Disney and YouTube are feuding over a YouTube TV carriage deal which has left subscribers without ABC News and Disney-owned channels. Ahead of the deal deadline on October 30, 2025, YouTube pulled Disney channels off of its service until a resolution is reached.
Now Disney is asking YouTube to allow ABC to air on YouTube TV’s streaming service for election coverage.
UPDATE- YouTube reportedly has denied Disney’s request
Here is the alleged email that was sent to Disney executives,
“We agree that the right priority here is to give customers what they want. As you know from the many content disputes you’ve been part of, customers don’t want companies fighting and content blackouts. But unfortunately, your proposal would permit us to return Disney’s ABC stations only for a day and will cause customer confusion among those who may briefly see ABC on YouTube TV only to lose it again shortly after.
There are plenty of other options for customers — election news information is very widely available across other broadcast stations and news networks on YouTube TV, as well as on the main YouTube service, for free. In fact, on the last two U.S. election days, the vast majority of tuned in YouTube TV subscribers chose not to watch ABC.
Publicly resorting to the same tactic that Disney relied on in past disputes fails to acknowledge the distinction between YouTube and other distribution platforms. As you know, Disney can continue to livestream news information on the ABC News YouTube page, which has 19.1 million subscribers, and its ABC local stations can also do so on their YouTube pages.
To truly achieve what is best for our mutual customers, we propose immediately restoring the Disney channels that our customers watch: ABC and the ESPN networks, while we continue to negotiate. Those are the channels that people want. If you agree with our proposal and give us approval, we can get our operational teams together and get these channels live in hours. Let us know how you’d like to proceed.”
According to Variety, Disney made this statement,
“Despite the impasse that led to the current blackout, we have asked YouTube TV to restore ABC for Election Day so subscribers have access to the information they rely on. We believe in putting the public interest first and hope YouTube TV will take this small step for their customers while we continue to work toward a fair agreement.” YouTube TV could not be reached for immediate comment.”
Disney must not think that it will reach an agreement with YouTube ahead of the elections, which is why they are likely asking for the special allowance for ABC News to be aired.
ABC News will still be available on other streaming services and online via live stream at ABC News Live.
Other news networks will also be offering live election coverage.
Why are Disney-owned channels not on YouTube TV?
Disney and YouTube have not yet reached a resolution and Disney is asking for more money for their channels.
YouTube claims that Disney wants more money for their channels. YouTube reportedly wants to make changes to its tiers that could cause subscribers to drop channels.
Since they could not reach an agreement, the Disney-owned channels are off YouTube TV until a deal can be reached.
It’s a mess.
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