Copyright Men's Journal
Disney’s dispute with YouTube TV is proving to be a costly one. According to Morgan Stanley, Disney is losing $30 million a week—which comes out to about $4.3 million a day—as a result of the standoff. As Business Insider reports, Morgan Stanley analyst Ben Swinburne estimates that the showdown, which as of Tuesday has lasted twelve days without either side blinking, is costing tens of millions of dollars. Swinburne’s calculations assume that it will last at least another couple of days to make it a full fortnight. Roughly 10 million YouTube TV subscribers have been unable to watch ABC or ESPN though the Google-owned service since just before midnight on October 30. That’s when Disney initiated a blackout, a result of a disagreement over carriage fees. Disney wants Google to pay more money in order to have its channels available on YouTube TV, ostensibly to justify the lofty fees the House of Mouse’s itself is paying for NFL, NBA, and other sports rights. YouTube TV claims the increase is too high and would in turn cause the streaming service to raise its prices. YouTube TV subscribers have already missed two Monday Night Football games (Philadelphia Eagles vs. Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys) with more on the way if the situation isn’t resolved soon. Disney is a $200 billion company, but losing $60 million over the past two weeks is still nothing to scoff at. Business Insider notes that it’s possible that some YouTube TV subscribers are signing up for a Disney-owned streaming service, which would mitigate the lost revenue somewhat, but it’s hardly a total replacement. Morgan Stanley estimates that Disney’s quarterly net income will fall from $1.55 billion to $1.52 billion—a 1.6% drop of $25 million dollars. This translates to 2 cents per share. YouTube TV Is Hurting Because of the Disney Blackout, Too As with any business standoff like this, it’s a game of chicken to see which side caves first and comes to the bargaining table ready to yield or compromise. Disney is losing millions of dollars, but YouTube TV’s also feeling consequences from the blackout. According to Variety, nearly a quarter of subscribers have canceled or say they plan on canceling their YouTube TV subscriptions.
