Google’s battle with Disney over YouTube TV is just beginning, and Google just rejected Disney’s request to temporarily restore ABC to the platform so that American viewers can access coverage of the election taking place today (Nov. 4).
Despite having removed all of its YouTube TV channels amid an ongoing dispute over the terms of a new carriage deal, Disney filed to temporarily reinstate ABC on YouTube TV for election coverage, including the mayoral elections in New York City and the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, in the “public interest.”
On Monday, a Disney spokesperson provided a statement to Deadline detailing the full reason for the request: “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 trust. We believe in putting the public interest first and hope YouTube TV takes this small step for its customers as we continue to work toward a fair agreement.”
However, YouTube was quick to issue a response and it was not what Disney expected. In its own blog post, YouTube expressed its appreciation for Disney’s proposal and acknowledged that while customer needs are its priority, the deal was non-negotiable, stating the following:
“As you know from the many content disputes you’ve been a part of, customers don’t want companies to fight and cause content blackouts. But unfortunately, your proposal would allow us to return Disney’s ABC stations for only one day and will cause customer confusion among those who may briefly watch ABC on YouTube TV only to lose it again shortly afterward.”
Additionally, the company went on to note that not only are there other channels on YouTube TV for customers to access on Election Day, but over the past two years the majority of subscribers opted not to watch ABC for election-related information.
Disney removes movies from Google TV and more
Amid the dispute, Disney also began removing its titles from a handful of Google-owned stores, and not just YouTube TV.
Now you can no longer find Disney’s range of movies and TV shows to buy or rent on Google TV, YouTube and the Play Store, 9to5Google reports. Instead, you can only watch titles owned by Disney and its subsidiaries if you are a Disney+ subscriber or have previously purchased them.
While landing pages for Disney titles are still available on the Google Play Store and YouTube, the only options left are “Add to Wishlist” and “Play Trailer,” but that’s not just the case for Disney family content.
Disney subsidiaries have distributed films beyond the classic animated children’s films with which the company is synonymous, and some of its more mature titles have also been affected; For example, you cannot rent or buy live-action films distributed under the Disney umbrella, such as The help (2011).
At the moment, this dispute is still ongoing and it is unclear when or if the two sides will reach an agreement. For now, YouTube TV is compensating subscribers up to $60 for the loss of Disney-owned channels.
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