YouTube TV users could lose access to Disney-owned networks next week due to a roadblock in renewal agreements.
ABC, ESPN, Disney Channel Could Go Dark on YouTube TV
According to a report from Variety, negotiations between Disney and Google (YouTube’s owner) are ongoing, but they’ve reached an impasse. According to a Disney spokesman, Google is “using its market dominance to try to force [Disney] into a deal for below-market carriage fees”:
For the fourth time in three months, Google’s YouTube TV is putting their subscribers at risk of losing the most valuable networks they signed up for. This is the latest example of Google exploiting its position at the expense of their own customers. We invest significantly in our content and expect our partners to pay fair rates that recognize that value. If we don’t reach a fair deal soon, YouTube TV customers will lose access to ESPN and ABC, and all our marquee programming — including the NFL, college football, NBA and NHL seasons — and so much more.
The current Disney YouTube distribution deal will expire October 30 at midnight ET. If no agreement is reached, all Disney-owned networks in the deal will go back. These include local ABC broadcast stations, the suite of ESPN networks, ABC News, Disney Channel, Disney Jr., FX, FXX, FXM, NatGeo, and Freeform.
A YouTube spokesperson responded:
We’ve been working in good faith to negotiate a deal with Disney that pays them fairly for their content on YouTube TV. Unfortunately, Disney is proposing costly economic terms that would raise prices on YouTube TV customers and give our customers fewer choices, while benefiting Disney’s own live TV products — like Hulu + Live TV and, soon, Fubo.
YouTube also said it will give YouTube TV subscribers a $20 credit if Disney’s networks are dark for “an extended period of time.”
With more than 10 million estimated subscribers, YouTube TV is the U.S.’s largest internet-delivered pay-TV service. Nielsen data (as cited by Disney) shows that viewership of its networks in YouTube TV households is up by more than 15% year-over-year.
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