Disney Goes Dark on YouTube TV. Why the House of Mouse and Google Are Feuding.
Oct 31, 2025 08:28:00 -0400 by George Glover | #Media
Disney pulled ESPN off YouTube TV overnight after the two sides failed to agree a licensing deal. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Key Points
- Disney channels, including ESPN and ABC, were removed from YouTube TV after a failure to agree on new streaming terms.
- Google and Disney are in disagreement over the fees Google pays to carry Disney’s content on its platform.
- Disney’s stock declined 0.5%, while shares of YouTube parent Alphabet increased by 1.2% following the dispute.
Disney channels including ESPN and ABC disappeared from Google’s YouTube TV overnight, after the two sides failed to come to terms on a new streaming agreement.
The two companies are feuding about several issues, including the fee that Google pays Disney to carry its content.
“Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to reach a fair deal,” YouTube TV said in a statement. “Starting today, Disney programming will not be available on YouTube TV.”
“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,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The deadline for YouTube TV and Disney to reach a deal was 11:59 p.m. ET. The channels vanished from YouTube TV shortly before midnight Eastern time.
It seems inevitable the two sides will reach a deal eventually. YouTube TV’s audience is surging, and analysts expect it to become the biggest pay TV distributor over the next few years, so any content that can help that growth story is a win for Google. The tech company will probably dip into its deep pockets and meet Disney’s demands so that it can carry on airing flagship ESPN shows like “Monday Night Football.”
Neither company’s stock took much of a hit from the spat. Disney slipped 0.4% in early trading on Friday. Shares in YouTube parent Alphabet were flat. The S&P 500 was up 0.5%.
Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com