YouTube TV and Disney reach deal that ends the two-week blackout of ESPN and ABC

ESPN, ABC and other Disney TV networks are coming back to YouTube TV.

Google and Disney finally ended their standoff, announcing Friday a multi-year agreement on pricing and terms for a renewed carriage deal for YouTube TV. Disney’s nets went dark on its Internet TV service just before midnight ET on Thursday, October 30, after the two sides remained far apart over a deal before the expiration of the previous contract.

Under the new agreement, ESPN’s entire sports offering – including content from ESPN Unlimited – will be made available on YouTube TV at no additional cost to basic subscribers by the end of 2026. In addition, access to a selection of live and on-demand programming from ESPN Unlimited will be available on YouTube TV.

The deal also allows YouTube to include the Disney+ and Hulu bundle as part of “select YouTube offers.” According to Disney, “select networks” will be included in various genre-specific packages that YouTube TV expects to launch in the future.

“This new agreement reflects our continued commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment and evolving with the way audiences want to watch,” Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, said in a joint statement. “It recognizes the tremendous value of Disney’s programming and offers YouTube TV subscribers more flexibility and choice. We’re pleased that our networks have been restored in time so fans can enjoy the many great programming options this weekend, including college football.”

In a statement Friday, a YouTube spokesperson said: “We are pleased to share that we have reached an agreement with Disney that preserves the value of our service to our subscribers and future flexibility in our offerings. Subscribers should see channels like ABC, ESPN and FX return to their service during the day, as well as any recordings previously in their libraries. We apologize for the disruption and appreciate our subscribers’ patience as we negotiate on their behalf.”

The deal replaces their previous distribution agreement, signed in December 2021 after a two-day blackout.

On Sunday (Nov. 9), YouTube began providing one-time $20 credits to YouTube TV customers for the loss of Disney’s programming, hoping it would help prevent user cancellations.

Many YouTube TV subscribers have canceled the service out of frustration. According to a survey conducted last week, 24% of YouTube TV users said they had canceled or planned to cancel their accounts due to the Disney blackout. A YouTube representative said: “While subscriber churn is always unfortunate, it has been manageable and does not align with the findings of this study.” Disney also took a hit, losing more than $4 million a day during the blackout, according to an estimate by Morgan Stanley analysts.

Google had said Disney was asking for an unprecedented rate increase on its full suite of ESPN channels, local ABC stations, FX, Disney Channel, Freeform, Nat Geo and more – while Disney claimed the tech giant “refused to pay fair rates for our channels.” According to Google, Disney was trying to “reset” market prices for its programming (so it could charge similarly higher rates on upcoming renewals from other pay-TV distributors) and that Disney was insisting that YouTube TV acquire the Mouse House’s entire slate of networks. The negotiating teams were led by Disney Platform Distribution EVP Sean Breen and YouTube chief business officer Mary Ellen Coe.

The removal of the Disney Networks from YouTube TV came a day before a busy Saturday on November 1 for college football, in which major teams play crucial games, many of which were broadcast on ESPN and ABC. In light of the blackout, ESPN has made its football pregame show “College GameDay” available to watch for free via livestream on X. YouTube TV customers also missed two broadcasts of “Monday Night Football” on ABC and ESPN. (YouTube pointed out to users that they could watch all of ESPN’s programming through the ESPN Unlimited subscription service.)

Along with Disney’s live channels, YouTube TV customers’ DVR recordings of the media conglomerate’s programming were deleted, as is standard in such disputes. With the deal extension, YouTube TV subscribers will regain access to recordings previously in their library, according to YouTube.

On Thursday, Disney CEO Bob Iger told analysts that the company had “worked tirelessly to close this deal,” but said: “It is also imperative that we ensure that we agree to a deal that reflects the value we deliver, which both YouTube, by the way, and Alphabet have told us is greater than the value of any other provider.”

Disney Entertainment’s Walden and Bergman and ESPN’s Pitaro had previously addressed the impasse in several memos to staff. “YouTube TV and its owner, Google, are not interested in reaching a fair deal with us,” the executives wrote in an Oct. 31 email. “Instead, they want to use their power and extraordinary resources to eliminate the competition and devalue the content that helped them build their service.”

Meanwhile, ahead of this year’s election night (November 4), Disney asked Google to restore ABC to YouTube TV for one day to serve the “public interest.” Google declined – suggesting instead that Disney allow YouTube TV to make ABC and ESPN available while the two sides continue talks because these are “the channels people want.” Disney didn’t go for the idea.

The Disney-Google clash became public on October 23, when Disney began warning viewers that its networks could be removed from YouTube TV.

Disney has faced other tough negotiations with distributors during its transition to ESPN Unlimited — the standalone streaming service launched in August that includes everything from the sports programmer’s offering — and its continued investments in Disney+ and Hulu.

In 2023, Disney’s networks had a ten-day blackout on Charter Communications cable systems in a similar price battle. To arrange the Charter deal, Disney gave Charter’s major TV subscribers access to Disney+ and the ESPN+ streaming app. In 2024, ESPN and other Disney nets went dark on DirecTV for almost two weeks before reaching a new deal. In October, Disney and Comcast quietly reached an agreement for the carriage extension.

Google has faced a lot of friction this year in talks about renewing its YouTube TV deal. Other programmers who have battled the Internet company include Paramount Global (now Paramount Skydance), Fox Corp. and NBCUniversal – each of which reached a new deal without a blackout. In late September, YouTube TV dropped Univision, with Google claiming that the price increases pursued by parent company TelevisaUnivision were drastically out of step with viewership on the platform.

YouTube TV is the largest Internet TV service in the US and is estimated to have more than 10 million subscribers. Next up is Disney, which last week struck a deal to merge its Hulu + Live TV business with Fubo; together they have almost 6 million subscribers in North America. Google had claimed that Disney’s hardball tactics over a YouTube TV deal “benefited their own live TV products, including Hulu + Live TV and Fubo.”