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YouTube TV subscribers have lost access to ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels as the two companies struggle to negotiate a licensing deal.
Disney said the online pay-TV platform, which is owned by tech giant Google and is only available in the US, refused to pay fair prices for the content, which also includes National Geographic and the Disney Channel.
In its own statement, YouTube TV said Disney’s proposed terms “disadvantage our members while benefiting Disney’s own live TV products.”
After tense negotiations, the channels disappeared from YouTube TV just before midnight on Thursday – the deadline to reach a new deal. The blackout affects approximately 10 million subscribers.
If Disney channels remain suspended for an “extended period of time,” YouTube TV said it will offer subscribers a $20 credit.
Disney-owned YouTube and Hulu are among the largest online TV platforms in the US.
Their opposition follows similar contentious talks this year between YouTube and other media companies, which also threatened to limit the shows available to YouTube TV subscribers.
Google struck a last-minute deal with Comcast-owned NBCUniversal earlier this month to keep shows like Sunday Night Football on YouTube TV. It also reached agreements with Paramount and Fox in recent months.
In separate statements, both Google and Disney said they were working on a solution to restore Disney content to YouTube TV.
Still, the companies remain divided on fees.
“With a market cap of $3 trillion, Google is using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undermine the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement.
But YouTube said in a statement that Disney was offering “expensive economic terms” that would lead to higher prices for YouTube TV customers and limit their content options, favoring Disney’s own live TV offerings like Hulu+ Live TV.
