Failure to reach a new deal YouTube TV loses ESPN and other live broadcast rights to Disney shows

YouTube TV failed to reach an agreement with Disney at the last minute to keep more than a dozen Disney channels on the live TV service. As of December 18, popular networks including ESPN and ABC have been removed from the service. As promised, the subscription fee for YouTube TV has been reduced to $50 per month, which is a direct result of the loss of programs.

Disney said in a statement late Friday that after ongoing negotiations with YouTube TV, “they refused to reach a fair deal with us based on market terms and conditions.” The company added: “As a result, their users have lost access to our unparalleled network portfolio, including live sports and news from ABC, ESPN Network, Disney Channel, Freeform, FX Network and National Geographic Channel, as well as children, families And general entertainment programs. We are ready to reach a fair agreement with Google as soon as possible to minimize the inconvenience to YouTube TV viewers by restoring our network. We hope that Google can join our efforts.”

In a blog post, YouTube TV said that it will “continue to talk to Disney, promote on your behalf, and hope to restore their content on YouTube TV.”

“We have been in good faith negotiations with Disney for several months,” YouTube TV said. “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach a fair agreement before our existing agreement expired and their channel is no longer available on YouTube TV.”

The announcement was made after a notice shared with users earlier this week. If there is no agreement between the two companies, these channels will disappear from YouTube TV on Friday, December 17. If the negotiation fails, YouTube TV said it will reduce the price of $15 from the normal price of $65 per month to make up for this change.

Earlier this week, the issue of service loss seemed likely to be actively resolved. First, the service told users in an email on Monday that “Mickey Mouse House is our important partner” and added that it hopes to negotiate an agreement with Disney, “provided that we can reach fair terms.” . But the two companies failed to reach an agreement because their current agreement expired after December 17.

Losing more than a dozen channels will not completely help YouTube TV maintain an edge in the competition with other Internet cable TV services such as Hulu with Live TV or Fubo TV. Not only are more than a dozen channels erased from service, but the list of properties owned by Disney to be axed is also very extensive, including not only the Disney channel, but also FX, ESPN and National Geographic channels.

The full list of channels that went offline because of no agreement includes the following:

Your local ABC channel

ABC News Live

Disney Channel

Disney Junior

Disney XD

Freeform

FX

FXX

FXM

National Geographic

National Geographic Wild

ESPN

ESPN2

ESPN3 (by authentication to the ESPN app)

ESPNU

ESPNEWS

SEC Network

ACC Network

In the new streaming media environment, copyright disputes are a common and frustrating phenomenon, and they are often publicly staged before a resolution is reached – this is the case with the recent channels owned by YouTube TV and NBCUniversal. A less common situation is that the two parties fail to reach an agreement. If consumers want to support their favorite shows, they must look for new suppliers and ultimately pay more.