Why Did YouTube TV Lose Disney-Owned Channels? Explained
2 min read
A deal between Disney and Google to stream ABC and ESPN on YouTube TV fell through before Friday’s midnight ET deadline after the media conglomerate failed to find a new deal.
YouTube TV has never blacked out a major broadcast network due to a carriage-fee dispute in nearly five years. It has existed (although YouTube TV dropped 19 Fox regional sports networks owned by Sinclair last year).
Google has announced a $15 price cut for YouTube TV, dropping it from $64.99 to $49.99. Now that Disney is pulling its networks.
ABC-owned TV stations, ESPN networks, Disney channels, Freeform, the FX networks, and National Geographic channels were covered under Disney’s previous agreement with YouTube TV until Friday (Dec. 17) at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Why Is This Happening?
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As with any other carrier of live television channels, YouTube TV has to make arrangements with the networks that run and own them (in this case, Disney). These agreements are carriage agreements.
Disney and Google held good-faith negotiations for several months, Google said in a statement. Despite their best efforts, they have been unable to reach an equitable agreement in time for their existing agreement to expire,
It means their channels are no longer available on YouTube TV.
“We will be decreasing our monthly price by $15, from $64.99 to $49.99, while this content remains off of our platform,” Google said.
Moreover, Google noted that they knew that this was frustrating for the customers, and we did not want it. To recover their YouTube TV content, they will continue conversations with Disney in the hope of advocating for them.
Although YouTube TV has cut its monthly subscription price by 23%. But it is still likely to lose a lot of subscribers because of the blackout.
With college bowl season just around the corner, ESPN has been dropped from the service.
Google was blamed for Disney’s mishaps. YouTube TV and Disney are in ongoing negotiations. They have not reached a fair agreement, Disney said in a statement to Variety.
In consequence, ABC subscribers no longer have access to a wide range of networks, including live sports, news, TV shows for kids, families, and general entertainment. It includes ABC, ESPN, Disney, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic.
Disney continues, “We stand ready to reach an equitable agreement with Google as quickly as possible so as to minimize the inconvenience for our viewers by restoring our networks.”
Disney hopes Google will join them in that effort.
Ankita Khanrah
Ankita Khanrah is a second-year student of the Master of Communication and Journalism (Integrated) programme at the School of Mass Communication, KIIT Deemed University, Bhubaneswar.
