Copyright The Oregonian
During perhaps one of the best seasons for watching sports on television, ESPN channels were removed from the YouTube TV streaming platform last week as the sides wage a war of words in a carriage dispute over broadcast fees. This means channels from Disney-owned ESPN Networks -- including ABC, ESPN and more -- will no longer be on YouTube TV until the sides come to an agreement. You can watch college and NFL football streaming live for FREE with Fubo (free trial), or with DirecTV (free trial), as they both offer free trial periods to get you though the weekend. When will the dispute between YouTube TV and Disney’s ESPN Networks be resolved? The latest update is that there’s currently no end to the carriage dispute between YouTube TV and Disney in sight. All sides have claimed that negotiations are ongoing, and that they are working to resolve the issue, but the ban will keep both ESPN and ABC off of YouTube TV for the foreseeable future. This also applies to all other Disney properties including popular sports channels like ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, SEC Network, ACC Network and ESPN Deportes among others. The dispute comes at the worst possible time for sports fans with the college football and NFL seasons heating up. And with the sides remaining far apart on the price,“ it appears this issue won’t be fixed anytime soon. “... we continue to urge Disney to work with us constructively to reach a fair agreement that restores their networks to YouTube TV. If their content remains off YouTube TV for an extended period of time, we’ll offer subscribers a $20 credit.,” YouTube TV officials said in a statement posted on October 30. However, the platform has offered no update on this promise and has not reveled details on how subscribers will get this $20 credit. In their own provocation on social media, ESPN asked fans to voice their displeasure with YouTube TV officials on their own social media accounts, or by emailing YouTube TV decision-makers directly. The ESPNPR account posted: “YouTube TV customers: A weekend full of must-see sports is underway. Go to http://keepmynetworks.com to get ESPN back!" Now, fans who subscribe to YouTube TV have a tough decision to make. Will they be willing to wait for a resolution to this dispute, or is it time to ditch YouTube TV for another streaming service altogether? What streaming services have ESPN Networks, ABC and other Disney channels right now? Currently, Fubo and Sling and DirecTV are the best major streaming services that carry ABC and ESPN Networks. All of these platforms offer either a free trial, or promotional discounts, for new signups. No. 1 — Sling TV (promotional offers, cheapest overall streaming plans that start at $29.99/month) It doesn’t have a free trial period, but Sling is our No. 1 option because it offers multiple short-term “passes” to watch ESPN for a day, weekend or week at a time. Those cheap plans start at just $4.99. So, if you think this dispute with YouTube TV will be over soon, you can buy one of these short term passes, or sign up for a month of access for under $30, and hope the dispute is resolved before then. With Sling, you won’t get access to ABC, but you can supplement your Sling plan with an over-the-air HDTV antenna for your TV that will give you college football and NFL games being broadcast locally in your area on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. No. 2 — Fubo (free trial, then $96/month with the $11/month additional “Sports Plus” package to add NFL RedZone) Not only does Fubo have NFL RedZone as an option, they carry most of the channels that would feature nationally televised NFL football games (like FOX, NBC, and CBS as well as local ABC affiliates and ESPN networks). The only major sports channels they don’t have at the moment are Turner affiliates like TNT, TBS and others. While the total monthly cost comes to $96/month for the package that includes NFL RedZone, Fubo allows you to have at least two concurrent viewers. This means you can buy the service and share your login with a friend or family member to share the monthly cost and really save some money. No. 3 —DirecTV (free trial, then $100/month total cost when you add the $15/month additional “Sports Pack” to get NFL RedZone) DirecTV is slightly more expensive than Fubo, depending on your location or the plan you choose, but it does have a free trial. You can give this a go if you want to try it out this week and compare it to Fubo or Sling before you commit long term.
