YouTube TV and Disney Reach Deal Ending Two-Week Blackout of ESPN, ABC (variety.com)
(Saturday November 15, 2025 @10:58PM (BeauHD)
from the regularly-scheduled-greed dept.)
YouTube TV and Disney have [1]ended their two-week carriage standoff , restoring ESPN, ABC, and other Disney networks under a new multiyear deal. Variety reports:
> Under the new agreement, ESPN's full lineup of sports -- including content from ESPN Unlimited -- will be made available on YouTube TV to base-plan subscribers at no additional cost by the end of 2026. In addition, access to a selection of live and on-demand programming from ESPN Unlimited will be available inside YouTube TV.
>
> The deal also lets YouTube include the Disney+ and Hulu bundle as part of "select YouTube offerings." According to Disney, "select networks" will be included in various genre-specific packages that YouTube TV expects to launch in the future. [...] The deal supersedes their prior distribution agreement, inked in December 2021 after a two-day blackout.
[1] https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/youtube-tv-disney-blackout-deal-renewal-espn-abc-1236567658/
> Under the new agreement, ESPN's full lineup of sports -- including content from ESPN Unlimited -- will be made available on YouTube TV to base-plan subscribers at no additional cost by the end of 2026. In addition, access to a selection of live and on-demand programming from ESPN Unlimited will be available inside YouTube TV.
>
> The deal also lets YouTube include the Disney+ and Hulu bundle as part of "select YouTube offerings." According to Disney, "select networks" will be included in various genre-specific packages that YouTube TV expects to launch in the future. [...] The deal supersedes their prior distribution agreement, inked in December 2021 after a two-day blackout.
[1] https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/youtube-tv-disney-blackout-deal-renewal-espn-abc-1236567658/