Joe Maring / Android Authority
YouTube TV’s contract negotiations with Disney are dragging on into a multi-week affair, and subscribers are already missing key programming events as a result. ESPN’s Monday Night Football wasn’t broadcasted on the live streaming service, and neither was ABC’s Election Day coverage. In all, 21 Disney channels are currently offline, impacting YouTube TV’s more than 10 million subscribers.
This isn’t the first time YouTube TV has entered public negotiations with media companies over broadcast rights. It previously sparred with NBCUniversal, Fox, and Paramount this year. Considering that six media companies control over 50 channels on YouTube TV, we asked our readers which collection of channels they couldn’t live without. Here’s how they answered it.
What are the YouTube TV channels you can’t live without?
Over the past week, readers voted for their must-have YouTube TV channel collections, and more respondents said they couldn’t live without Disney channels than all the other choices combined. Disney owns premier YouTube TV channels like ABC, ESPN, Disney Channel, and National Geographic. In all, 53.8% of poll voters selected Disney’s bloc of channels as the one most essential.
There was a massive gap between Disney and the runner-up, Fox, which garnered 17% of votes. Fox operates Fox, Fox Business, and Fox News, as well as sports channels FS1, FS2, and the Big 10 Network. Like many media conglomerates, Fox operates regional news channels that provide localized news and weather reporting.
One reader, David Hedenberg, posted a comment in support of the Fox properties:
I could live very nicely without Disney ESPN or ABC. For our house we need Fox and the Hallmark channels.
Warner Bros. Discovery was the only other media brand to represent at least 10% of poll votes. The company’s flagship cable network is TNT, and it also operates TBS, TruTV, and Turner Classic Movies. These channels often surge in popularity in the spring, as the NCAA March Madness tournament is primarily broadcast across TNT, TBS, and truTV.
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Paramount earned 8.1% of votes with channels including CBS, CBS Sports Network, and Nickelodeon. The two remaining network groups, NBCUniversal and AMC Networks, polled at 7.2% and 3.6% respectively. The survey results make clear that if any one channel collection is essential to YouTube TV’s offerings, it’s the Disney channels.
Reader johnkutcha made this point in the comments, sharing that they would change streaming services if a deal isn’t reached with Disney:
I would change if Youtube TV cannot bring back ABC and ESPN. They are part of the big 4 live networks (ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox). Youtube TV allows you to record all shows so you can watch them later like a DVR. So some of the comments below about Live TV are meaningless. I rarely watch Live TV too but watch a ton of stuff that is recorded. Not happy that all my unwatched ABC shows were also taken down on October 30. They better come back when the contract issues are resolved…
The commenter also notes that when content rights battles affect YouTube TV services, it impacts more than live TV availability. Any recorded content disappears as well, and it’s unclear whether it’ll be returned if YouTube TV and Disney come to terms. Additionally, Google and Disney’s negotiations have had ripple effects that disrupted Google TV, Google Play Store, and YouTube content.
YouTube TV seems to have a major incentive to reach a deal with Disney, and soon. Of the six major media companies hosting channels on YouTube TV, our survey results say Disney is the one respondents couldn’t live without.
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