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Millions of YouTube TV subscribers could miss \u201cMonday Night Football\u201d on ESPN and ABC News\u2019 election day coverage as the blackout of Walt Disney-owned channels stretches into a second week.<\/p>\n
\u201cMonday Night Football\u201d features the Dallas Cowboys battling the Arizona Cardinals. In addition, several important political contests are on Tuesday ballots, including the New York City mayor\u2019s election, gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, and California\u2019s Prop. 50 to decide whether officials can redraw the state\u2019s congressional map to favor Democrats. <\/p>\n
Disney on Monday sought a temporary thaw in tensions with Google Inc. after the two sides failed last week<\/a> to strike a new distribution contract covering Disney\u2019s television channels on Google\u2019s YouTube TV.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite the impasse that led to the current blackout, we have asked YouTube TV to restore ABC for Election Day so subscribers have access to the information they rely on,\u201d a Disney spokesperson said in a statement Monday. \u201cWe believe in putting the public interest first and hope YouTube TV will take this small step for their customers while we continue to work toward a fair agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n A Google spokesperson was not immediately available for a comment.<\/p>\n ABC\u2019s \u201cWorld News Tonight With David Muir\u201d is one of television\u2019s highest rated programs. <\/p>\n More than 10 million YouTube TV customers lost access to ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels late Thursday after a collapse in negotiations over distribution fees for Disney channels, causing one of the largest recent blackouts in the television industry. <\/p>\n The two TV giants wrangled for weeks over how much Google must pay to carry Disney\u2019s channels, including FX, Disney Jr. and National Geographic. YouTube TV \u2014 now one of the largest pay-TV services in the U.S.<\/a> \u2014 has balked at Disney\u2019s price demands, leading to the outage. <\/p>\n YouTube TV does not have the legal right to distribute Disney\u2019s networks after its last distribution agreement expired.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know this is a frustrating and disappointing outcome for our subscribers,\u201d a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement last week. \u201cWe continue to urge Disney to work with us constructively to reach a fair agreement that restores their networks to YouTube TV.\u201d<\/p>\n YouTube has said that should the outage stretch for \u201can extended period,\u201d it would offer its subscribers a $20 credit.<\/p>\n Spanish-language TelevisaUnivision-owned channels were knocked off YouTube TV<\/a> in a separate dispute that has lasted more than a month. Televisa has appealed to high-level political officials, including President Trump and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr<\/a>. <\/p>\n Last year, after Disney-owned channels went dark on DirecTV in a separate carriage fee dispute, Disney offered to make available to DirecTV subscribers its ABC coverage<\/a> of the sole presidential debate between President Trump and then-Vice President Kamala Harris. <\/p>\n DirecTV viewed ABC\u2019s offer as something of a stunt, noting the debate would be streamed. DirecTV countered by asking Disney to instead make all of its channels available.<\/p>\n