Disney pulls channels from YouTube TV over fee dispute

Subscribers to YouTube TV have lost access to ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels, as the two companies struggle to negotiate a licensing deal.

Disney said the online pay-TV platform, which is owned by the tech giant Google and available only in the US, had refused to pay fair rates for the content, which also include National Geographic and the Disney channel.

In its own statement, YouTube TV said that Disney’s proposed terms “disadvantage our members while benefiting Disney’s own live TV products”.

After tense negotiations, the channels vanished from YouTube TV just before midnight on Thursday – the deadline to reach a new deal. The blackout affects roughly 10 million subscribers.

If Disney channels remain suspended for an “extend period of time”, YouTube TV said it would offer subscribers a $20 credit.

YouTube and Disney-owned Hulu are among the biggest online TV platforms in the US.

Their stand-off follows similarly contentious talks this year between YouTube and other media companies, which had also threatened to limit the shows available to YouTube TV subscribers.

Google struck a deal at the last minute with Comcast-owned NBCUniversal earlier this month to keep shows like “Sunday Night Football” on YouTube TV. It has also reached agreements with Paramount and Fox in recent months.

In separate statements, both Google and Disney said they were working toward a resolution to restore Disney content to YouTube TV.

Still, the companies remain divided on fees.

“With a $3 trillion market cap, Google is using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement.

But YouTube said in a statement that Disney was proposing “costly economic terms” that would lead to higher prices for YouTube TV customers and limit their options for content, benefiting Disney’s own live TV offerings like Hulu+ Live TV.