YouTube TV will drop Disney-owned programming such as ABC, ESPN and more after failing to reach a new carriage agreement
YouTube TV will drop Disney-owned programming such as ABC, ESPN and more after failing to reach a new carriage agreement, TheWrap has learned.
Disney began warning YouTube TV subscribers about the possibility of a programming blackout last week. In a statement on Thursday evening, a Disney spokesperson told TheWrap that Google and YouTube TV have “chosen to deny their subscribers the content they value most by refusing to pay fair rates for our channels,” including the NFL, NBA, and college football, with 13 of the top 25 college teams playing this weekend.
“With a $3 trillion market cap, Google is using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor,” the spokesperson added. “We know how frustrating this is for YouTube TV subscribers and remain committed to working toward a resolution as quickly as possible.”
But in their own Thursday evening statement, a YouTube TV spokesperson told TheWrap that Disney used the threat of a blackout as a negotiating tactic to “force deal terms that would raise prices on our customers” and rejected offers to keep their networks on the platform.
