Google and Disney have reached an agreement to restore Disney-owned content to Google’s YouTube TV streaming service. Some of the restored channels include ABC, ESPN, and FX. This development comes after the content was removed during a two-week standoff, beginning on October 31. This caused subscribers to miss live sporting events like college football and two Monday Night Football games.
To compensate subscribers that were affected, YouTube TV offered subscribers $20 credits. The main cause of the fight was the rate Disney charges for its networks, with ESPN being the most expensive network in the US. YouTube said that the deal helps YouTube TV to preserve its value and allows for more flexibility for future offers.
Under the new agreement between the two companies, ESPN Unlimited access will be granted to YouTube TV base plan subscribers by the end of 2026. Available content will include a selection of live and on-demand programming from ESPN Unlimited (including ESPN+ content) at no additional cost.
This dispute between YouTube TV and Disney is not the first wrangling YouTube has been involved in. In October, it reached an agreement with NBCUniversal, which narrowly prevented a blackout of channels like NBC. In August, a deal was made with Fox too, to prevent channels like Fox News and Fox Sports from going off-air just before the college football season.
Commenting on the new deal, Disney executives said:
“We’re pleased to share that we’ve reached a new agreement with YouTube TV, and all of our stations and networks are in the process of being restored to the service.
While this was a challenging moment, it ultimately led to a strong outcome for both consumers and for our company, with a deal that recognizes the tremendous value of the high-quality entertainment, sports, and news that fans have come to expect from Disney.”
If you’ve been affected by the outage, you should see things return to normal now that the two firms are in agreement.
Source: CNBC | Image via Depositphotos.com