Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR YouTube and Disney are nowhere close to resolving their dispute over distribution fees.
In its earnings call recently, Disney said it is prepared for the conflict to extend longer.
Officially in Week 3, this is reported to be the longest Disney blackout ever.
If you’ve been waiting patiently to watch the next Monday Night Football game on your YouTube TV, next week or any of the coming weeks, you might want to give up already. That is because Disney has gestured its two-week-long dispute with YouTube TV may continue to stretch longer.
Following Disney’s Q3 earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston reportedly informed analysts that the Mouse House has adjusted its forecasts to account for any potential delay in its dispute with Google’s YouTube TV. The two corporations have locked horns since October 2025 over distribution licensing fees. Lights on more than 20 Disney-owned channels went out on October 30 as a result of negotiations falling through, and the dispute has only broadened with Disney blocking access to its content on other Google-owned channels.
Adding to this statement by Johnston, Bob Iger, Disney CEO, was reported by Reuters to have mentioned that the current deal proposed by Disney is better than or equal to what other larger distributors have agreed to. Notably, YouTube TV has rapidly surged to become the fourth largest distributor of live TV channels, falling only behind stalwarts such as Comcast, Charter, and DirecTV.
According to another report from earlier this week, YouTube has been demanding a special rate that is lower than that of these distributors, resulting in a stalemate. YouTube, on the other hand, has blamed Disney for pushing for rates that would force it to increase subscription prices for YouTube TV consumers.
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