What happened to ABC on YouTube TV? Streaming giant loses ESPN and Disney channels over contract dispute

YouTube TV has lost several Disney-owned channels, including ABC, ESPN, and Freeform, after the two companies failed to come to a contractual agreement on Friday evening.

As a result, YouTube TV will be decreasing the price of its streaming platform from $64.99 to $49.99, as it has lost 25 channels. The channels that viewers will no longer be able to access are National Geographic and eight local ABC stations, among others.

YouTube released an official statement regarding the same.

“We know this is frustrating news for our customers, and not what we wanted. We will continue conversations with Disney to advocate on your behalf in hopes of restoring their content on YouTube TV.”

Why did Disney refuse to sign YouTube’s contract?

According to Disney, the Google- owned video sharing platform “declined to reach a fair deal” with Disney “based on market terms and conditions.”

This is the first contract-related blackout YouTube has dealt with in the past five years.

In a separate statement, Disney announced:

“We stand ready to reach an equitable agreement with Google as quickly as possible in order to minimize the inconvenience to YouTube TV viewers by restoring our networks. We hope Google will join us in that effort.”

The dispute between YouTube and Google revolves around money. According to YouTube, Disney attempted to claim higher fees for its television network. Their requested sum was much larger that “services of similar size pay,” according to YouTube.

Earlier this week, YouTube TV had warned its subscribers that Disney-owned channels could possibly vanish if the two companies were unable to reach a deal.

A list of all Disney channels that are no longer available include:

Your local ABC channel
ABC News Live
Disney Channel
Disney Junior
Disney XD
Freeform
FX
FXX
FXM
National Geographic
National Geographic Wild
ESPN
ESPN2
ESPN3 (by authentication to the ESPN app)
ESPNU
ESPNEWS
SEC Network
ACC Network

Google had a similar dispute with NBCUniversal earlier this year. YouTube requested for NBCU cable networks, which included their local stations as well.

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Karishma is a trending writer at SK POP. With a BA in Journalism, Psychology and Literature, Karishma, who has closely followed the latest internet trends from a young age, found her role at SK POP to be the perfect fit for her professional qualifications and personal interests.

She has nearly 3 years of experience in the industry and has interned with The Hindu and Deccan Herald. In her role at Sportskeeda, Karishma covers a range of topics at the pop division, but she believes her skills as a journalist are best reflected while creating impactful and research-intensive stories. For her, no other step in the writing process is as crucial as fact-checking with multiple sources and accurately conveying facts and data.

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Edited by Saman