More than 10 million YouTube TV customers lost access to ESPN, ABC and other Walt Disney Co. channels after contract talks broke down Thursday night in one of the largest television blackouts in recent years.
The Disney blackout was set to begin by 9 p.m. Thursday, interrupting “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt” on ESPN and “9-1-1: Nashville” and “Grey’s Anatomy” on ABC.
The two TV giants have been wrangling for weeks over carriage fees for Disney’s channels, including FX, Disney Jr. and National Geographic. YouTube TV — now one of the largest pay-TV services in the U.S. — has balked at Disney’s price demands, fueling the dispute that spilled beyond Thursday’s deadline for a new deal.
Without an agreement, Google-owned YouTube TV no longer had legal rights to distribute Disney’s channels.
“We know this is a frustrating and disappointing outcome for our subscribers,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement. “We continue to urge Disney to work with us constructively to reach a fair agreement that restores their networks to YouTube TV.”
Should the outage stretch for “an extended period,” YouTube said it would offer subscribers a $20 credit.
The blackout highlights heightened tensions in the television industry.
Programming companies, including Disney, have sought higher fees for their channels to help offset the increased cost of sports programming, including NFL and NBA contracts.
But pay-TV providers such as YouTube have pushed back, attempting to draw a line as customers grow weary of ever-increasing monthly bills.
They don’t want to lose subscribers to a rival service or have them drop their subscriptions. More than 40 million pay-TV customer homes have cut the cord over the last decade, according to industry data.
Disney becomes the latest TV programmer to allege that Google has been throwing its weight around in contract negotiations.
People close to the Burbank entertainment giant accuse YouTube TV of refusing to pay market rates for Disney’s popular channels or accept terms accepted by other pay-TV distributors. Disney has clinched deals with six other pay-TV companies this year, including the nation’s largest channel distributors, Charter Spectrum and Comcast.
“Unfortunately, Google’s YouTube TV has chosen to deny their subscribers the content they value most by refusing to pay fair rates for our channels, including ESPN and ABC,” Disney said in a statement. “Without a new agreement in place, their subscribers will not have access to our programming, which includes the best lineup in live sports – anchored by the NFL, NBA, and college football, with 13 of the top 25 college teams playing this weekend. With a $3 trillion market cap, Google is using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor.”
Since August, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corp., Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Spanish-language broadcaster TelevisaUnivision have all complained that YouTube TV was trying to use its clout to squeeze them for concessions now that YouTube TV has become so popular with consumers.
YouTube TV, for its part, has alleged that Disney was the one making unreasonable demands. The San Bruno, Calif.-based platform cited recent agreements it reached with NBCUniversal and Fox..
“Last week Disney used the threat of a blackout on YouTube TV as a negotiating tactic to force deal terms that would raise prices on our customers,” YouTube TV said in a statement. “They’re now following through on that threat. … This decision directly harms our subscribers while benefiting their own live TV products, including Hulu + Live TV and Fubo.”
Both Disney’s Hulu service and Fubo compete with YouTube TV by offering packages of many of the same traditional channels.
YouTube has alleged that Disney is using the blackout to steer disaffected YouTube TV customers to Disney-owned streaming services after the Burbank company lost subscribers who canceled following the late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s brief suspension last month.
The two companies’ fraught dealings extend beyond the negotiations.
Last spring, Disney’s former distribution chief, Justin Connolly, abruptly exited to take a similar position at YouTube TV. Connolly had spent two decades at Disney and ESPN and helped devise the company’s distribution strategy. Disney sued to block the move, but a judge allowed Connolly to take his new position — putting him on the opposite side of the negotiation table.
News and sports fans might quickly notice the absence of their favorite channels.
They could miss college football on ESPN and ABC as well as a “Monday Night Football” game between the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys.
ESPN is scheduled to televise a University of Miami-SMU football game on Saturday.
