ESPNABC and others Disney TV channels are returning to YouTube TV.
Google and Disney finally ended their standoff by announcing a multi-year agreement Friday on pricing and terms for a renewed YouTube TV carriage deal. Disney network Internet TV went offline shortly before midnight Eastern Time on Thursday, October 30th.after both parties have remained far apart on a deal before the previous contract expires.
Under the new agreement, by the end of 2026, ESPN's full lineup of sports programming, including ESPN Unlimited content, will be available on YouTube TV to Basic plan subscribers at no additional cost. In addition, YouTube TV will have access to a selection of live and on-demand programming from ESPN Unlimited.
The deal also allows YouTube to include the Disney+ and Hulu package in YouTube's “featured offerings.” According to Disney, “select networks” will be included in various genre packages that YouTube TV plans to launch in the future.
“This new agreement reflects our continued commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment and evolving the way audiences choose to watch,” Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a joint statement. “It recognizes the tremendous value of Disney programming and provides YouTube TV subscribers with greater flexibility and choice. We are pleased that our networks have been restored in time for fans to enjoy the abundance of great programming this weekend, including college football.”
In a statement, a YouTube spokesperson said Friday: “We are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with Disney that preserves the value of our service for our subscribers and the future flexibility of our offerings. Subscribers should see channels including ABC, ESPN and FX returning to their service throughout the day, as well as any recordings that were previously in their library. We apologize for the disruption and appreciate our subscribers' patience as we negotiated on their behalf.”
The deal replaces their previous distribution agreement. signed in December 2021 after a two-day power outage.
On Sunday (November 9), YouTube began issuing A one-time $20 credit to YouTube TV customers for lost Disney programming.in hopes that this will help prevent user failures.
Many YouTube TV subscribers have abandoned the service in frustration. According to a survey conducted last week, 24% of YouTube TV users said they had closed or intended to close their accounts. due to a power outage at Disney. A YouTube spokesperson said that “while subscriber churn is always unfortunate, it can be managed and is not consistent with the results of this survey.” Disney suffered too losing more than $4 million a day during a power outageAccording to analysts at Morgan Stanley.
Google said Disney is demanding unprecedented fee hikes for its full slate of ESPN channels, local ABC stations, FX, Disney Channel, Freeform, Nat Geo and others, while Disney said the tech giant “refuses to pay fair rates for our channels.” According to Google, Disney was trying to “reset” market prices for its programming (so it could charge similar higher rates on upcoming renewals with other pay-TV distributors), and that Disney was pushing for YouTube TV to take over the Mouse House networks' full lineup. The negotiating teams were led by Disney Platform Distribution Executive Vice President Sean Breen and YouTube Chief Commercial Officer Mary Ellen Coe.
The removal of Disney channels from YouTube TV comes a day before a busy Saturday night of college football scheduled for Nov. 1 as major teams face crucial contests, many of which air on ESPN and ABC. In the darkening light ESPN has made its pregame football show “College GameDay” available to watch live for free on X.. YouTube TV customers also missed two “Monday Night Football” broadcasts on ABC and ESPN. (YouTube has indicated to users that all ESPN programming can be watched using the ESPN Unlimited subscription service.)
Along with Disney's live channels, videos of the media conglomerate's programming made by YouTube TV customers were removed, as is standard in such disputes. According to YouTube, once the agreement is renewed, YouTube TV subscribers will regain access to recordings that were previously in their library.
On Thursday Disney CEO Bob Iger told analysts that the company has “worked tirelessly to complete this transaction.” but said: “It's also critical that we make sure we agree to a deal that reflects the value we bring, which, by the way, both YouTube and Alphabet tell us is greater than the value of any other provider.”
Disney Entertainment's Walden and Bergman and ESPN's Pitaro have previously addressed the impasse in several memos to employees. “YouTube TV and its owner Google are not interested in making a fair deal with us,” the executives said. wrote in an email dated October 31. “Instead, they want to use their power and exclusive resources to eliminate competition and devalue the very content that helped them create their service.”
Meanwhile, ahead of this year's Election Night (November 4), Disney asked Google to reinstate ABC on YouTube TV for one day to serve the “public interest.” Google refused – and instead offered Disney allows YouTube TV to make ABC and ESPN available while both sides continued negotiations because these are “channels that people need.” Disney did not support this idea.
The clash between Disney and Google became public on October 23 when Disney has begun warning viewers that its channels may be removed from YouTube TV.
Disney faces other difficult negotiations with distributors over its move to ESPN Unlimited, a standalone streaming service. launched in August this includes its entire sports programming lineup, as well as its ongoing investments in Disney+ and Hulu.
In 2023, Disney networks had a 10-day blackout on Charter Communications' cable systems due to a similar fight over prices. TO settle the charter dealDisney has given Charter's high-profile TV subscribers access to Disney+ and the ESPN+ streaming app. In 2024 ESPN and other Disney channels shut down DirecTV for nearly two weeks. before they made a new deal. In October, Disney and Comcast quietly reached an agreement to extend the carriages.
This year, Google faced considerable controversy in negotiations to extend its YouTube TV deal. Other programmers who have fought the Internet company include Paramount Global (now Paramount Skydance), Fox Company And NBCUniversal — each of whom negotiated a new deal without blackouts. At the end of September, YouTube TV abandoned Univisionas Google claims that the price increases sought by parent company TelevisaUnivision were dramatically out of step with viewership on the platform.
YouTube TV is the largest Internet television service in the United States, with an estimated 10 million subscribers. Next up is Disney, which last week closed the deal to merge its Hulu + Live TV business with Fubo; together they have nearly 6 million subscribers in North America. Google said Disney's tough tactics regarding the YouTube TV deal “benefited their own TV products, including Hulu+ Live TV and Fubo.”
