Ten million subscribers to the YouTubeTV streaming platform suddenly lost access to multiple channels owned by The Walt Disney Corporation – including ESPN and ABC – as the two companies are in a carriage dispute.
YouTubeTV, the popular chord-cutting streaming service owned by Google, pulled every channel owned by Disney off their platform late on Thursday evening.
It’s part of an ongoing and prolonged negotiation between Disney and Google to strike an agreement to provide programming for millions of viewers across the country.
Now, sports fans are scrambling to find a solution before Week 10 of the college football season – with their options to watch multiple high-profile matchups now vanishing into thin air.
In a statement released late Thursday, ESPN said, ‘Unfortunately, Google’s YouTube TV has chosen to deny their subscribers the content they value most by refusing to pay fair rates for our channels, including ESPN and ABC.
‘Without a new agreement in place, their subscribers will not have access to our programming, which includes the best lineup in live sports – anchored by the NFL, NBA, and college football, with 13 of the top 25 college teams playing this weekend.’
YouTube TV and the Walt Disney Company have not reached a carriage agreement
This means that ESPN and ABC have now gone dark for over 10million Americans
The statement continued: ‘With a $3trillion 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.
‘We know how frustrating this is for YouTube TV subscribers and remain committed to working toward a resolution as quickly as possible.’
In a statement posted in a series of tweets, on Thursday evening, YouTube TV said, ‘Members, when we renew our contracts with network partners, we advocate for fair pricing to offer you the best TV experience. Our contract with Disney has reached its renewal date, and we’ll not agree to terms that disadvantage our members while benefiting Disney’s TV products.
‘Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to reach a fair deal, and starting today, Disney programming will not be available on YouTube TV. This means you will no longer be able to watch channels like ABC and ESPN or access recordings from these networks in your Library.
‘We know how disruptive it is to lose channels you enjoy, and we’re committed to continuing to work with Disney to reach an agreement. If their content is unavailable for an extended period of time, we’ll offer our members a $20 credit.’
The statement from YouTube TV was met with hundreds of responses from angry sports fans – many of whom said they are finding ways to cancel their subscriptions to the platform.
If an agreement is not reached before Saturday, millions of Americans will be without the ability to watch college football on one of the most packed weeks in the calendar.
In addition to college football, fans could miss this week’s Monday Night Football game
Among the games being carried on ESPN and ABC that are now blacked out on the platform include the following:
- No. 9 Vanderbilt @ No. 20 Texas
- No. 10 Miami (FL) @ SMU
- No. 5 Georgia vs. Florida
- No. 12 Notre Dame @ Boston College
- No. 15 Virginia @ Cal
- South Carolina @ No. 7 Ole Miss
- No. 8 Georgia Tech @ NC State
- No. 18 Oklahoma @ No. 14 Tennessee
- No. 17 Cincinnati @ No. 24 Utah
Additionally, if this issue lapses through the weekend, then NFL fans will be without this week’s ‘Monday Night Football’ contest between the Arizona Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys.
Outside of football, dozens of NBA and NHL games could be going dark for subscribers to the network. Next week also marks the beginning of college basketball season, with many games set to air on ESPN.
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