After a 15-day lapse, Disney and ESPN’s television programming is returning to YouTube TV.
The two companies announced a new deal was reached Friday after the previous deal expired at 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 30. It restores full coverage of all of Disney’s programming to the platform’s subscribers, with the channels expected to start showing up again throughout the rest of the day.
This includes all ESPN programming for sports fans, along with ABC, all Disney channels and more.
“We’re happy to share that we’ve reached an agreement with Disney that preserves the value of our service for our subscribers and future flexibility in our offers,” YouTube TV said in a statement. “Subscribers should see channels including ABC, ESPN and FX returning to their service over the course of the day, as well as any recordings that were previously in their Library. We apologize for the disruption and appreciate our subscribers’ patience as we negotiated on their behalf.”
Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Alan Bergman ad Dana Walden and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said, “This new agreement reflects our continued commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment and evolving with how audiences choose to watch.
“It recognizes the tremendous value of Disney’s programming and provides YouTube TV subscribers with more flexibility and choice. We are pleased that our networks have been restored in time for fans to enjoy the many great programming options this weekend, including college football.”
As part of the new deal, all YouTube TV subscribers will also receive complimentary access to ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer “Unlimited” service as part of the YouTube TV base plan.
YouTube TV has quickly risen to be amongst the television providers with the most subscribers. Recently surpassing 10 million subscribers after launching in 2017, it is the largest streaming television provider and third overall behind only Comcast and Spectrum, which each have approximately 12 million subscribers.
–Field Level Media
