After nearly two weeks of channels being dark, YouTube TV and Disney have officially settled on a new deal which will last multiple years, and has already brought ESPN and ABC channels back online.
On October 30, the ongoing deal between Disney and YouTube TV expired, with the two companies left at the negotiating table while popular channels such as ESPN, ABC, FX, and more went dark on Google’s popular live TV platform. Those negotiations have been heated and the outage has had widespread impacts on other Google products as well, but a new deal has now been settled.
As of November 14, Google and Disney have reached a new “multi-year” deal that sees the broadcaster’s channels immediately returning to YouTube TV.
In a statement, YouTube TV says:
We’re happy to share that we’ve reached an agreement with Disney that preserves the value of our service for our subscribers and future flexibility in our offers. Subscribers should see channels including ABC, ESPN and FX returning to their service over the course of the day, as well as any recordings that were previously in their Library. We apologize for the disruption and appreciate our subscribers’ patience as we negotiated on their behalf.
Disney, meanwhile, offers a bit more context.
In a press release, Disney explains that the two companies have reached a “multi-year distribution agreement with YouTube TV” that includes “Disney’s full suite of networks and stations.”
Breaking down the “key elements” of the deal, Disney says:
- Carriage of Disney’s full linear portfolio including all the ESPN networks, ABC, the Disney-branded channels, Freeform, the FX Networks, and the National Geographic channels
- ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service (Unlimited Plan) to be made available at no additional cost to YouTube TV subscribers
- Access to a selection of live and on-demand programming from ESPN Unlimited inside YouTube TV
- Select networks to be included in various genre-specific packages
- The ability to include the Disney+, Hulu Bundle as part of select YouTube offerings
Notably, reports claimed that YouTube TV was pushing for a 1-year deal at one point, as it prepares for continued growth that could make it the number one pay TV distributor in the US.
It’s unclear if the wider impacts of the deal between Google and Disney will be remedied as well, including the loss of Movies Anywhere support for Google Play, and the ability to buy Disney movies through Google TV (and YouTube, and Google Play). As of this evening, we’re still not seeing these.
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