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Earlier this week, YouTube and Disney both warned YouTube TV subscribers that they might lose access to Disney-owned channels, including ESPN and FX, starting on Oct. 31. It’s probably not the Halloween treat you were looking for, but now that the end of the month has come, that’s exactly what’s happened: Right now, more than 20 of Disney’s channels have gone dark on YouTube TV.
Why did Disney pull its Channels from YouTube TV?
Not to be confused with YouTube Premium, YouTube TV is Google’s Live TV service—kind of like cable without the cable box. As such, it needs to pay content providers like Disney fees to offer their channels, and that sometimes means disputes arise over how high those fees should be. While neither company has given insight into specific numbers, the gist seems to be that Disney wants to raise its fees, and Google doesn’t want to pay up.
It’s a tough tightrope to walk. On Disney’s end, the company told Variety that it feels like it’s charging “fair rates,” and accused YouTube of potentially depriving its paying customers of channels they should rightfully be able to watch by not playing ball. On YouTube’s side of things, the company argued that paying Disney’s new rates would force it to “raise prices on YouTube TV.”
Throw in that Disney has its own Live TV service, Hulu + Live TV, and there’s also a potential anticompetitive angle at play, which Google was happy to point out, noting the proposed fee increase “directly harms our subscribers while benefiting their [Disney’s] own live TV products.”
Which Disney Channels Have Been Pulled From YouTube TV?
This isn’t the first time YouTube TV has had to negotiate fees with content providers, and it’s been able to avoid losing access to channels from the likes of Paramount, Fox Corp., and NBC Universal in the past. But with Disney negotiations falling through, this is one of the bigger losses of content YouTube TV subscribers have had to face in years. The full list of channels pulled from the service includes:
ABC
ESPN
ESPN2
ESPNU
ESPNews
Disney Channel
Disney Junior
DIsney XD
Freeform
FX
FXX
FXM
SEC Network
Nat Geo
Nat Geo Wild
ABC News Live
ACC Network
Localish
Additionally, if you’re on the YouTube TV Spanish plan, you’ve also lost access to the following channels:
ESPN Deportes
Baby TV Español
Nat Geo Mundo
When will Disney’s channels come back to YouTube TV?
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the loss of Disney channels on YouTube TV probably isn’t permanent. A similar blackout happened in 2021, for similar reasons, and lasted less than a week.
That said, a direct timeline on restoring Disney’s content to YouTube TV isn’t yet available. In an update to its initial warning, YouTube said that Disney is “now following through on their threat,” and that “we continue to urge Disney to work with us constructively to reach a fair agreement that restores their networks to YouTube TV.” As before, the platform also promised subscribers a $20 credit if Disney content “remains off YouTube TV for an extended period of time,” though it’s currently unclear how long “an extended period of time” actually is. Notably, $20 is enough to subscribe to a month of the Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN bundle with ads.
On Disney’s, end, a banner on the top of the Disney+ Help Center currently points users confused about losing access to the company’s channels to a site called keepmynetworks.com, which suggests other ways of accessing Disney’s TV content and urges disgruntled customers to reach out to YouTube directly, as well as post about the blackout on social media.
Other Live TV services that offer Disney Channels
While YouTube TV has lost access to Disney’s content for now, other services continue to offer it, including Disney’s own Hulu + Live TV. However, while Hulu + Live TV is cheaper than YouTube TV for the first three months ($64.99 vs. $72.99,) it is more expensive afterwards ($89.99 vs. $82.99).
Because the content blackout is likely to be temporary, a potential short-term fix might be the Sling Orange plan, which offers day passes for $5 a pop, and allows access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN4K, Freeform, and Disney Channel.
