YouTube TV Rejects Disney’s Request to Restore ABC For Election Day
The Walt Disney Company called for a brief détente in its ongoing carriage battle with YouTube TV yesterday, asking the television provider to restore ABC for Election Day.
With the United States heading to the polls, Disney argued that the two media giants should put aside their differences to ensure that consumers remain informed about the latest political developments.
“Despite 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,” Disney said in a statement.
Walt Disney Company
“We 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.”
History Repeats Itself
As we previously reported, Disney made a similar proposal last year during its carriage standoff with DirecTV.
Photo: DirecTV
That blackout occurred during ABC’s broadcast of a debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
YouTube TV Rejects Disney’s Offer
Like DirecTV before them, YouTube TV has rejected Disney’s offer to restore ABC today.
Photo: Variety
“We agree that the right priority here is to give customers what they want,” YouTube TV said in a blog post. “As you know from the many content disputes you’ve been part of, customers don’t want companies fighting and content blackouts. But unfortunately, your proposal would permit us to return Disney’s ABC stations only for a day and will cause customer confusion among those who may briefly see ABC on YouTube TV only to lose it again shortly after.”
As we wrote yesterday, YouTube TV subscribers will have to turn to different channels for their Election Day coverage.
Photo: Disney, World News Tonight anchor David Muir and ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis
Alternatively, they can stream the news on ABC News Live, the 24/7 channel available on Hulu and Disney+.
“There are plenty of other options for customers – election news information is very widely available across other broadcast stations and news networks on YouTube TV, as well as on the main YouTube service, for free. In fact, on the last two U.S. election days, the vast majority of tuned in YouTube TV subscribers chose not to watch ABC,” YouTube TV’s blog post continued.
Photo: YouTube
The Blackout Continues
While it was unlikely that YouTube TV would ever acquiesce to Disney’s demands, the tone of its response shows just how bitter the carriage dispute has become.
If today’s statement is any indication, we could be in for an extended blackout.
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