ESPN, ABC, National Geographic, FX and other content were removed from YouTube TV on Thursday night after Disney and Google subsidiary YouTube failed to reach a deal.
The programs were removed prior to the midnight deadline. Previously recorded shows and live events from those channels were also deleted from customer libraries, Disney executives told workers Friday, according to Deadline.
Disney said in a statement, “Google’s YouTube TV has chosen to deny their subscribers the content they value most by refusing to pay fair rates for our channels. … 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.”
YouTube TV is the largest internet TV provider in the country, with more than 9 million subscribers. Disney’s Hulu has about half that many, according to The Associated Press.
YouTube TV, meanwhile, contends that Disney is trying to hamstring the Google subsidiary in favor of its own streaming platforms.
“This decision directly harms our subscribers while benefiting their own live TV products, including Hulu + Live TV and Fubo. … If their content remains off YouTube TV for an extended period of time, we’ll offer subscribers a $20 credit,” YouTube said.
YouTube TV also removed TelevisaUnivision content this year after failing to reach a deal. President Trump has since called on YouTube TV to reach a new agreement with the Spanish-language media company.
The streaming platform had similar showdowns with Fox, NBCUniversal and CBS owner Paramount, reaching long-term distribution deals before their content was removed.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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