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Disney Pulls ABC and ESPN From YouTube TV as Carriage Standoff Drags Into Weekend

A dispute over fees and packaging has left roughly 10 million subscribers without major live sports and network programming.

Overview

  • Disney-owned channels went dark late Oct. 30 into Oct. 31, and a Disney employee memo says some YouTube TV subscribers also saw previously recorded shows deleted.
  • YouTube TV argues Disney’s proposed rates would require price increases and says it will issue a one-time $20 credit if the outage lasts an extended period.
  • Disney accuses Google’s YouTube TV of leveraging market power and refusing to pay fair rates, saying the platform is denying viewers access to valuable programming.
  • A YouTube executive told Deadline that Disney has been “unnecessarily aggressive,” pushing full-portfolio carriage as discussions also touch on genre-based tiers and reported complications around ESPN Unlimited.
  • Subscribers who bought NFL Sunday Ticket as a YouTube TV add-on cannot cancel the base plan without losing Sunday Ticket access, leaving some customers effectively locked in during the blackout.