YouTube TV contract dispute with Disney has now cost its subscribers two weekends of college football and will also likely cause them to miss another Monday Night Football game tonight.
All Disney-owned streaming channels, including ABC, ESPN, ACC Network and SEC Networks, have been removed from the network. YouTube TV October 31st and have not returned since then.
The controversy that caused the outage of ABC and ESPN centers on the “carriage fee” that YouTube TV pays Disney to carry its channels. Disney has faced similar negotiating standoffs with other broadcasters in recent years, including the earlier YouTube TV shutdown in 2021 this was resolved in two days.
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Disney claims YouTube TV doesn't pay enough to stream its channels. YouTube TV, owned by Google, has most subscribers of all other Internet TV providers – more than 9 million. Disney-owned Hulu is second with 4.3 million subscribers thanks to its Hulu + Live TV offering.
YouTube TV promised subscribers a $20 credit towards the streaming service if the Disney Channel blackout continued for an extended period, and on Sunday, November 9, YouTube TV announced details of this loan. Read on to find out how you can get a $20 credit, when the glitch might be fixed, and how you can watch ESPN, ABC, and other Disney channels in the meantime.
How can YouTube TV subscribers get a $20 credit?
YouTube TV subscribers should receive an email from the service when their credits become available. After you have received the email, follow these steps to receive a $20 credit.
- Login to YouTube.com online browserclick or tap your profile picture, then select Settings. You can also directly navigate to the URL at https://tv.youtube.com/settings/service_updates.
- At the bottom of the menu on the left, select Updates.
- On the next screen explaining how to turn off Disney channels, click or tap the blue button labeled Get a loan.
Emails from YouTube TV started going out on Sunday evening, and several Reddit posters have already reported receiving a $20 credit. According to the channel, all loans for YouTube TV subscribers must be issued by November 12. Diversity.
Which Disney channels have been removed from YouTube TV?
Sports fans aren't the only viewers left behind by the loss of Disney channels from YouTube TV. Here are all the channels which have been removed from 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
- Free form
- Forex
- FXM
- FXX
- local
- Nat Geo
- Nat Geo Mundo (Spanish plan)
- Nat Geo Wild
- Shopping center network
When can Disney Channels return to YouTube TV?
As with previous disputes with Disney, negotiations are still under wraps. Disney's contract disputes from previous years—Sling TV in 2022, Spectrum/Charter in 2023, and DirecTV in 2024—were mostly resolved in a week or two, but Google has significantly more bargaining power than these other platforms.
According to DiversityIf a deal is reached between Disney and YouTube, the missing channels will be returned “within hours.”
Thursday, October 30, YouTube TV published on X“Members, as we renew our contracts with network partners, we advocate for fair prices to offer you the best TV experience.”
“Google 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 this in a statement to CNBC..
This was also in the memo for employees dated October 31 CNBC reports thisDisney accused YouTube TV of removing “previously recorded shows and events from its subscribers' libraries.”
“YouTube TV and its owner, Google, are not interested in reaching 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 exclusive resources to eliminate competition and devalue the very content that helped them create their service.”
Disney is also asking its viewers to ask YouTube TV to resume streaming via keepmynetworks.com website.
How can YouTube TV subscribers watch football games during the Disney shutdown?
YouTube TV subscribers with an overhead 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 signal from their local ABC affiliate.
Beyond that, the only real option for viewers who want to watch all the college football and basketball games this weekend, as well as 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 DirectTV Stream.
Sling TV offers day pass for $5 this could be a good option for viewers who want to watch one specific game, as well as a $10 weekend ticket that will allow you to play college football and basketball on both days.
For those looking to find local football matches, this is a convenient application can help you find places that are showing games.
Correction, November 5.: An earlier version of this story did not mention that Sling TV day and weekend passes can only be used to watch local ABC affiliates in certain markets.