(Jason Allen / Associated Press)
Disney’s ABC stations, including KABC-TV in Los Angeles, and the network’s affiliate stations around the country also will be unavailable on YouTube TV.
That means viewers could miss local newscasts, “Jeopardy,” “Wheel of Fortune,” “Good Morning America” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
YouTube TV launched in April 2017 for $35 a month. The package of channels now costs $82.99.
Walt Disney Co. is alerting viewers that its channels may go dark on YouTube TV amid tense contract negotiations between the two television giants.
The companies are struggling to hammer out a new distribution deal on YouTube TV for Disney’s channels, including ABC, ESPN, FX, National Geographic and Disney Channel. YouTube TV has become one of the most popular U.S. pay-TV services, boasting about 10 million subscribers for its packages of traditional television channels.
Those customers risk losing Disney’s channels, including KABC-TV Channel 7 in Los Angeles and other ABC affiliates nationwide if the two companies fail to forge a new carriage agreement by next Thursday, when their current pact expires.
“Without an agreement, we’ll have to remove Disney’s content from YouTube TV,” the Google Inc.-owned television service said Thursday in a statement.
Disney began sounding the alarm by running messages on its TV channels to warn viewers about the blackout threat.
The Burbank entertainment company becomes the latest TV programmer to allege that the tech behemoth is throwing its weight around in contract negotiations.
In recent months, both Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corp. and Comcast’s NBCUniversal publicly complained that Google’s YouTube TV was attempting to unfairly squeeze them in their separate talks. In the end, both Fox and NBCUniversal struck new carriage contracts without their channels going dark.
Univision wasn’t as fortunate. The smaller Spanish-language media company’s networks went dark last month on YouTube TV when the two companies failed to reach a deal.
“For the fourth time in three months, Google’s YouTube TV is putting their subscribers at risk of losing the most valuable networks they signed up for,” a Disney spokesperson said Thursday in a statement. “This is the latest example of Google exploiting its position at the expense of their own customers.”
YouTube TV, for its part, alleged that Disney was the one making unreasonable demands.
“We’ve been working in good faith to negotiate a deal with Disney that pays them fairly for their content on YouTube TV,” a YouTube TV spokesperson said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Disney is proposing costly economic terms that would raise prices on YouTube TV customers and give our customers fewer choices, while benefiting Disney’s own live TV products – like Hulu + Live TV and, soon, Fubo,” YouTube TV said.
Disney’s Hulu + Live TV competes directly with YouTube TV by offering the same channels. Fubo is a sports streaming service that Disney is in the process of acquiring.
YouTube said if Disney channels remain “unavailable for an extended period of time,” it would offer its customers a $20 credit.
The contract tussle heightens tensions from earlier this year, when Disney’s former distribution chief, Justin Connolly, left in May to take a similar position at YouTube TV. Connolly had spent two decades at Disney and ESPN and Disney sued to block the move, but a judge allowed Connolly to take his new position.
YouTube TV launched in April 2017 for $35 a month. The package of channels now costs $82.99.
To attract more sports fans, YouTube TV took over the NFL Sunday Ticket premium sports package from DirecTV, which had been losing more than $100 million a year to maintain the NFL service. YouTube TV offers Sunday Ticket as a base plan add-on or as an individual channel on YouTube.
Last year, YouTube generated $54.2 billion in revenue, second only to Disney among television companies, according to research firm MoffettNathanson.
The dispute comes as NFL and college football is in full swing, with games on ABC and ESPN. The NBA season also tipped off this week and ESPN prominently features those games. ABC’s fall season began last month with fresh episodes of such favorite programs as “Dancing with the Stars” and “Abbott Elementary.”
ABC stations also air popular newscasts including “Good Morning America” and “World News Tonight with David Muir.” Many ABC stations, including in Los Angeles, run Sony’s “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!”
“We invest significantly in our content and expect our partners to pay fair rates that recognize that value,” Disney said. “If we don’t reach a fair deal soon, YouTube TV customers will lose access to ESPN and ABC, and all our marquee programming – including the NFL, college football, NBA and NHL seasons – and so much more.”
