Topline
ESPN, ABC and other channels owned by the Walt Disney Corporation have been unavailable since Oct. 30 for YouTubeTV subscribers as a result of an ongoing carriage dispute between the entertainment giant and the streaming television provider owned by Alphabet—and Disney executives signaled on Thursday they were prepared for a “challenging battle” that could drag on even further.
ESPN, ABC and other channels owned by Disney have been unavailable for YouTube TV’s estimated 10 million subscribers since Oct. 30.
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Key Facts
The dispute has so far meant YouTube TV’s estimated 10 million subscribers have missed weeks of live events from ESPN, including two Monday Night Football games and two Saturdays of college football broadcasts.
A Morgan Stanley analyst previously estimated Disney was losing about $4.3 million per day without a deal in place.
Disney also launched its standalone ESPN streaming app in August, which is now bundled with Disney’s streaming service Disney+, giving the company an alternate way to get ESPN’s content to consumers.
How Long Will The Dispute Last?
It remains unclear, yet some progress is reportedly being made. The Athletic reported Wednesday that the two companies appear to be coming back to the negotiating table and are working on a deal that would restore ESPN to YouTube TV. However, YouTube TV reportedly doesn’t want to pay Disney’s fees for Disney’s other channels, including FX, Freeform, National Geographic and the Disney Channel. Disney CEO Bob Iger and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai have both been involved in the negotiations, sources told The Athletic. Disney has signalled it is preparing for a protracted fight. “We’re in the middle of negotiations right now, things are live, they’re happening,” Disney chief financial officer Hugh Johnston told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday. “Obviously as we entered the year, we knew this was going to be a challenging battle and we prepared ourselves for it. We’re ready to go as long as they want to.”