Copyright Newsweek
Late last month, YouTube TV announced it was removing Disney's ABC and ESPN from its platform after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a new carriage rights deal. "Our current agreement with Disney has approached its renewal date, and we will not agree to terms that disadvantage our members while benefiting Disney’s own live TV products," a statement from YouTube TV read. "Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to reach a fair deal, and starting today, October 30, 2025, Disney programming will not be available on YouTube TV. This means you will no longer be able to watch channels like ABC and ESPN or access recordings from these networks in your Library." A full week into the standoff, YouTube TV customers still don't have access to ABC or ESPN with another full weekend of college football and Monday Night Football looming. NFL News: NFL Forced Al Michaels to Make Correction During Chargers-Vikings Game NFL News: NFL Announces Punishment Decision After Baker Mayfield Incident As the blackout rages on, Awful Announcing reported Disney is losing around $5 million per day that ABC and ESPN remain off the YouTube TV platform. Disney continues to lose money with each day, ESPN and ABC both suffered big losses in viewership over the past week. Monday night's game between the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys drew an average audience of 16.2 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, and NFL+. Disney touted it as the “second-highest Week 9 audience since 2011," however, most games have not also been featured on ABC. When compared to the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers clash in Week 9 of the 2024 season, which averaged 20.6 million viewers, the Week 9 battle between the Cardinals and Cowboys suffered a 21.4% drop. But that's not the only bad news for ESPN. According to Sports Illustrated writer Bryan Fischer, ESPN's College GameDay suffered a big drop in viewership as did its main college football games. "ESPN’s College GameDay had 2.5 million viewers of the show prior to Disney deal expiring with YouTubeTV. Show after had 2 million viewers. Matchup dependent, but SEC on ABC TV windows prior to YTTV spat had 6.6m, 7.8m and 6.8m viewers. After: 4.5m, 7.8m, 4.8m," Fischer said. ESPN suffered a big drop in ratings and Disney continues to lose money, but the standoff doesn't appear to have an end in sight.
