One of the largest television providers in the country has seen the largest sports network pulled from its lineup. The Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC and the ESPN family of sports networks, has pulled the networks from YouTube TV, the largest internet television provider in the United States, as part of an ongoing dispute.
Google, which owns YouTube TV, said in a blog post Thursday night that Disney has suspended its content from the provider after the two sides failed to agree on a new content distribution deal.
“We’ve been working in good faith to negotiate a deal with Disney that pays them fairly for their content on YouTube TV,” the statement reads. “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.”
Google says that it would offer users of YouTube TV a $20 credit if the blackout lasts “an extended period of time.” YouTube TV currently costs $82.99 per month.
Decision Comes As College Football Season Heats Up
ESPN also has NBA and NHL seasons just starting
The decision to pull its programming from YouTube TV comes at a critical time for Disney, as both ESPN and ABC are slated to carry some of the biggest college football games this week. ABC is scheduled to show Vanderbilt-Texas, a battle of top 20 SEC schools, plus Georgia’s matchup against Florida and Oklahoma taking on Tennessee. Meanwhile on ESPN, viewers will miss Miami-SMU, Notre Dame-Boston College, and South Carolina-Ole Miss.
In addition, hockey and basketball fans will miss out on regular season action in the NHL and NBA, which has just gotten underway. ESPN airs the NBA on Wednesday as well as select NHL regular season matchups.
Disney accuses Google of refusing to pay fair rates for its network content, and instead “has chosen to deny their subscribers the content they value most.”
“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,” Disney said in a statement.
Both sides have said they look forward to reaching a resolution.
