YouTube TV’s blackout of ESPN and other Disney-owned channels is costing them more than $4 million a day in revenue, according to a new estimate.
With cord-cutting becoming increasingly popular and sports rights deals being spread across a number of streaming services, fans are paying out plenty to watch their favorite teams play each game.
YouTube TV has become pretty central to it all, with the Google-owned service covering all of the major sports in the United States and North America. However, on October 30, that was thrown into jeopardy when ESPN and other Disney-owned channels dropped off the service.
Disney blasted YouTube TV in a statement, claiming the platform had “chosen to deny their subscribers the content they value most” and accused Google of refusing to pay fair rates for ESPN and ABC. This has seen fans miss out on one weekend of College Football and NFL games.
ESPN & ABC could be back on YouTube TV soon
YouTube has offered to bring back the channels after more than 20% of subscribers threatened to cancel and have offered to compensate subscribers as well. However, getting your hands on said compensation requires jumping through a few hoops.
However, as per a report from Morgan Stanley analsyts, the blackout is apparently costing Disney around $4.3 million in lost revenue per day, and up to $30 million per week.
The analysts expect the issue to be resolved by the weeks end – November 16 – which could see viewers back in time for College Football and NFL.
As Variety notes, both sides are “feeling the pinch” of the dispute, but a YouTube TV spokesperson batted back at the report of a 24% increase of cancelations over the blackout.
“While subscriber churn is always regrettable, it’s been manageable and does not align with the findings of this survey,” they told Variety.
YouTube TV has been in similar disputes in the past 12 months, most notably with Paramount Plus.
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