Sinclair CEO Escalates Disney–YouTube TV Blackout, Citing FCC Inquiry and Antitrust Concerns
Chris Ripley says regulators have opened a review of network affiliation practices tied to the ongoing outage.
Overview
- About 10 million YouTube TV subscribers remain without Disney-owned networks, including ABC and ESPN, as the carriage dispute passes one week.
- Ripley says he has spoken with antitrust regulators and the SEC, and he reports the FCC has opened an investigation into harmful affiliation practices.
- Sinclair argues local ABC affiliates have no control over distribution on digital pay-TV platforms, which removes all ABC stations on YouTube TV regardless of ownership.
- The blackout has produced measurable hits, with reports estimating ESPN’s College Gameday lost roughly 2.5 million viewers and Disney is losing about $5 million per day.
- Ripley contends consumers are being pushed to purchase additional Disney streaming services to access programming they already pay for on YouTube TV.