With the dispute between Disney and YouTube TV continuing, Disney yesterday asked YouTube TV to temporarily restore ABC for Election Day, citing the public interest. YouTube TV has since denied that request.
Key Takeaways
- After Disney requested ABC’s temporary return for Election Day, YouTube TV declined the offer, citing concerns over negotiation tactics and customer confusion.
- YouTube TV did, however, counter with a broader offer to restore both ABC and ESPN networks while negotiations continue.
- YouTube TV also argued consumers have alternative access to election coverage, including ABC News and local station YouTube channels.
YouTube TV hasn’t outright denied Disney’s request. Instead, it has opted to counter with a proposal of its own.
Instead of only restoring ABC, YouTube offered to restore all of “the Disney channels that our customers watch” while negotiations continue. Specifically, ABC and the ESPN networks, with YouTube stating it could have them all back up in hours.
“If you agree with our proposal and give us approval, we can get our operational teams together and get these channels live in hours. Let us know how you’d like to proceed,” YouTube said.
While access to ABC alone would be better for existing subscribers than nothing, one of the reasons YouTube TV gave for denying the original request was the suggestion that this is a familiar tactic used by Disney in past negotiations.
“Publicly resorting to the same tactic that Disney relied on in past disputes fails to acknowledge the distinction between YouTube and other distribution platforms.”
YouTube also argued that not restoring ABC won’t dramatically effect consumer access to Election Day coverage, pointing to the ability to livestream news information on the ABC News YouTube channel as a prime example.
Further to this point, YouTube suggested that local ABC stations could also do the same with their respective YouTube channels.
YouTube also argued that restoring ABC for a limited time, only for the channel to go dark again a day later, could add to customer confusion over whether a deal is going to be done.
While the same could be argued for YouTube TV’s proposal of restoring both ABC and ESPN, the difference seemingly would be that these channels would remain available until a final decision is made – either a deal is done or negotiations breakdown completely resulting in their permanent removal from the lineup.
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