Disney Has Removed Its Channels From YouTube TV.

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Earlier this week, YouTube and Disney warned YouTube TV subscribers that they could lose access to Disney channels, including ESPN and FX, starting October 31st. It might not be the Halloween celebration you were expecting, but now that the end of the month has arrived, that’s exactly what’s happened: more than 20 Disney channels have disappeared from YouTube TV.

Why did Disney remove its channels from YouTube TV?

Not to be confused with YouTube Premium, YouTube TV is Google’s live TV service, akin to cable TV without a set-top box. As a result, Google is forced to pay content providers like Disney a commission for their channels, which sometimes leads to disputes over the size of these commissions. While neither company has disclosed specific figures, the gist of the matter seems to be that Disney wants to increase its commissions, and Google doesn’t want to pay.

It’s a tough call. Disney told Variety that it believes it sets “fair rates” and accused YouTube of potentially depriving paying subscribers of channels they rightfully deserve to watch by not participating. YouTube, for its part, argued that paying Disney’s new rates would force it to “raise prices for YouTube TV.” Add to that Disney’s own live-streaming service , Hulu + Live TV , and there’s a potential anticompetitive element here, one that Google was happy to point out, noting that the proposed rate hike “directly harms our subscribers while benefiting their [Disney’s] own live-streaming products.”

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Which Disney channels have been removed from YouTube TV?

This isn’t the first time YouTube TV has had to negotiate rates with content providers, and it has previously managed to avoid losing access to channels from companies like Paramount , Fox Corp. , and NBC Universal . But the collapse of negotiations with Disney marks one of the largest content losses YouTube TV subscribers have faced in recent years. The full list of channels removed from the service includes:

  • ABC

  • ESPN

  • ESPN2

  • ESPNU

  • ESPNews

  • Disney Channel

  • Disney Junior

  • Disney XD

  • Free form

  • FX

  • FXX

  • FHM

  • SEC Network

  • Nat Geo

  • Nat Geo Wild

  • ABC News Live

  • ACC network

  • Local

Additionally, if you have a YouTube TV plan in Spanish, you will also lose access to the following channels:

  • ESPN Deportes

  • Baby TV Español

  • Nat Geo Mundo

When will Disney channels return to YouTube TV?

If there’s any silver lining, it’s that the loss of Disney channels on YouTube TV likely won’t be permanent. A similar shutdown occurred in 2021 for similar reasons and lasted less than a week.

However, an exact timeline for the restoration of Disney content on YouTube TV is not yet available. In an update to its initial warning, YouTube stated that Disney is “now following through on its threat” and that “we continue to encourage Disney to constructively engage with us to reach a fair agreement that will restore their networks to YouTube TV.” As before, the platform also promised subscribers a $20 credit if Disney content “is absent from YouTube TV for an extended period of time,” though it is unclear how long this “extended period of time” will be. Specifically, $20 is enough for a month’s subscription to a bundle with Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN with ads . As for Disney, a banner at the top of the Disney+ help center currently directs users confused about why they have lost access to the company’s channels to keepmynetworks.com , which offers other ways to access Disney television content and encourages disgruntled customers to contact YouTube directly and post about the outage on social media.

Other live TV services offering Disney channels

While YouTube TV has temporarily lost access to Disney content, other services continue to offer it, including Disney’s own Hulu + Live TV . However, while Hulu + Live TV is cheaper than YouTube TV for the first three months ($64.99 vs. $72.99), it then becomes more expensive ($89.99 vs. $82.99).

Since the content blackout is likely to be temporary, a potential short-term solution could be the Sling Orange plan , which offers day passes for $5 each and provides access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN4K, Freeform, and Disney Channel.

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