A legendary nostalgic broadcaster will be ‘shutting down five music channels in the UK’ amid the quick rise of streaming services
Legendary nostalgic broadcaster ‘shutting down five channels in the UK’(Image: GETTY)
Nostalgic broadcaster MTV will reportedly be closing all of its iconic music channels around the globe, minus the USA, following huge cuts amid a company merger. In the UK, MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and Live HD will no longer be available to watch after decades on air.
MTV has reportedly finalised a deal between Paramount Global and Skydance Media. Over the summer, it was revealed MTV UK, which started in the 90s and helped launch the careers of Emma Willis and Kelly Brook, became the latest casualty of social media and streaming.
At the time, bosses said it “will still have a presence” but accepted MTV UK wouldn’t continue making original music content.
And now, it was reported in The Sun that the music channels will be pulled from air on December 31. The main MTV channel will not be affected.
One insider said it was a ‘dark day for the music industry’ as they told the publication: “MTV was once an industry powerhouse but now is a total shell of its former self. All channels bar the main MTV station are being axed — but even that only airs reality TV shows like Geordie Shore.”
The source claimed the changes were due to the rise of streaming.
Earlier this summer, a spokesman said: “MTV UK is sunsetting local series Gonzo and Fresh Out UK, beginning this month. We are deeply grateful to our hosts, Jack Saunders and Becca Dudley, the talented artists who have been a part of these series, as well as the teams who brought them to life.
“Fans can continue to enjoy global music shows like the MTV VMAs, STANS and Ozzy Osbourne: No Escape From Now on MTV and Paramount+, alongside digital music content on our MTV UK social channels.”
Earlier this year, Sky performed a shake up its channel offerings as POP Max was removed from all platforms.
The broadcaster previously carried POP Max and POP Max +1 on Sky Q and Sky+HD, as well as POP Max HD on Sky Glass and Sky Stream.
The channel had already vanished from Freeview last year. Originally launched in 2008 as Kix, the channel underwent a rebranding to POP in 2017.
Sky broke the news on its website, noting that while other POP-branded channels will stay, some will change positions due to the closures.
YouTube TV dropped Univision’s Spanish-language networks late Tuesday, a contentious turn in a simmering dispute that has already drawn scrutiny from members of Congress.
“Google’s YouTube TV has refused to ‘Do the Right Thing’ and dropped Univision from its platform — stripping millions of Hispanic viewers of the Spanish-language news, sports, and entertainment they rely on every day,” parent company TelevisaUnivision said in a statement, alluding to its campaign slogan.
The outage began about 7 p.m. PDT, shortly before the federal government shutdown — a newsworthy event that Univision journalists have been covering.
The impasse occurred as another deadline loomed in separate contract talks between YouTube TV and NBCUniversal, raising the possibility of a second blackout. Both Univision and NBCUniversal’s distribution agreements were set to expire Tuesday night. But at the deadline, NBCUniversal granted YouTube TV a short-term extension to allow the two sides to continue working on a new deal.
NBCUniversal owns Telemundo, the other major Spanish-language broadcast network.
Prominent members of Congress, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), have demanded answers from Google executives, including Chief Executive Sundar Pichai.
A major sticking point was YouTube TV’s proposal to shift the Univision network from its basic plan, which is available to all subscribers, and put the channel on a more expensive Spanish-language add-on package.
Univision cried foul, saying the switch would amount to an 18% fee increase for its Spanish-language viewers. The move would also dramatically cut the revenue that Univision receives because YouTube and other distributors pay fees based on the number of subscribers that have access to a channel.
“Google shouldn’t be abusing its monopoly power by forcing millions of Texans & Americans to pay extra for Spanish-language programming,” Cruz said in a message on X. “That’s not right & it’s not fair.”
