Copyright Athlon Sports
The standoff between YouTube TV and Disney, which left ABC, ESPN and a slate of Disney-owned channels dark for millions of viewers, began at the end of October when the pair failed to agree on new carriage terms and the existing licensing pact expired. YouTube TV said it would not accept terms that “disadvantage our members while benefiting Disney’s TV products,” and viewers woke up unable to stream ESPN’s live sports coverage or ABC programming on the Google-owned service. The disruption has had an outsized effect on sports viewers, specifically College GameDay, which attracts multiple viewers across America. So, Pat McAfee had to shift the broadcast to his X account to be widely available as before. For the past two weeks, that has been the norm. In the days since the blackout began, the two sides have made intermittent public overtures but little visible progress. Negotiations have continued this weekend, according to people briefed on the talks. The main development for subscribers came late Saturday. Andrew Marchand of The Athletic says YouTube TV will issue a one-time $20 credit to members if no deal with Disney is reached by Sunday. YouTube TV’s $20 credit pledge is an attempt to blunt customer ire and however, users find that amount practically insignificant. The base YouTube TV subscription runs in the low-to-mid-$80 range. “That’s a scented candle 😂,” A fan said. “It’s too late…ESPN and Fox Sports have a bundle for $40 that covers pretty much every sport, which was the only reason I had YT TV. So now I save almost $60 all because Google wanted to be greedy….✌🏾✌🏾✌🏾” One wrote. “That’ll pay for 1/4 of one month of YouTube TV…” Someone lamented. “I feel like we are way past a 20-dollar credit at this point,” Another said. “$20!!! Keep it cuz I’m canceling the subscription if not,” A fan expressed.
