Disney warns that YouTube TV could lose its channels amid fee negotations

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: YouTube TV may lose a provider’s content because a deadline is approaching without a deal in place. This time, the media company is Disney. It’s warning (via Variety) that its networks could soon go dark on Google’s streaming service.

The two sides are negotiating ahead of an October 30 midnight ET deadline. If they can’t agree by then, all Disney content will disappear from YouTube TV. That includes (among others) all ESPN channels, local ABC stations, ABC News, FX, NatGeo, Disney Channel and Freeform. A YouTube spokesperson told Variety that if that should happen for “an extended period of time,” subscribers will receive a $20 credit.

One aspect of these battles is finger-pointing as each side tries to leverage public perception. Disney says YouTube is trying to muscle the mouse into paying below market value. Meanwhile, YouTube claims Disney is “proposing costly economic terms” that could lead to even higher subscription fees. YouTube TV launched at $35 per month in 2017 and now costs a whopping $83 monthly.

If recent history is any indication, you can expect the dire warnings of content removal to continue until they strike a deal at the last second. That already happened several times this year.

In February, YouTube TV and Paramount had that dance. Google’s streaming network and Fox came to a renewal deal in August after repeated content-removal warnings. YouTube TV and NBCUniversal did the thing earlier this month. However, in that case, the streaming service dropped Univision and other TelevisaUnivision networks, so tidy deals aren’t inevitable. Time will tell how this one plays out, but it’s hard to imagine either side here wanting to play chicken past the October 30 deadline.