Post by : Badri Ariffin

Millions of US viewers discovered ESPN, ABC, National Geographic and several other Disney-owned channels missing from YouTube TV after access stopped shortly before midnight on Thursday. The interruption follows a collapse in carriage negotiations between Google and Disney.

The disagreement centers on licensing fees. Disney accuses YouTube TV of refusing to pay fair-market rates and using its platform strength to push for lower prices. Google’s YouTube TV counters that Disney demanded terms that would raise subscription costs, narrow consumer choice and favour its own Hulu + Live TV offering.

YouTube TV said about 10 million subscribers are affected and that it would issue a $20 credit if Disney channels remain unavailable for a prolonged period.

The dispute echoes recent clashes across the streaming and cable ecosystem. Earlier this month, YouTube narrowly avoided a similar outage after agreeing at the last minute with NBCUniversal to keep shows like Sunday Night Football on the service.

Negotiations are ongoing and viewers are waiting to see when — or if — Disney programming and sports coverage will be restored on YouTube TV.

#Global