As YouTube TV and Disney remain locked in a carriage renewal dispute, the Google-owned streaming platform has rejected a proposal to temporarily restore ABC on Election Day.
On Monday, YouTube revealed it had declined Disney’s offer to stream ABC stations for election coverage, noting that a brief, 24-hour return would only confuse its subscribers.
“There are plenty of other options for customers—election news information is very widely available across other broadcast stations and news networks on YouTube TV, as well as on the main YouTube service, for free,” the statement reads in part.
“As you know, Disney can continue to livestream news information on the ABC News YouTube page, which has 19.1M subscribers, and its ABC local stations can also do so on their YouTube pages.”
The two companies failed to reach a new streaming deal on Oct. 30, leading YouTube TV to remove ABC, ESPN, Nat Geo, and FX, among other Disney networks, from its platform.
Announcing the content suspension, YouTube said it had been working “in good faith” to negotiate fair pricing in its new contract with Disney, but claimed the entertainment giant had threatened a blackout “as a negotiating tactic to force deal terms that would raise prices on our customers.”
A Disney spokesperson told various media outlets that the company expected its partners to pay fair rates in line with the value of its content.
“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,” the spokesperson said.
“This is the latest example of Google exploiting its position at the expense of their own customers.”
A person browses a television menu showing icons for streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime in Toronto on March 22, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Giordano Ciampini)
YouTube said it would offer a $20 credit to its more than 9 million subscribers if Disney’s content remained unavailable for an extended period of time. The subscription-based streaming service was subsequently bombarded with complaints online.
“I’m 100% cancelling if ESPN and ABC college football ain’t on YouTube TV Saturday morning,” one subscriber wrote on Instagram.
“This is the most insane thing ever,” another penned, adding: “You cancel half your channels just days after charging for a full month, then offer a $20 credit??? Get the channels back or I’m cancelling and taking my money elsewhere. YouTube is about to see a mass exodus if this isn’t resolved asap.”
The pay-TV service, which streams content from a variety of other major networks, including CNN, Fox, and Paramount, has faced similar contract disputes in recent years.
In 2021, Disney channels briefly went dark on the platform after the companies were temporarily unable to agree on a new deal.
More recently, on Sept. 30, YouTube TV dropped Univision’s local stations after the two sides failed to renew their contract. The streaming service offered its Spanish Base subscribers a one-time $6 credit or refund for the disruption.
