Disney-owned Hulu is also one of the largest multi-channel video-on-demand (MVOD) platforms — a category that includes live TV and video-on-demand. (YouTube TV leads the pack with just over 4 million subscribers.) YouTube TV and Disney struck a deal Sunday afternoon that will restore ESPN, ABC and many other channels to the streaming service. The new agreement will continue to include Disney`s networks such as ESPN and FX, as well as Disney`s on-demand and live content. Customers who have recordings of Disney properties in their YouTube TV library will also see them restored. And YouTube TV noted that users will get their local ABC stations back up and running at the end of the day on Sunday. YouTube has updated its blog post, in which it had kept customers informed of its contractual dispute, to indicate that it had reached a new agreement that will allow Disney to continue streaming its content on YouTube TV. This means that prices for YouTube TV customers will not fall to the lower price, as this was justified when it seemed that the channels would be removed. Instead, YouTube TV will continue at the usual price of $64.99 per month. “I had no idea that so many people were using YouTube TV to watch sports,” tweeted Jessica Smetana, a sports media personality at Meadowlark Media and “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz.” ⦠I would be angry if I couldn`t watch bowl games today.â Members who haven`t yet received their $15 discount on their monthly bill will have it applied to their next bill. No action is required from members to receive the credit. If customers have decided to cancel due to the failure of negotiations, YouTube says they can return by visiting the site (tv.youtube.com/membership) and then clicking “Add” to reset the basic plan to their membership.
Members who have suspended their membership will receive the credit one month after their initial charge, according to the company. Members who are in a state of pause will receive this credit one month after their first charge. (For more information, see a dedicated website.) “We are pleased to announce that after a brief hiatus, we have entered into a new distribution agreement with Google`s YouTube TV for the onward transmission of our network portfolio,” Disney said in a statement. “We value Google`s collaboration to achieve fair and market-compliant terms, and we are excited to restore our strong offering of sports and live news, as well as children`s, family and general entertainment programs for YouTube TV subscribers across the country.” “You know how frustrating it is to lose channels like ESPN and your local ABC channel, and you`ll continue discussions with Disney in hopes of restoring their content for you,” YouTube TV said on Twitter on Sunday. Television outages due to contractual disputes have become increasingly common. In 2020, there were a record 342 network power outages on pay-TV services compared to 278 in 2019, according to the American Television Alliance (ATVA), a trade group that represents cable, satellite and telecommunications TV providers. YouTube TV removed and then restored The Walt Disney Company`s (DIS) program over the weekend after the two parties failed to agree to resolve a promotion dispute within the contract period. The platform, owned by Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), blacked out the program from Disney`s list of live networks and channels from its platform on December 17, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. .m .m — the deadline to extend the shipping contract with Disney. After agreeing to the terms of an extension, he began restoring access on December 19, 2021.
Just a few weeks ago, YouTube was on the other side of the negotiating table in a contractual dispute with Roku over its YouTube and YouTube TV apps. This was then resolved without either company sharing agreements on how to resolve Roku`s serious allegations about Google`s increased demands on data use and its anti-competitive behavior. “For active members who haven`t yet received that $15 discount on their monthly bill, you`ll automatically receive a one-time credit on your next bill with no action required,” YouTube TV said. “For members who have been affected and have begun the termination process, we would be happy to welcome you back.” The next day, they announced a deal, with Disney Media saying it was “happy” to have kept the disruption short. This isn`t the first time this year that Google has found itself in a deadlock with a media company over distribution. In the fall, Google`s agreement with NBCUniversal`s cable networks and local NBC stations expired. The companies were able to quickly reach a new agreement. A similar disagreement with Roku over the terms of distribution of the YouTube and YouTube TV apps was settled this month. The news follows an earlier announcement Friday night that the two had not reached an agreement before their contract expired, and users were informed that they would no longer have access to channels that included ESPN, Disney, FX and other Disney-owned properties. Last week, YouTube warned its customers that they could lose access to Disney-owned channels on its YouTube TV streaming service by the end of the week if the two companies fail to reach a new transportation deal. On Friday, negotiations broke down and YouTube TV warned its customers that it would have to remove Disney channels from its service and cut prices for customers.
But over the weekend, things changed. On Sunday, YouTube announced that a new deal had been reached, but that it would still offer customers a $15 credit for the disruption. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. In its own statement, Disney Media and Entertainment said in part, “We appreciate Google`s collaboration to achieve market-compatible level playing field.” The two sides were in negotiations to reach an agreement on Disney content that includes 17 live channels and eight TV channels. YouTube claimed that Disney charges more money for its programs than other platforms similar in size to YouTube pay for it. .