YouTube TV Dispute Leaves Millions without ESPN Access

It's game day, but millions of football fans will not be able to watch their teams play today. That is because Disney and YouTube TV are locked in a dispute.

YouTube TV Drops Disney-Owned Content

ESPN, Disney, and ABC Have Now Vanished from DirecTV — Credit: Kate

This morning, millions of YouTube TV subscribers were in for a shock! They found they are unable to access any Disney-owned content through their provider. The channels have gone dark.

This includes access to content on channels like ESPN, Nat Geo, FX, and ABC. This has been a disappointing day for subscribers who spend hard-earned money on the service.

Why is this Happening

It is especially disappointing for those hoping to enjoy gameday. Many key NCAA college football games are happening throughout the day.

This is happening because Disney and Google-owned YouTube TV have been unable to reach an agreement on rates for Disney-owned content. YouTube is attempting to negotiate rates that Disney considers to be below industry standards.

This dispute began as early as Thursday. And, now it continues at the expense of subscribers.

This is not the first time Disney and a provider have failed to negotiate rates. In previous years, DirecTV subscribers went through the same thing. Some of those subscribers may even be the same ones who canceled and moved to YouTube TV after being affected by previous negotiations.

Statement from Disney

Former Disney CEO Backs Iger — Photo Credit: Walt Disney Company

According to a Disney spokesperson: "Unfortunately, Google's 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. Without a new agreement in place, their subscribers will not have access to our programming, which includes the best lineup in live sports - anchored by the NFL, NBA, and college football, with 13 of the top 25 college teams playing this weekend."

Disney and YouTube TV are in a dispute causing millions of subscribers to be clocked from ABC and ESPN.

Disney goes on to ascertain, "Google is using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we've successfully negotiated with every other distributor."

YouTube TV Offers a Credit

Savannah Bananas Are Going to Disney — Credit: Disney

YouTube TV has a statement on its website as well. Here is the statement:

We've been working in good faith to negotiate a deal with Disney that pays them fairly for their content on YouTube TV. 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.

Regardless of who is at fault here, we hope subscribers get their content restored soon!

Are you impacted by this mess between Disney and YouTube TV? What do you think about the offering of the $20 credit? Let us know in the comments. And, feel free to share the story with family and friends who are dealing with the outage as well.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Katie's favorite park is Animal Kingdom. Her Disney loves include Disney mugs, Dole Whips, POG Juice, the Electrical Water Pageant, Chai Lattes from Joffrey's, and all the Disney Parks music!