Disney’s senior leadership blasted YouTube TV and parent company Google on Thursday after the two sides failed to reach a new carriage agreement ahead of a midnight contract expiration, accusing the tech giant of being “not interested in achieving a fair deal” as it seeks to undercut competitors.
In a memo to staff obtained by TheWrap on Friday, Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said that they were given no advance notice of the company’s plans to pull its channels.
“In doing so, they not only cut off access to our live programming but also deleted all previously recorded shows and events from their subscribers’ libraries,” the trio said. “Their actions make clear how little regard they have for their customers and are consistent with an attitude which has been prevalent throughout our negotiations — YouTube TV and its owner, Google, are not interested in achieving a fair deal with us. Instead, they want to use their power and extraordinary resources to eliminate competition and devalue the very content that helped them build their service.”
They added that their portfolio of channels are “extremely valuable” and that they “can only continue to program them with the sports and entertainment viewers love most if we stand our ground against tactics that threaten the integrity of our business and the value of our creative work.”
“We are asking nothing more of YouTube TV than what we have gotten from every other distributor – fair rates for our channels. We will keep you informed as this matter progresses,” the memo concluded. “We know how hard so many of you work every day to create, promote, and support our programming. We’re deeply grateful for your continued focus, professionalism, and commitment.”
Disney has launched a website urging employees and the public to contact YouTube TV. It also says they can watch Disney’s programming from ESPN, ABC and more on Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV, Dish, Fubo, Sling, Spectrum, Optimum and Verizon.
A YouTube TV spokesperson deferred TheWrap to its Thursday evening statement, in which it said that Disney used the threat of a blackout as a negotiating tactic to “force deal terms that would raise prices on our customers” and rejected offers to keep their networks on the platform.
They added that Disney’s proposals “fundamentally disadvantage” YouTube TV, while “preserving preferential terms and content” for their own services and that they asked for economics that would “significantly raise costs” on subscribers and rates that would “hinder its ability to compete with other distributors.”
“This decision directly harms our subscribers while benefiting their own live TV products, including Hulu + Live TV and Fubo,” the spokesperson added. “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.”
YouTube TV said it will offer subscribers a $20 credit if Disney content remains off the platform for an extended period of time.
The latest carriage dispute comes after Disney resolved a 13-day programming blackout with DirecTV in September 2024, a 10-day dispute with Charter Communications in 2023 and a 48-hour dispute with Dish in 2022, while YouTube TV recently reached agreements with Fox and NBCUniversal.
It also comes just days after the two sides settled a lawsuit over YouTube TV’s hiring of former Disney platform distribution president Justin Connolly, who previously led the company’s carriage negotiations.
The settlement came after Disney’s request to block YouTube’s hiring of Connolly was denied by a judge due to “lack of showing of emergency” and the “balance of harms” working in favor of Connolly. They also said Disney had “not demonstrated a probability of success on the merits.” Following the decision, Disney said it would continue to pursue its legal remedies.
In addition to Disney, YouTube TV has yet to reach a deal with TelevisaUnivision, whose programming has been dark on the platform since Sept. 30. President Donald Trump weighed in on the latter dispute, urging YouTube TV to restore the Spanish-language network’s programming.
With over 8 million subscribers, YouTube TV is one of the largest pay TV operators alongside Charter Communications, Comcast and DirecTV. It is the largest virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD).
