- Disney and Google have been quarreling for the past two weeks over a YouTube TV deal that has fallen flat.
- Both corporations are projected to lose millions of dollars.
- Google is reportedly demanding a “special price,” lower than that of three bigger distributors.
- Disney, although hesitant, might have to oblige to reduce its losses and restore investors’ confidence ahead of its earnings call tomorrow.
Over the past couple of weeks, Google and Disney have been at loggerheads due to a pricing dispute. What started with both parties’ failure to meet each other halfway in negotiations, resulting in more than 20 Disney channels, including ABC and ESPN, being removed from YouTube TV, has spread to other streaming platforms and blocked access to Disney’s paid content across other Google-owned platforms.
The conflict is costing both parties. YouTube has been forced to issue refunds to customers for the unavailability of Disney-owned channels on YouTube TV and prevent them from cancelling subscriptions. With its subscriber count estimated to be over 9 million in the US, that’s a cumulative loss of nearly $200 million for the tech giant. The losses are widening as many subscribers are jumping to rival platforms such as DirecTV. Meanwhile, Disney is projected by Morgan Stanley analysts (via Variety) to have lost around $60 million in just two weeks of the blackout, and its losses are expected to increase each week as the dispute continues.