YouTube is flexing its market muscle. The Google platforms have become the dominant video service in the U.S., according to Nielsen, with YouTube attracting more than 120 million active daily users.
The YouTube TV service has become a major draw with more than 10 million customer homes that receive its traditional TV channel packages that include NBC, ABC, Fox News and Comedy Central.
A YouTube spokesperson downplayed Univision’s departure, saying the Spanish-language company continues to have a massive following on its main YouTube site with more than “160 million subscribers and billions of views across YouTube, where they generate ad revenue from their content.”
However, on the paid service, YouTube TV, the Spanish-language programming “only represents a tiny fraction of overall consumption,” the YouTube spokesperson said.
NBCUniversal’s talks with Google have also been rocky. The tech behemoth has expressed a desire to fold Peacock programming onto its YouTube TV platform rather than the current stand-alone service. But NBCUniversal has balked because it has spent billions of dollars building Peacock and it wants to remain the conduit for its customers.
YouTube TV launched in April 2017 for $35 a month. The package of channels now costs $82.99.
In a bid for more sports fans, YouTube TV took over the NFL Sunday Ticket premium sports package from DirecTV, which had been losing more than $100 million a year to maintain the NFL service. YouTube TV offers Sunday Ticket as a base plan add-on or as an individual channel on YouTube.
Now you can be a cord-cutter and a TV news junkie too.
That’s because consumers who are giving up pay TV are finding a growing array of options outside the cable bundle providing national and local news.
Look up at the screen at the local nail salon or bagel shop, and where you once might have seen CNN, Fox News or CNBC might be a free channel serving up headlines.
For purveyors of TV news, the streaming channels have become a bigger part of their future as the habit of traditional viewing fades and a new generation relies on information from TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms.
More consumers are discovering national and local news content on what the media industry calls free ad-supported streaming television — or FAST — channels. Internet-connected television sets with free streaming TV platforms such as Tubi, Pluto TV, Roku and Samsung TV Plus built into them are making the offerings easier to find.
Ethan Cramer-Flood, a principal forecast writer for the media research firm Emarketer, tracks the growth of FAST channels. But it wasn’t until he recently cut the cord himself that he realized he could get his local news from New York stations such as WABC-TV anytime he wanted streamed through his Roku device.
“After cutting the cord, one of the things I had been missing was news,” Cramer-Flood said. “The channels are all right there. They are showing their news segments and newscasts all day long. You can just go on it and catch a half-hour.”
The news-viewing habit is growing as FAST channel usage steadily increases. Emarketer data put the number of U.S. consumers watching FAST at 116.8 million, and the figure is projected to reach 130 million by the end of the decade.
Cramer-Flood said that internet-connected TV sets are making FAST channels as convenient to watch as cable channels.
“The barrier to entry is zero,” Cramer-Flood said. “They don’t even make you sign up. It doesn’t cost anything. In one click you’re in the same exact experience as cable.”
Broadcast networks including ABC, CBS and NBC and TV station ownership groups such as Fox, Nexstar and Scripps have had streaming news channels for years, enabling them to reach younger viewers who have turned away from traditional television. They carry repeats of TV newscasts, morning shows and newsmagazines, but over time have added original streaming programs as well, where emerging on-air talent can get experience at the anchor desk.
“NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas put in four years at streaming channel NBC News Now before taking over for Lester Holt in June. But he has remained with his nightly streaming newscast, “Top Story,” to maintain a presence with an audience that is about 20 years younger than the one watching traditional TV.
ABC News chose Linsey Davis, the anchor of its signature streaming news program on ABC News Live, to be co-moderator of its 2024 presidential debate alongside David Muir of “World News Tonight.”
As the audience migration to streaming continues, outlets such as CNN and BBC News are joining the FAST channel fray even though they are still dependent on pay TV revenue.
