YouTube TV's Latest Nightmare for Code Cutters Puts ESPN, ABC and more at risk

YouTube TV's Latest Nightmare for Code Cutters Puts ESPN, ABC and more at risk

Editor's note: YouTube TV and Disney were unable to reach an agreement and the channel has ceased to exist. The original version of this article continues below.

YouTube TV is at it again, and this time subscribers could lose ESPN, ABC, and other Disney-owned channels. If YouTube TV and Disney do not reach an agreement by 11:59 p.m. on Friday (Dec. 17) (no time frame specified), there will be significant changes in the pricing and offerings of the service.

This news comes from The Hollywood Reporter and is reminiscent of YouTube TV's SNAFU with NBCUniversal. Of course, as the Disney statement quoted by THR states, this is all about money." Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution has a very successful track record of negotiating such agreements with providers of all types and sizes across the country and is committed to working with Google to reach a fair, market-based agreement."

In a blog post on YouTube, the Google-owned video platform promised a fill-in offer for this possible emergency. It will reduce its monthly fee by $15 to $49 until the channel is restored.

That same post also shows aspects of the negotiations between YouTube TV and Google, stating. 'All we ask of Disney, as we do of all our partners, is that you treat YouTube TV the same way you treat other TV providers. If Disney is willing to offer us fair terms, we will renew our agreement with them."

As noted above, this is hardly new ground for YouTube TV; NBC Universal's channels (NBC, USA, and many others) were nearly pulled from YouTube TV in September. No agreement was reached by the contract deadline, but an extension was given, and the two companies subsequently found agreeable terms.

The inner workings of this matter are still unclear, but it is hard to imagine that it will not be resolved in the near future; both the NBCUniversal vs YouTube TV dispute and the recent YouTube TV vs Roku dispute were eventually resolved.

This situation is all too common these days, and one that cord cutters would probably prefer to leave behind. But we tested all the best streaming services and have some ideas for when all this goes down the wrong way and you need those Disney-owned channels.

We present the two best cable TV alternatives: get fuboTV ($65/month) if ABC is more important to you, and Sling TV ($35/month) if ESPN is more important to you.

Categories