ESPN, ABC, and other Disney channels go dark on YouTube TV
More than 20 Disney-owned channels, including ESPN, ABC, and Nat Geo, have been pulled from YouTube TV after Google and Disney failed to reach a new content distribution agreement. The previous contract expired at 11:59 PM ET on October 30th, and it’s unclear when, or if, the two companies will reach a new deal.
The blackout was prompted by disagreements over carriage fees, with Google saying in a blog post published last week that Disney was “proposing costly economic terms that would raise prices on YouTube TV customers.” That same post was updated at 11:15PM on Thursday, claiming that Disney had followed through on threats to pull its channels from YouTube TV, which Google described as a “negotiating tactic.”
“We know this is a frustrating and disappointing outcome for our subscribers, and we continue to urge Disney to work with us constructively to reach a fair agreement that restores their networks to YouTube TV,” Google said in the statement. “If their content remains off YouTube TV for an extended period of time, we’ll offer subscribers a $20 credit.”
The full list of removed Disney-owned channels includes: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FX, FXX, FXM, SEC Network, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, ABC News Live, ACC Network, and Localish. For YouTube TV subscribers on the Spanish plan, ESPN Deportes, Baby TV Español, and Nat Geo Mundo have also been pulled. The removals impact recordings and on-demand content saved to YouTube TV users’ libraries.
The Verge has reached out to Disney for comment. In a statement to Variety, Disney said that YouTube TV “has chosen to deny their subscribers the content they value most by refusing to pay fair rates for our channels, including ESPN and ABC,” and claims that Google is “using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms.”
A similar breakdown between Google and Disney occurred in 2021 at the end of their previous contracts. Meanwhile, NBCUniversal announced earlier this month that it had reached a renewal deal with Google, following an agreement to a short extension that prevented its channels from going dark on YouTube TV.