After nearly two weeks, Disney‘s linear channels will finally return to YouTube TV, after the entertainment giant and the tech giant cut a new carriage deal.
“This new agreement reflects our continued commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment and evolving with how audiences choose to watch,’’ said Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro in a statement. “It recognizes the tremendous value of Disney’s programming and provides YouTube TV subscribers with more flexibility and choice. We are pleased that our networks have been restored in time for fans to enjoy the many great programming options this weekend, including college football.”
“We’re happy to share that we’ve reached an agreement with Disney that preserves the value of our service for our subscribers and future flexibility in our offers,” a YouTube spokesperson said Friday night. “Subscribers should see channels including ABC, ESPN and FX returning to their service over the course of the day, as well as any recordings that were previously in their Library. We apologize for the disruption and appreciate our subscribers’ patience as we negotiated on their behalf. “
Disney’s channels, which include ABC, ESPN, Freeform and FX, among others, were pulled Oct. 30 as the two sides were unable to reach an agreement in time for their expiring agreement. The resulting blackout was the longest in recent memory for Disney, which found itself in a similarly public dispute with Charter Communications back in 2023, though that blackout lasted only 11 days.
According to Disney, the deal will allow for select live and library programming from the ESPN Unlimited streaming service to be available within YouTube TV, with ESPN Unlimited made available to YouTube TV subscribers at no extra cost. YouTube will also be able to offer the Disney+ and Hulu bundle to its users, with YouTube TV getting optionality for genre-based channel packages in the future.
In most cases, the distributor and channel provider were able to reach a deal while avoiding a blackout, as was the case with YouTube TV with Fox and NBCUniversal earlier this year. Typically the NFL and college football are a driving factor in getting a deal done, which made the blackout (which included two Monday Night Football games) all the more surprising. There were indications in the ratings that the blackout was impacting ratings for Disney’s channels, with YouTube TV having an estimated 10 million or so subscribers.
The Disney blackout had been exceptionally public and bitter, with Disney executives telling employees that YouTube’s “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,” they continued. “Instead, they want to use their power and extraordinary resources to eliminate competition and devalue the very content that helped them build their service.”
One source said that as the talks dragged on, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Google CEO Sundar Pichai had to be brought into the negotiations to speed up some key decisionmaking points.
Money (of course) was said to be the biggest sticking point, with complicating actors like Most Favored Nation clauses, and whether the rate changes if and when YouTube TV passes Charter and Comcast to become the largest pay-TV provider in the U.S., as well as what rates should apply to Disney’s entertainment channels, given that most if not all their content is available via Disney+ or Hulu.
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