Disney asks YouTube TV to restore ABC for Election Night
Disney asks YouTube TV to restore ABC for Election Night
The two companies are still working through a carriage dispute, but neither seems willing to budge too far.
The carriage rock fight between Disney and YouTube TV is continuing unabated on Tuesday, after the deadline of “Monday Night Football” failed to bring the two sides to an accord. Disney’s current lack of a carriage deal with YouTube TV means the streamer doesn’t have channels like ABC and ESPN available at the moment, but Disney has reached out with something of an olive branch for viewers who want to track election coverage on Tuesday night.
Key Details:
- Just for one night?: Disney has asked YouTube TV to restore ABC for election coverage on Tuesday.
- Double or nothing: YouTube TV wants Disney’s permission to bring back ESPN while they work toward a deal.
- On or off?: In a blog post, YouTube TV said that restoring ABC for one day would only cause confusion.
On Monday, Disney asked YouTube TV to restore ABC for viewers across the United States, enabling them to more easily track local and national coverage of important races on Tuesday’s election. Disney made this appeal in the name of “public interest” while the two sides work toward a new agreement.
But YouTube TV declined that entreaty, saying in a blog post that while giving customers access to the channels they want is its ultimate goal, it would ultimately do more harm than good to bring ABC stations back to its airwaves for only a day.
“As you know from the many content disputes you’ve been part of, customers don’t want companies fighting and content blackouts,” YouTube wrote to Disney. “But unfortunately, your proposal would permit us to return Disney’s ABC stations only for a day and will cause customer confusion among those who may briefly see ABC on YouTube TV only to lose it again shortly after.”
In its blog post, YouTube TV countered that it should be allowed to immediately restore both ABC and ESPN while the two sides continue to negotiate toward a solution. YouTube TV made a similar arrangement with Fox during their carriage negotiations earlier this year, agreeing to keep Fox channels on the air in the short term while a longer-term deal was worked out.
YouTube TV says that if Disney agrees to these terms, the blacked-out channels can be restored for customers in mere hours. Negotiations will continue behind closed doors, but for now, YouTube TV subscribers are still stuck in the middle of this carriage fight between media heavyweights.
YouTube TV
YouTube TV is a live TV streaming service with more than 60 channels for $82.99/month. This plan includes local channels 32 of the top 35 cable channels, and regional sports networks (RSNs) in select markets. The base plan includes more than 100 live channels, including major broadcast networks like ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, as well as popular cable channels such as ESPN, CNN, FX, USA Network, and TNT. Local channels are included in most markets, making YouTube TV a full replacement for traditional cable for many viewers.