ESPN, ABC, and the rest of Disney’s TV lineup are back on YouTube TV, ending a bruising blackout that left millions of subscribers without some of the most-watched channels in America.
Google and Disney struck a multiyear carriage deal last Friday, restoring ESPN, ABC, FX, Disney Channel, Nat Geo, and more after the networks went dark just before midnight on Oct. 30. Google accused Disney of demanding an “unprecedented” fee hike, while Disney said YouTube TV was refusing to pay “fair rates” and trying to devalue its content ahead of future renewals.
Under the new agreement, YouTube TV subscribers will regain live channels and their deleted DVR recordings, and ESPN’s full slate will be included at no additional cost by the end of 2026. Disney+ and Hulu bundles will also be woven into select YouTube offerings as YouTube TV prepares genre-specific add-on packages.
The blackout hit hard. Disney reportedly lost more than $4 million per day, while a survey showed nearly one in four YouTube TV subscribers canceled or planned to cancel during the outage. Google, meanwhile, issued a one-time $20 credit to appease users ahead of a packed college football weekend and two “Monday Night Football” games that viewers missed entirely.
For Disney, it’s the latest in a string of high-stakes carriage battles as it transitions ESPN into a hybrid streaming world. For Google, it’s another reminder that YouTube TV — despite its scale — still lives and dies on traditional TV economics.
