouTube TV said in a statement. “Now they are making good on that threat… This decision directly harms our subscribers while benefiting their own television products, including Hulu+ Live TV and Fubo.”
Both Disney's Hulu service and Fubo compete with YouTube TV by offering packages of many of the same traditional channels.
YouTube claims Disney is using the blackout to funnel disgruntled YouTube TV customers to Disney-owned streaming services after the Burbank-based company lost subscribers who canceled following the late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel's brief suspension last month.
The complex relationship between the two companies goes beyond negotiations.
Last spring, former Disney distribution chief Justin Connolly abruptly left to take a similar position at YouTube TV. Connolly spent two decades at Disney and ESPN and helped develop the company's distribution strategy. Disney sued to block the move, but the judge allowed Connolly to take a new position – seating him on the opposite side of the negotiating table.
It is unclear how long the impasse could last.
Separate distribution royalty dispute between Disney and DirecTV last year led to 13-day Disney Channel Blackout for customers of a television provider based in El Segundo. In 2023, another terrible fight led to the closure of Disney Channels. excluded from Charter's Spectrum service for 10 days.
News and sports fans may quickly notice the absence of their favorite channels.
They may miss college football on ESPN and ABC, as well as the Monday Night Football game between the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys.
ESPN plans to televise the University of Miami-SMU football game on Saturday.
(Jason Allen/Associated Press)
Disney ABC stations, including KABC-TV in Los Angeles, as well as the network's affiliate stations across the country, will also not be available on YouTube TV.
This means viewers may miss local newscasts like “Jeopardy,” “Wheel of Fortune,” “Good Morning America” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
YouTube TV launched in April 2017 for $35 per month. The channel package now costs $82.99.
