Disney is warning YouTube TV subscribers that they may lose access to the parent company’s channels as negotiations continue between the media giants over a contract renewal.
“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,” a Disney spokesperson said in a Thursday statement to TheWrap. “This is the latest example of Google exploiting its position at the expense of their own customers.”
The Walt Disney Company has been negotiating with the Google-owned streaming platform, specifically asking for the same package flexibility and rates they offer to other partners. They have determined YouTube’s rates to be below market terms.
“We invest significantly in our content and expect our partners to pay fair rates that recognize that value,” the statement continued. “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.”
Disney argues that their properties, specifically sports programming on ESPN and NFL, college football, NBA and NHL seasons on ABC, are a significant draw for viewers to subscribe to YouTube TV.
A representative from YouTube TV said in a statement to TheWrap that if they met Disney’s economic terms, it would raise prices for subscribers.
“We’ve been working in good faith to negotiate a deal with Disney that pays them fairly for their content on YouTube TV,” a YouTube spokesperson said. “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.”
“Without an agreement, we’ll have to remove Disney’s content from YouTube TV and if it remains unavailable for an extended period of time, we will offer subscribers a $20 credit,” it continued.
YouTube and Disney’s last carriage dispute was in 2021; it resulted in a two-day blackout due to deal delays. The deadline to resolve this contract is next Thursday, Oct. 30. If an agreement is not reached, Disney-owned properties like ESPN and ABC will go dark on the platform. The media giant has removed content from other platforms over agreement disputes, including DirecTV in 2024, Charter in 2023 and Dish in 2022.
Disney is not alone. NBCUniversal narrowly avoided a programming blackout amid carriage negotiations earlier this month. As part of its long-term agreement, YouTube TV will carry the media company’s full portfolio of networks, including NBC, Telemundo, Bravo, CNBC, Golf Channel, E!, Oxygen True Crime, MSNBC, USA, Syfy and Universo. The multi-year deal also included the launch of NBC Sports Network later this fall.
Meanwhile, TelevisaUnivision went dark on YouTube TV on Sept. 30 after the companies failed to reach a new carriage deal before their contract’s expiration date. President Donald Trump criticized Google for the blackout, saying it was “very bad for Republicans.” Univision and its properties have yet to return to the platform.
