Major sporting events will return to YouTube TV this weekend, after Disney and Alphabet said Friday that they had reached a deal to stream content from ESPN, ABC, FX and National Geographic, among other channels, on the platform.
The deal ends a dispute that began when talks over the renewal of a distribution contract for Disney content on YouTube TV broke down last month.
Major sporting events will return to YouTube TV this weekend, after Disney and Alphabet said Friday that they had reached a deal to stream content from ESPN, ABC, FX and National Geographic, among other channels, on the platform.
The deal ends a dispute that began when talks over the renewal of a distribution contract for Disney content on YouTube TV broke down last month.
It resulted in a blackout of popular live broadcasts of college football, college basketball, the NFL and the NBA on YouTube TV that started Oct. 31. YouTube TV said the $20 credit it had offered to subscribers during the blackout would be claimable until Dec. 9.
Disney Entertainment’s co-chairmen said in a statement that they were “pleased that our networks have been restored in time for fans to enjoy the many great programming options this weekend, including college football.” YouTube TV, which is owned by Google parent company Alphabet, said that it was happy to announce it had “reached a deal with Disney to bring their content back to YouTube TV.”
The two sides did not disclose a dollar amount, but Disney said it was a multiyear agreement.
During the negotiations, both sides engaged in a public blame game, accusing each other of harming subscribers and seeking an unfair deal. Disney said Alphabet was “using its market dominance to eliminate competition” and “repeatedly refusing to negotiate in good faith.” Alphabet said Disney was using “the threat of a blackout on YouTube TV as a negotiating tactic to force deal terms that would raise prices” for its customers, even as it continued to stream on its own platforms such as Hulu + Live TV.
YouTube TV sought to challenge Disney’s long-standing practice of selling its content in bundles, The Washington Post previously reported, by seeking a less costly deal that would give it only the most popular Disney content, such as ESPN or ABC, and the flexibility to sell ESPN as part of its own sports bundle.
The dispute angered enough sports fans for Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr to weigh in publicly. “Google and Disney need to get a deal done and end this blackout,” he wrote on social media this week. “People should have the right to watch the programming they paid for — including football.”
Shares of Disney rose slightly in after-hours trading upon announcement of the deal, recovering a small portion of the stock losses it incurred this week in the wake of a mixed earnings report. Shares for Alphabet also rose, but the jump was more likely due to a regulatory filing from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway on the same day that showed it had acquired a $4.3 billion stake in the tech conglomerate earlier this year.
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