YouTube fails to reach deal with Disney

The other day, I posted that YouTube TV might lose all Disney channels. Well, it’s happened. I received this email from YouTube TV overnight:

Hi Paul,

We have held good faith negotiations with Disney for several months. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach an equitable agreement before our existing one expired.

As of December 17, 2021, end of day Eastern Time, all Disney-owned channels, including ESPN and your local ABC station, are unavailable on YouTube TV. Members will not be able to watch live or local content from Disney and will also lose access to any previous Library recordings from these channels, including 4K content that is available as part of the 4K Plus add-on.

We will be decreasing our monthly price by $15, from $64.99 to $49.99, for the Base Plan while this content remains off of our platform. No action is needed on your part. A credit of $15 per month will automatically be issued. Once content is unavailable, this credit will be applied to your next bill after December 17 and will only be visible to family managers in Settings > Billing after the charge has taken place. Please note that if you have a promotional price with YouTube TV, you can still expect a $15 credit. Members who are in a paused state will receive this credit one month after their first charge.

Should we come to an agreement with Disney, we will adjust the price accordingly and will notify members via email beforehand. For the full list of Disney-owned channels that are no longer available on YouTube TV and for additional information or updates, please visit this webpage.

We know this is frustrating news, and it is not the outcome we wanted. We will continue conversations with Disney to advocate on your behalf in hopes of restoring their content on YouTube TV.

Thank you for being a YouTube TV member and for your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,
The YouTube TV team

Conversation 8 comments

  • j5

    Premium Member
    18 December, 2021 - 12:01 pm

    <p>It really sucks for consumers to have to navigate the streaming world right now. We used Locast to stream out locals, then they lost their lawsuit with the network channels. Now we pay $70 plus for locals with Hulu+. I think next year will be interesting to see what the streaming world provides. I feel like it’s peaked or it’s peaking. Pretty much all the big movie/tv studios have rounded up the wagons. Sometimes I feel like I should just go back to cable…I check out what Comcast has to offer…then I see how much more expensive it is with extra fees and just to get channels we want, have to get locked into yearly contracts, pay for tons of channels I wouldn’t even watch…then I forget it lol.</p>

  • yoshi

    Premium Member
    18 December, 2021 - 1:45 pm

    <p>I was hopeful the local ABC stations would remain, since they are owned differently. But nope, they are gone as well. As am I with regards to YouTube TV. It’s off to Hulu Live or back to Xfinity. It’s too bad that it’s almost just easier to have cable these days.</p>

  • winner

    18 December, 2021 - 2:16 pm

    <p>To hell with Disney. Somebody needs to keep the pressure on pricing or we will be gouged even more than we are today.</p>

    • j5

      Premium Member
      18 December, 2021 - 3:48 pm

      <p>All the services that offer plans with locals their prices seem to go up every couple of years now.</p>

  • bkkcanuck

    19 December, 2021 - 5:44 am

    <p>These spats between providers happen pretty often whenever a contract is being renewed… Usually, it is settled in a month or so after it starts.</p>

  • wright_is

    Premium Member
    20 December, 2021 - 7:38 am

    <p>It will be interesting to see how they do in other markets, like Germany. Up until recently, you paid your TV license and that got you all the channels for "free", i.e. no additional costs over the 130€ a year. Things like S.H.I.E.L.D. or Game of Thrones were shown on free-to-air channels. Heck, even the Disney Channel is free-to-air, now they are trying to put everything in a subscription service that costs more than the TV license in a year…</p><p><br></p><p>Netflix has gained some ground and Prime Video has a lot of users here, because people already use Amazon Prime and the videos are just a bonus, but I doubt that there is room for more than 1 or 2 subscriptions. People just don’t have the disposable income to warrant multiple TV subscriptions.</p>

  • anoldamigauser

    Premium Member
    20 December, 2021 - 12:01 pm

    <p>So that lasted less than two days. My guess is that Google dropped their demand for most favoured nation status and Disney did not ask for more licensing money than the last contract.</p>

  • Rachel Gomez

    28 March, 2022 - 4:29 am

    <p>&nbsp;Youtube announced that they failed to reach a deal with Disney to continue carrying their channels on their streaming cable service. This means that subscribers to the platform will no longer have access to ESPN, ACC Network or SEC Network.Steps to Fix Error Code 83 Watching Disney Plus on a FireStick.</p><ol><li>Check Whether Disney Plus Is Down. </li><li>Check Your Internet Connection. </li><li>Update Your FireStick and the Disney Plus App. </li><li>Reinstall the Disney Plus App. </li><li>Restart Your Device. </li><li>Update the Disney Plus App. </li><li>Check Device Compatibility. </li><li>Delete and Reinstall the Disney Plus App.</li></ol><p><br></p><p><strong>Regards,</strong></p><p><strong>Rachel Gomez</strong></p><p><br></p>

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