The long-anticipated collision of two media heavyweights over pay-TV distribution terms is at hand, with Disney on Thursday warning YouTube TV viewers that its networks could vanish next week.
The companies’ existing distribution agreement expires at midnight ET next Thursday, October 30. Without a resolution, millions of YouTube TV subscribers will be without ABC local stations, ESPN, FX and other networks. YouTube TV had more than 8 million subscribers, with the number climbing closer to 10 million when free trials and NFL season subscriptions with Sunday Ticket are included.
Regardless of the exact tally, the distributor is one of the largest and most influential in the U.S., and lately the company has not hesitated to exercise its leverage. The Disney deal marks the fifth clash with a major programmer in 2025. NBCUniversal, Fox Corp. and Paramount reached agreements after some public acrimony but before a blackout, while Hispanic media giant TelevisaUnivision is now more than three weeks into a blackout.
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“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,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement provided to Deadline. “This is the latest example of Google exploiting its position at the expense of their own customers. We invest significantly in our content and expect our partners to pay fair rates that recognize that value. If we don’t reach a fair deal soon, YouTube TV customers will lose access to ESPN and ABC, and all our marquee programming – including the NFL, college football, NBA and NHL seasons – and so much more.”
In a statement to Deadline, a YouTube spokesperson said the company has 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.”
While linear networks are the core issue, the multi-faceted nature of streaming has also made ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service, Hulu and Disney+ relevant pieces of the portfolio. YouTube TV has previously sought to “ingest” programming from NBCUniversal and others rather than forcing viewers to leave YouTube TV and pull up a separate app.
In the NBCU-YouTube tilt last month, the parties agreed (after a brief extension) on a new, comprehensive agreement spanning multiple Google and YouTube businesses.
In 2023, Disney battled top cable operator Charter Communications and the agreement that resulted after a 10-day blackout served as a template for the industry. It included significant marketing and bundling support for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. The newly bulked-up ESPN stand-alone streaming service launched in August and Disney struck deals with several distributors enabling pay-TV and broadband customers to access the service via their subscription.
A person familiar with the negotiations told Deadline the effort that the streaming element was central. In the case of YouTube TV, the subject of finding ways that Disney+ and Hulu could be promoted on Google and YouTube, along with allowing authenticated use of the new ESPN app. And there was a request by YouTube TV for ingestion rights. But the focus of the negotiations has been on the financial terms of the networks and arriving at a shared sense of their market value.
For industry watchers, the fight has been on the radar for months and will be closely watched, and it also brings an element of intrigue in the form of senior executive Justin Connolly. After a long career with ESPN and Disney that included steering the Charter and DirecTV negotiations in the past couple of years, Connolly shifted to YouTube TV in a top role last May, effectively switching sides of the bargaining table.
A lawsuit by Disney seeking a temporary restraining order against YouTube for hiring Connolly, contending that it constituted illegal poaching, was rejected by a judge last June.