Copyright Men's Journal
Since Oct. 30, YouTube TV and Disney have been involved in a carriage dispute, resulting in both ESPN and ABC being blacked out for all YouTube TV subscribers. So far, sports fans who subscribe to YouTube TV have missed two weekends of college football, the opening week of college basketball, several early-season NBA games, and two Monday Night Football games. So far, YouTube TV has come across as the good guy in the negotiations, with most of the public believing Disney deserves more blame for the continued blackout. The platform also offered subscribers a $20 credit for losing access to the two channels, though they did spark outrage for forcing users to claim that credit. However, a recent report claims that YouTube TV is making some rather significant demands in its continued negotiations with Disney. Public Opinion Favors YouTube TV So far, the public has largely sided with YouTube TV in the standoff, with multiple surveys showing that the public believes Disney deserves more blame than YouTube TV for the continued blackout. A survey by Drive Research polled 1,107 people and found that while 58% of people believe both sides are equally at fault, 37% placed blame directly on Disney, and just 5% blamed YouTube TV. The Athletic surveyed more than 8,000 people with 64% of respondents saying that Disney was most at fault, 28% saying that the two sides shared the blame equally, and just 8% blaming YouTube TV. In a social media poll with only two options posted on X by the outlet Awful Announcing, which covers sports media, 73% of respondents blamed Disney, while just 27% blamed YouTube TV. YouTube TV Makes Major Demand While YouTube TV seems to be getting more support from the public amid the dispute, it sounds like the streaming platform is making some rather unprecedented demands in the negotiations. According to a report from John Ourand of Puck Media, ESPN has already offered YouTube TV the same rate that it gives the three biggest television distributors in the United States: Comcast, Charter, and DirecTV. YouTube TV, however, is demanding an even better rate, according to Ourand. “I’m told that ESPN has agreed to give YouTube TV the same rate as the three biggest distributors in the business-Comcast, Charter, and DirecTV—which have negotiated the lowest rates: a figure believed to be a little more than $10 per subscriber per month,” Ourand wrote for Puck this week. “The trouble is that YouTube TV is pacing to crack their ranks. Thanks to its extraordinary growth trajectory, which is all but assured by its $3.5 trillion parentco, YouTube TV wants a better rate than other distributors. And that, of course, would be a bridge too far to ESPN,” Ourand added. Needless to say, this is quite a demand from YouTube TV.
