Disney has painted itself as the underdog, but some polling suggests YouTube may have the upper hand.
Who’s winning the PR war in the Disney-YouTube TV standoff? Data suggests YouTube — so far.
Disney’s channels have been unavailable on YouTube TV since October 30 due to a contract dispute, preventing YouTube TV subscribers from watching the „Monday Night Football“, as well as ABC News and popular shows like „Abbott Elementary.“
Several data sources indicate that YouTube could have the upper hand in public perception.
A survey by Drive Research of 1,100 respondents showed that 58% consider both parties equally at fault, but a far bigger share (37%) blamed Disney than YouTube TV (5%).
„I do think they’ve managed to present themselves as protectors for subscribers and Disney as corporate overlords“, Richard Swain, partner at branding and creative agency Further, said of YouTube.
A smaller survey by Cord Cutters News showed that 82% of respondents mainly blamed Disney, seeing it as using blackouts to extract more money from distributors, while viewing YouTube as trying to keep prices stable.
According to Muck Rack, from October 5 to November 5, Disney got over 18,000 negative mentions on X, and YouTube TV got about 14,000. However, by November 6, negative sentiment had shifted more to YouTube TV.
Google searches for „cancel YouTube TV“ spiked immediately after the blackout and reached their highest level in at least five years, according to data from Google Trends.
