Disney and YouTube TV Strike a Deal After Two-Week Feud

After a two-week standoff, Disney and YouTube TV have finally reached an agreement, bringing ESPN, ABC, and other Disney networks back to the streaming service. The deal, announced on a Friday, includes a multiyear agreement on pricing and terms for YouTube TV to carry Disney’s networks. The blackout began just before midnight ET on Thursday, Oct. 30, after the two sides failed to reach a deal before the previous contract expired. Under the new agreement, ESPN’s full lineup of sports content, including ESPN Unlimited, will be available to base-plan subscribers at no additional cost by the end of 2026. Additionally, a selection of live and on-demand programming from ESPN Unlimited will be integrated into YouTube TV. The deal also allows YouTube TV to include the Disney+ and Hulu bundle as part of “select YouTube offerings. ” Disney mentioned that “select networks” will be included in various genre-specific packages that YouTube TV plans to launch in the future. Disney executives expressed their satisfaction with the deal, stating that it reflects their commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment and evolving with how audiences choose to watch. They also noted that the agreement recognizes the value of Disney’s programming and provides YouTube TV subscribers with more flexibility and choice. YouTube TV also issued a statement, expressing their happiness with the agreement, which they believe preserves the value of their service for subscribers and provides future flexibility in their offers. They apologized for the disruption and thanked their subscribers for their patience during the negotiations. The deal comes after a two-day blackout in December 2021, which was also resolved with a new agreement. On Sunday, Nov. 9, YouTube TV began issuing one-time $20 credits to customers to compensate for the loss of Disney’s programming. Many YouTube TV subscribers canceled their service in frustration, with 24% of users saying they had canceled or intended to cancel their accounts over the Disney blackout. However, a YouTube representative stated that subscriber churn has been manageable and does not align with the findings of the survey. Disney also took a hit, losing more than $4 million per day during the blackout, according to an estimate by Morgan Stanley analysts. The removal of Disney’s networks from YouTube TV came a day before a busy Nov. 1 Saturday slate for college football, with major marquee teams facing pivotal contests aired on ESPN and ABC. In light of the blackout, ESPN made its “College GameDay” football pregame show available free to watch via a livestream on X. YouTube TV customers also missed two airings of “Monday Night Football” on ABC and ESPN. Along with Disney’s live channels, YouTube TV customers’ DVR recordings of the media conglomerate’s programming were removed, as is standard in such disputes. With the deal renewal, YouTube TV subscribers will regain access to recordings that were previously in their library. Disney CEO Bob Iger told analysts that the company had been “working tirelessly to close this deal” but emphasized the importance of agreeing to a deal that reflects the value that Disney delivers. He noted that both YouTube and Alphabet have acknowledged that Disney’s value is greater than that of any other provider. Disney Entertainment’s Walden and Bergman and ESPN’s Pitaro had previously addressed the impasse in several memos to staffers, stating that YouTube TV and its owner, Google, were not interested in achieving a fair deal with Disney. Instead, they wanted to use their power and extraordinary resources to eliminate competition and devalue the very content that helped them build their service. Meanwhile, ahead of this year’s Election Night (Nov. 4), Disney asked Google to restore ABC on YouTube TV for one day to serve the “public interest. ” Google declined and instead suggested that Disney allow YouTube TV to make ABC and ESPN available while the two sides continued talks. Disney did not go for the idea. The Disney-Google clash became public on Oct. 23, when Disney began alerting viewers that its networks could be removed from YouTube TV. Disney has faced other tough negotiations with distributors amid the transition to ESPN Unlimited — the standalone streaming service launched in August that includes everything on the sports programmer’s lineup — and its continued investment in Disney+ and Hulu. In 2023, Disney’s networks had a 10-day blackout on Charter Communications cable systems in a similar fight over price. To settle the Charter deal, Disney allowed Charter’s high-tier TV subscribers to access Disney+ and the ESPN+ streaming app. In 2024, ESPN and other Disney nets went dark on DirecTV for nearly two weeks before they reached a new deal. In October, Disney and Comcast quietly reached a carriage renewal deal. Google has encountered no small amount of friction in deal-renewal talks this year for YouTube TV. Other programmers that have fought with the internet company include Paramount Global (now Paramount Skydance), Fox Corp. and NBCUniversal — each of which reached a new deal without a blackout. At the end of September, YouTube TV dropped Univision, with Google alleging the price increases sought by parent company TelevisaUnivision were drastically out of line with viewership on the platform.