UPDATE: After just one day of YouTube TV being without the Disney-owned channels, the two companies reached a deal. Therefore, YouTube TV customers can once again watch ESPN, ABC, etc. through the service. Full details of the new agreement can be found on The Official YouTube Blog.
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YouTube has been holding negotiations with Disney for several months to try to come to an agreement about retaining Disney's channels on YouTube TV.
Unfortunately, the two companies are unable to reach an equitable agreement. Now, the existing agreement has expired, and all Disney-owned channels are no longer accessible on YouTube TV.
As a result, YouTube TV is now substantially cheaper per month. Here are the channels that YouTube TV has lost and what it means for you.
What Channels Has YouTube TV Lost?
As of December 17, 2021, the following live channels are no longer available to stream on YouTube TV:
- Your local ABC channel
- ABC News Live
- Disney Channel
- Disney Junior
- Disney XD
- Freeform
- FX
- FXX
- FXM
- National Geographic
- National Geographic Wild
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPN3 (by authentication to the ESPN app)
- ESPNU
- ESPNEWS
- SEC Network
- ACC Network
This includes any recordings from these channels, along with 4K content available as part of the 4K Plus add-on.
Why Are Disney Channels No Longer Available on YouTube TV?
In a post announcing the loss from YouTube TV, the company writes that "this is frustrating news, and it is not the outcome we wanted".
The writing was on the wall on December 13, when YouTube publicly announced that the two companies had yet to reach an agreement, but that Disney was an important partner.
At the time, YouTube said:
Our ask of Disney, as with all of our partners, is to treat YouTube TV like any other TV provider – by offering us the same rates that services of a similar size pay, across Disney's channels for as long as we carry them.
It seems that Disney weren't willing to play ball. As such, for now, if you want to access the Disney content you're missing, you'll need to subscribe to The Disney Bundle through Disney directly for $13.99/month.
YouTube TV Is Now Cheaper
As a result of YouTube TV losing so many significant channels, the monthly price of the service has been slashed by $15. For as long as the Disney channels are unavailable, customers on the Base Plan will pay $49.99/month rather than $64.99.
If that applies to you, you don't have to do anything. You'll receive $15/month in account credit, which will automatically get applied to your bill. You will only see this credit in Settings > Billing once you've been charged for the current billing cycle.
If you have a promotional price for YouTube TV, you'll still receive this credit. Furthermore, if your account is paused, you'll get the credit one month after your first charge.
All customers will continue to receive this credit for as long as the Disney channels are missing from YouTube TV.
Will Disney Return to YouTube TV?
According to Disney, "[YouTube] have declined to reach a fair deal with us based on market terms and conditions."
The company continued by saying it's ready to reach an equitable agreement in order to restore its networks to YouTube TV and minimize customer disruption.
This isn't the first time that two streaming companies have had a public spat, and nor will it be the last. Earlier this year, NBCUniversal threatened to pull its services from YouTube TV, reportedly because YouTube declined to include NBC's Peacock streaming service as part of its package.
Happily, after airing the grievances publicly, both companies reached an agreement. The same thing could happen here with Disney.
Then again, it might not. The House of Mouse may consider itself too big to need YouTube TV. After all, Disney+ alone has more than 118 million worldwide subscribers after just two years—that doesn't even include its other services like Hulu and ESPN+.