The war of words between Disney and Google continues — on the fourth day of the blackout of ESPN, ABC and other Disney networks on YouTube TV amid a fee dispute.
On Monday, Disney asked Google to offer ABC to YouTube TV customers on Tuesday, Nov. 4, to bring them Election Night coverage. Google said no — and suggested instead that Disney allow YouTube TV to bring ABC and ESPN back on the air as the two sides work to hash out a new agreement, because those are “the channels that people want.”
Disney’s networks went dark on YouTube TV shortly before the companies’ prior agreement expired Oct. 30 at midnight ET. According to Google, Disney has asked for an unprecedented fee increase for the full suite of networks. For its part, Disney says the tech giant has been “refusing to pay fair rates for our channels.”
YouTube on Monday afternoon shared an email it said execs had sent to “Disney leadership” about the media company’s request to restore ABC for 24 hours.
The email began, “We agree that the right priority here is to give customers what they want. As you know from the many content disputes you’ve been part of, customers don’t want companies fighting and content blackouts. 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.”
The YouTube email noted, “There are plenty of other options for customers — election news information is very widely available across other broadcast stations and news networks on YouTube TV, as well as on the main YouTube service, for free. In fact, on the last two U.S. election days, the vast majority of tuned in YouTube TV subscribers chose not to watch ABC.”
The email continued, “Publicly resorting to the same tactic that Disney relied on in past disputes fails to acknowledge the distinction between YouTube and other distribution platforms. As you know, Disney can continue to livestream news information on the ABC News YouTube page, which has 19.1 million subscribers, and its ABC local stations can also do so on their YouTube pages.
“To truly achieve what is best for our mutual customers, we propose immediately restoring the Disney channels that our customers watch: ABC and the ESPN networks, while we continue to negotiate. Those are the channels that people want,” the YouTube email to Disney concluded. “If you agree with our proposal and give us approval, we can get our operational teams together and get these channels live in hours. Let us know how you’d like to proceed.”
Asked for comment, Disney said it has sent a YouTube renewal proposal to Google and is awaiting a response.
Here is the full list of Disney networks that currently not avalable on YouTube TV: ABC local stations, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, Freeform, FX, FXX, FXM, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, SEC Network, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, ABC News Live, ACC Network, Localish; on the Spanish plan, ESPN Deportes, Baby TV Español and Nat Geo Mundo.
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