YouTube TV loses Disney channels over contract dispute

Video-streaming giant YouTube has reportedly failed to reach a deal with Disney to keep more than a dozen Disney-owned channels on the live TV streaming service.

As of December 18, popular networks including ESPN and ABC have been removed from the service, reports The Verge.

As promised, YouTube TV has dropped its subscription to $50 per month as a direct result of the lost programming.

The company said that after ongoing negotiations with YouTube TV, "they have declined to reach a fair deal with us based on market terms and conditions".

"As a result, their subscribers have lost access to our unrivaled portfolio of networks including live sports and news plus kids, family and general entertainment programming from ABC, the ESPN networks, the Disney channels, Freeform, the FX networks and the National Geographic channels," the company said.

"We stand ready to reach an equitable agreement with Google as quickly as possible in order to minimise the inconvenience to YouTube TV viewers by restoring our networks. We hope Google will join us in that effort," it added.

In a blog post, YouTube TV said it would "continue conversations with Disney to advocate on your behalf in hopes of restoring their content on YouTube TV.

The announcement follows a notice shared with subscribers earlier this week that the channels could vanish from YouTube TV on December 17 if a deal was not reached between the two companies.

--IANS

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