Stop me for those who’ve heard this one earlier than: YouTube TV might lose a supplier’s content material as a result of a deadline is approaching with no deal in place. This time, the media firm is Disney. It’s warning (through Variety) that its networks might quickly go darkish on Google’s streaming service.
The two sides are negotiating forward of an October 30 midnight ET deadline. If they cannot agree by then, all Disney content material will disappear from YouTube TV. That contains (amongst others) all ESPN channels, native ABC stations, ABC News, FX, NatGeo, Disney Channel and Freeform. A YouTube spokesperson instructed Variety that if that ought to occur for “an prolonged time period,” subscribers will obtain a $20 credit score.
One side of those battles is finger-pointing as both sides tries to leverage public notion. Disney says YouTube is making an attempt to muscle the mouse into paying under market worth. Meanwhile, YouTube claims Disney is “proposing expensive financial phrases” that might result in even larger subscription charges. YouTube TV launched at $35 monthly in 2017 and now prices a whopping $83 month-to-month.
If current historical past is any indication, you’ll be able to anticipate the dire warnings of content material removing to proceed till they strike a deal on the final second. That already occurred a number of occasions this 12 months.
In February, YouTube TV and Paramount had that dance. Google’s streaming community and Fox got here to a renewal deal in August after repeated content-removal warnings. YouTube TV and NBCUniversal did the factor earlier this month. However, in that case, the streaming service dropped Univision and different TelevisaUnivision networks, so tidy offers aren’t inevitable. Time will inform how this one performs out, but it surely’s arduous to think about both aspect right here eager to play hen previous the October 30 deadline.