Disney settles dispute with YouTube TV, allowing ABC and ESPN to return to channel lineups

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ESPN games are back on YouTube TV! The service and Disney reached an agreement, resolving their recent disagreement and bringing Disney channels – including ESPN – back to the platform after a two-week interruption.

YouTube TV and Disney reached a new agreement late Friday, bringing Disney-owned channels and ABC stations back to the streaming service for its 10 million subscribers. The deal replaces their previous agreement, which ended on October 30th. YouTube, which is owned by Google, and Disney had been negotiating to avoid a disruption in service.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Disney, ESPN, and their leaders Alan Bergman, Dana Walden, and Jimmy Pitaro announced a new deal that shows their dedication to providing great entertainment and adapting to changing viewer habits.

We’re happy Disney’s content is back on YouTube TV, giving subscribers more options and the ability to watch their favorite shows. Fans can now enjoy all the great programming, including college football, this weekend.

This disruption lasted longer than the 13-day blackout of Disney channels last year during the dispute between Disney and DirecTV.

YouTube and Disney are disagreeing over how much Disney should be paid to show channels like ESPN and ABC. Google, which owns YouTube, initially rejected Disney’s request for higher fees. Disney wants these fees to cover the costs of making new shows and movies, expanding its streaming services, and paying for expensive sports broadcasting rights, like their deals with the NFL and NBA.

YouTube responded by highlighting that viewership for ABC and similar channels, which Disney was trying to get higher fees for, was actually going down.

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YouTube TV viewers – around 10 million of them – are currently unable to watch ESPN, ABC, and other channels owned by Disney. This happened during a busy time for sports, including college football and a Monday night game featuring the Cardinals and Cowboys.

Disney, like many other TV providers, has been attempting to raise prices to make up for lost revenue from customers who are cancelling traditional cable and satellite TV in favor of streaming. YouTube previously stated that Disney was deliberately delaying a deal, possibly to attract frustrated YouTube TV subscribers to its competing services, Fubo or Hulu + Live TV, which offer similar channel lineups.

As a big movie and TV fan, it’s frustrating to see these battles between the companies that deliver shows (like YouTube TV) and the ones that make them (like Disney). It really shows how much things are changing with everyone moving to streaming. I remember back in 2021, Disney channels actually disappeared from YouTube TV for a couple of days because they couldn’t agree on a price – it’s happened before, and it feels like it’ll keep happening as they figure out this new landscape.

Fewer people are subscribing to large channel packages, and those who do are paying more for programming. Services like YouTube TV have tried to keep prices down, understanding customers are frustrated with rising monthly costs. When YouTube TV first launched in 2017, it cost $35 a month, but now it’s $82.99.

The price of traditional TV channels like ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC, as well as sports networks such as ESPN, has increased dramatically. This is mainly because the cost of broadcasting rights for major sporting events has gone up significantly. ESPN is particularly expensive for cable and satellite companies, costing them almost $10 per subscriber each month.

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Increasing prices for sports broadcasting rights, along with other issues, have caused disagreements between YouTube and companies like Disney.

Disney is standing by its pricing for cable and satellite providers, stating that it delivers popular, high-quality shows and movies that viewers enjoy.

The company is shifting its focus to build stronger direct-to-consumer streaming services like Disney+ and Hulu + Live TV, moving away from traditional cable and satellite providers.

The skirmish was just the latest between YouTube and a major programming company.

Starting in August, Fox Corp., NBCUniversal (owned by Comcast), and Univision have all accused YouTube TV of using its strong position in the market to pressure them into making compromises.

Disney leaders wrote in an email to staff that Google’s YouTube TV hasn’t negotiated fairly, acting as if it has a monopoly during discussions. They believe YouTube TV hasn’t treated Disney as an equal partner in these negotiations.

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Viewers of YouTube TV haven’t been able to watch ESPN, ABC, and other Disney channels since Thursday. This is due to a disagreement between the companies as they try to reach a new agreement. As a result, subscribers might miss important events like election coverage and Monday Night Football.

YouTube TV subscribers have been unable to watch Univision and Unimas since September 30th. The issue stems from a disagreement over how YouTube planned to offer these channels – they wanted to place them in a separate, specialized package instead of including them in their standard lineup.

Univision protested the change, mainly because it would likely reduce their earnings. They receive payments based on how many homes get their channels, and fewer people are now subscribing to the Spanish-language package.

YouTube responded by pointing out that people who watch Spanish-language content were already finding it on the regular, free YouTube site, and that option hasn’t changed.

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2025-11-15 04:02