Some of the most popular channels on YouTube TV could be dropped by the end of the week due to withstanding negotiations between YouTube TV and Disney.
If a deal is not met soon, by Friday, December 17, all of the Disney-owned channels will be removed from the YouTube TV channel lineup.
The channels this would include would be local ABC stations, ESPN networks, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, FX, FXM, FXX, Freeform, National Geographic and others.
This would not be a good time to lose ABC and the ESPN networks due to the fact that college football bowl season will be starting soon and both of those channels carry a large number of those games live. Additionally, both networks air college basketball, NBA basketball on Christmas Day and other popular sports programming.
YouTube TV has already stated that if a new agreement is not reached by December 17, then the bill of the service will be brought down to $49.99 a month that would be the price until the Disney-owned networks return.
Here is the streaming service’s full statement:
“We are now in negotiations with Disney to continue distributing their content on YouTube TV. Our deal will expire on Friday, December 17, 2021. We have not yet been able to reach an equitable agreement, so we want to give you a heads-up so that you can understand your choices.
Disney is an important partner for us. We are in active conversations with them and are working hard to keep their content on YouTube TV. Our ask of Disney, as with all of our partners, is to treat YouTube TV like any other TV provider – by offering us the same rates that services of a similar size pay, across Disney’s channels for as long as we carry them.
We welcome a renewed agreement provided we can reach equitable terms with Disney. However, if we are unable to reach a deal by Friday, the Disney-owned channels will no longer be available on YouTube TV starting December 17, and we will decrease our monthly price by $15, from $64.99 to $49.99 (while Disney content remains off of our platform).
We would love every member to stay with our service, but we give you the flexibility to pause or cancel your membership at any time. If you want to continue watching some of Disney’s content, consider signing up for their own service, The Disney Bundle, which they offer for $13.99/month and which is subject to its own terms and restrictions.
We will share any further updates here as we seek a resolution for you, our members.
Thanks for your patience and for being a YouTube TV member.”
It should also be noted that YouTube TV is set to lose NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) on Friday, December 31, due to the channel shutting down permanently.
Other alternatives that users can subscribe to in the meantime for Disney-owned channels and networks are Hulu with Live TV, fuboTV, Vidgo and Sling TV.
YouTube TV and all of the streaming services mentioned in this article are available to stream on the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Apple TV and Mac.
