On Monday, Disney shared a statement to bring the issue to light, with YouTube later issuing their own remarks on the state of negotiations.
If the two companies are unable to come to an agreement by 11.59 p.m. on Friday, December 17 then the channels will be pulled.
Here is everything you need to know about the dispute.
Why could Disney, ESPN and ABC be removed from YouTube TV?
Disney are currently in a dispute with Google over carriage fees, and if they don’t come to a renewal agreement then the virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) will lost up to 25 channels.
In a statement issued on Monday, and shared by The Hollywood Reporter, Disney said: “Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution has a highly successful track record of negotiating such agreements with providers of all types and sizes across the country and is committed to working with Google to reach a fair, market-based agreement.
“We are optimistic that we can reach a deal and continue to provide their YouTube TV customers with our live sporting events and news coverage plus kids, family and general entertainment programming.”
In response, YouTube released a statement on their blog which said: “Disney is an important partner for us and we’re in active conversations with them and working hard to keep their content on YouTube TV.
“Our ask to Disney, as with all our partners, is to treat YouTube TV like any other TV provider — by offering us the same rates that services of a similar size pay, across Disney’s channels for as long as we carry them. If Disney offers us equitable terms, we’ll renew our agreement with them.”
The company added that if an agreement is not met then those hoping to watch Disney-owned channels on YouTube TV would only be able to do so at an extra cost of $13.99 per month as part of their Disney Bundle.
They stipulated that if they were unable to come to an agreement then the monthly subscription for YouTube TV would decrease by $15, from $64.99 to $49.99, to compensate for the loss.
YouTube TV first launched in 2017 and has since become one of the country’s top vMVPD’s, alongside Hulu and Live TV, and The Hollywood Reporter claimed it has approximately 4 million subscribers in total.
The vMVPD currently has access to 17 live channels and eight local ABC stations thanks to its deal with Disney.
