YouTube TV to Begin Issuing Customers $20 Credit for Disney Blackout on Sunday
When Disney networks first pulled YouTube TV, the internet company said it would offer subscribers a $20 credit if ESPN, ABC local stations and Disney’s other channels were unavailable for an “extended period of time,” and now those credits are on the way.
In an effort to appease disgruntled customers, YouTube will begin giving $20 credits to eligible YouTube TV customers starting Sunday, November 9, unless a deal is still in place with Disney to reinstate the channels. YouTube will email YouTube TV subscribers with instructions on how to apply the one-time $20 credit to their next billing statement. All credits will be issued by Wednesday, November 12th.
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YouTube TV subscribers were unable to watch ESPN, ABC local stations, and other Disney networks because they were removed from the channel shortly before midnight ET on October 30.
If Disney agrees to a deal, according to YouTube, the channels would be reinstated “within a few hours,” well before the NFL “Monday Night Football” Eagles-Packers game on Nov. 10, which will air on both ABC and ESPN.
“We know subscribers are disappointed by the outage and continue to encourage Disney to work with us constructively to reach a fair agreement that will restore their network to YouTube TV as quickly as possible,” YouTube said in a statement Saturday. Regarding the negotiations, YouTube said: “Disney continues to resort to its own playbook rather than negotiating with us in good faith to reach an agreement.”
Available only in the US, YouTube TV’s basic subscription plan costs $82.99 per month.
The dispute centers on price: Google claims Disney is demanding an unprecedented fee increase, while Disney says the tech giant “refuses to pay fair wages for our channels.”
On Friday, three top Disney executives — Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro — sent a memo to staff saying the two sides were still no closer to renewing the deal. “When will ESPN and ABC return to service? We wish we could give you that answer today, but unfortunately, without any agreement, we are heading into a sports-filled weekend,” the executives wrote.
Disney executives claimed the company “offered fair terms consistent with more than 500 other distributors who have renewed their contracts since last summer, including top distributors that are much larger than YouTube TV.” (In October, Disney quietly reached a deal renewal with Comcast.) “Despite all this, YouTube TV continues to insist on receiving below-market concessional terms and has made few concessions,” Walden, Bergman and Pitaro said in the memo.
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