Rupert Murdoch\u2019s Fox Corp<\/a>., Comcast\u2019s NBCUniversal and Spanish-language broadcaster TelevisaUnivision have all complained that YouTube TV was trying to use its market muscle to squeeze them for concessions.<\/p>\nHere\u2019s a look at what\u2019s driving the escalating tensions:<\/p>\n
Google\u2019s growing clout in television<\/b><\/p>\n
The struggle between Disney and YouTube reflects television\u2019s fast-shifting dynamics. <\/p>\n
Disney has long entered carriage negotiations with tremendous leverage, in large part because it owns ESPN, which is a must-have channel for legions of sports fans. <\/p>\n
Programmers, including Disney, structured their distribution contracts to expire near a pivotal programming event, such as a new season of NFL football. The timing motivated both sides to quickly reach a deal rather than risk alienating customers.<\/p>\n
But for Google\u2019s parent, Alphabet, YouTube TV is just a sliver of their business. The tech company generated $350 billion in revenue last year, the vast majority coming from Google search and advertising. That gives YouTube a longer leash to hold out for contract terms it finds acceptable. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis dispute is not that painful for Google,\u201d said analyst Richard Greenfield of LightShed Partners, noting that YouTube TV could probably withstand \u201ctwo weekends without college football, and two weeks without \u2018Monday Night Football\u2019 \u2014 as long as their consumers stay with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Disney, however, depends on TV advertising and pay-TV distribution fees. The week-long blackout has already dampened TV ratings, which means less revenue for the company.<\/p>\n
Consumers like YouTube TV<\/b><\/p>\n
For decades, throngs of consumers loathed their cable company \u2014 a sentiment that Disney and other programmers were able to use in their favor in past battles. Customer defections prompted several pay-TV companies to find a compromise to restore the darkened TV channels and stanch the subscriber bleeding. <\/p>\n
But YouTube is banking on a more loyal user base, including millions of customers who switched to the service from higher-priced legacy providers. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll stick this thing out with YouTube TV,\u201d Newton said, adding that he hoped the dispute didn\u2019t drag on for weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the problems facing Disney,\u201d Greenfield said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a noticeable change in tone from past carriage fee battles. If customer losses stay at a minimum, then Disney is going to be in a tough place.\u201d<\/p>\n
It boils down to power and money<\/b><\/p>\n
YouTube TV is the fastest-growing television service in the U.S. Analysts expect that, within a couple of years, YouTube TV will have more pay-TV customers than industry leaders Spectrum and Comcast. <\/p>\n
In the current negotiations, Google has asked Disney to agree to lower its rates when YouTube TV surpasses Comcast\u2019s and Spectrum\u2019s subscriber counts. Disney maintains that YouTube already pays preferred rates, in recognition of its competitive standing, and that Google is trying to drive down the value of Disney\u2019s networks. <\/p>\n
\u201cYouTube TV and its owner, Google … want to use their power and extraordinary resources to eliminate competition and devalue the very content that helped them build their service,\u201d top Disney executives wrote last Friday in an email to their staff. <\/p>\n
People close to YouTube TV reject the characterization, saying the service has been a valuable partner by providing a strong service that brings Disney billions of dollars a year in distribution revenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bottom line is that our channels are extremely valuable, and we can only continue to program them with the sports and entertainment viewers love most if we stand our ground,\u201d the Disney executives wrote in last week\u2019s email. \u201cWe are asking nothing more of YouTube TV than what we have gotten from every other distributor \u2014 fair rates for our channels.\u201d<\/p>\n
Higher sports rights fees <\/b><\/p>\n
A major reason Disney is asking for higher fees is because it\u2019s grappling with a huge escalation in sports costs. <\/p>\n
Disney is on the hook to pay $2.6 billion a year to the NBA, another $2.7 billion annually to the NFL, and $325 million a year for the rights to stream World Wrestling Entertainment. Such sports rights contracts have nearly doubled in the last decade, leading to the strain on TV broadcasters.<\/p>\n
In addition, deep-pocketed streaming services, including Amazon, Apple and Netflix, have jumped into sports broadcasting, driving up the cost for the legacy broadcasters. <\/p>\n
The crowded field also strains the wallets of sports fans, and appears to be adding to the fatigue over the YouTube TV-Disney fight. <\/p>\n
Newton wrote in a recent Twitter post that he was spending $400 a month for his various internet, phone and TV services, including Disney+ and NFL Sunday Ticket, which is distributed by YouTube TV.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m already on all the major subscriptions to watch football these days,\u201d Newton, a third-generation San Francisco 49ers fan, said. \u201cYou need Netflix. You need Peacock, you need Amazon Prime and the list goes on and on. I\u2019m at the point where I\u2019m not paying for anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"YouTube TV customers are bracing for another frustrating weekend. For the last week, YouTube TV\u2019s 10 million subscribers have been denied access to ESPN, ABC and other Walt Disney Co. channels in a dispute that has swelled into one of the largest TV blackouts in a decade. Instead of turning on \u201cCollege GameDay,\u201d \u201cMonday Night […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2140794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2140793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/YouTube-vs-Disney-Whats-behind-the-fight.com2Fe72F8b2F6da88d34494fa1894199cddf.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2140793"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2140795,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140793\/revisions\/2140795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2140794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2140793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2140793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2140793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}