Like a desperate quarterback, millions of college football fans could be scrambling. Disney pulled ESPN and ABC from YouTube TV on Friday after both sides failed to meet a midnight deadline to strike a deal over content distribution.
Unless something changes, millions of fans won't be able to watch the college football games that ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC will broadcast Friday and Saturday. That includes No. 5-ranked Georgia versus Florida -- aka "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" -- No. 9 Vanderbilt versus No. 20 Texas, No. 7 Ole Miss versus South Carolina and several other games.
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ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC -- all Disney properties -- broadcast the most college football games by far. Their schedule is listed here. ESPN and ABC air NFL games on Monday nights and also broadcast NBA games.
A representative for Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Disney says YouTube TV is not paying enough to stream its channels. YouTube TV, owned by Google, has the most subscribers of all other internet TV providers, more than 9 million. Hulu, owned by Disney, is second with 4.3 million subscribers through its Hulu + Live TV offering. Disney and Google needed to reach an updated contractual agreement by 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, Oct. 30, which didn't happen.
Football fans aren't the only viewers left sidelined. Here are all the channels that were pulled from YouTube TV:
ABC
ESPN
ESPN2
Freeform
FX
FXX
Disney Junior
SEC Network
Nat Geo
Nat Geo Wild
Disney Channel
ESPNU
FXM
ABC News Live
ACC Network
Disney XD
Localish
ESPNews
ESPN Deportes (Spanish Plan)
Baby TV Español (Spanish Plan)
Nat Geo Mundo (Spanish Plan)
YouTube TV posted on X, "Members, when we renew our contracts with network partners, we advocate for fair pricing to offer you the best TV experience." The service also said it would offer subscribers a $20 credit "if their content is unavailable for an extended period of time." You can find updates on the dispute on this YouTube TV page.
"Google's YouTube TV has chosen to deny its subscribers the content they value most by refusing to pay fair rates for our channels, including ESPN and ABC," Disney said in a statement to CNBC.
In a memo to employees on Friday that was reported by CNBC, Disney accused YouTube TV of deleting "previously recorded shows and events from their subscribers' libraries."
"YouTube TV and its owner, Google, are not interested in achieving a fair deal with us," Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in the memo. "Instead, they want to use their power and extraordinary resources to eliminate competition and devalue the very content that helped them build their service."
Consumers have alternatives to YouTube TV to get their favorite streaming channels, including Sling TV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo and DirecTV Stream. CNET's top streaming picks ar here.
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