After a two-week hiatus, Disney and YouTube TV recently reached a new agreement, and ESPN and other Disney-owned channels will return to the streaming service. On October 30, more than 20 channels, including ESPN, were offline on YouTube TV due to failed contract negotiations. After the CEOs of both parties - Disney's Bob Iger and Google's Sundar Pichai - actively participated in negotiations, an agreement was finally announced on Friday.
According to Disney’s official statement, key contents of the agreement include:
Keep Disney’s entire portfolio of linear channels on YouTube TV, including all ESPN networks, ABC, Disney-branded channels, Freeform, FX Networks and National Geographic Channels;
YouTube TV subscribers can enjoy ESPN's latest direct-to-consumer service (Unlimited Plan) at no additional cost;
Users can access some live and on-demand content from ESPN Unlimited on YouTube TV;
Some channels will be included in theme packages of different categories;
Disney+ and Hulu bundles will be available as part of select YouTube offerings.
YouTube said: "We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Disney, which not only guarantees the value of the service, but also provides more choices for future products. Channels including ABC, ESPN and FX will be restored one after another, and all previous user program recordings will also return. We are deeply sorry for this interruption and thank users for their patient support during negotiations."
Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, co-chairmen of Disney Entertainment, and Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, said in a statement: "This new agreement reflects our continued commitment to providing viewers with a superior entertainment experience and adapts to changes in users' viewing habits. This agreement once again proves the great value of Disney content and brings more flexibility and choice to YouTube TV users. We are pleased that our channels can resume in time to ensure that viewers can enjoy exciting programming this weekend, including college football games."
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