CNN recently launched CNN Headlines, a free streaming channel that provides fast-paced delivery of national and international stories culled from the network’s reporting. There are no live guests, panel discussions or debates that are a trademark of the flagship cable channel. The channel’s lead anchor, Brad Smith, is often seen in a leather jacket rather than a suit and tie, a nod to the notion that the conventions of traditional TV news are less important to younger viewers.
“It’s more informal than it is on cable,” Eric Sherling, executive vice president, U.S. programming for CNN.
The arrival of CNN Headlines comes ahead of the network’s plans to offer a subscription-based direct-to-consumer product that will give consumers the chance to get CNN’s cable feed without a pay TV subscription for the first time.
Sherling said the two services will appeal to different audiences, with CNN Headline viewers looking for brevity while paying customers get the breadth and depth they expect from the cable channel.
CNN Headlines replaced a previous FAST channel that played segments that aired on cable. It was barely curated, but “a ton of people watched it,” Sherling said.
Early response to CNN Headlines has been strong, the network said, reaching 30 million users a month and more than 2 million daily.
Viewers have also quickly discovered a streaming version of BBC News, which is distributed on cable in the U.S. by AMC Networks. The service hit a high of 258.5 million streamed minutes in June, up 153% from the same month in 2024, according to AMC’s data.
AMC Networks has been aggressive in putting its programming on FAST channels, as cord-cutting puts the squeeze on its cable outlets. The company has 20 FAST channels in all, with BBC News being the latest entry.
The stream is identical to the BBC News feed offered to pay TV subscribers. But Amy Leasca, executive vice president of partner management for AMC Networks, said the company hasn’t seen any cannibalization of the cable audience.
BBC News presenters Caitríona Perry, left, and Sumi Somaskanda in Washington, D.C.
(AMC Networks)
Data indicate streaming viewers are showing up for specific scheduled programs on BBC News, mirroring the habits of traditional TV users, Leasca said.
Fox Television Stations takes a different approach with LiveNOW, a channel that delivers raw footage of breaking news coverage, with on-air journalists who are there to guide viewers from one event to the next. The video journalists deliver straightforward introductions of live video without commentary.
President Trump addressing Congress on March 4, 2025.
(Fox Television Stations)
“There are no prompters or scripts,” said Emily Stone, vice president of digital content and LiveNOW at Fox Television Stations.
Most companies release sparse internal data on exactly how many viewers are watching their FAST news channels. But LiveNOW puts its viewing numbers right on the screen in real time. Jeff Zellmer, executive vice president of digital operations for Fox Television, said the figures help the service determine what to cover.
On Friday, LiveNOW showed an empty lectern ahead of the press conference announcing the arrest of the alleged shooter of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. The screen showed more than 345,000 were watching, and it surged to 400,000 when law enforcement officials took the microphone.
LiveNOW’s reached its largest audience in February when its coverage of President Trump’s address to Congress in hit 1.95 million viewers
LiveNOW started as an experiment in 2014 when Fox Television Stations President Jack Abernethy challenged his outlets to come up with a low-cost streaming service using their existing resources.
“The Phoenix station decided they were going to start a YouTube channel and put a person in front of a switcher with a bunch of live feeds and see what happens,” Stone said.
The stream showed live coverage of local events and picked up an occasional car chase from California.
But when the COVID-19 pandemic and protests over the police killing of George Floyd hit in 2020, the public was desperate for up-to-date information from officials. LiveNOW gained a following.
“There was a press conference every second from every city,” Zellner said.
LiveNOW’s video journalists are not the high-paid anchors that have long been the staple of network news. The 10 staffers who run the operation toil on minimalist sets in Phoenix and Tampa, Fla., which helps keep the service profitable.
Kate O’Brian, who oversaw Scripps’ streaming news operation until late last year, said the less formal approach of streaming news channels is likely to be the norm going forward.
“I think there’s something viewers appreciate about the unvarnished part of it,” O’Brian said. “It doesn’t look pretty sometimes. But I think post-pandemic — when every reporter was sitting in their basement or their garage — the audience’s patience and adaptability completely changed.”
