Some two weeks after all of The Walt Disney Co.’s broadcast and cable television stations and all ABC network affiliates were yanked from Google-owned YouTube TV as the two parties failed to agree to terms on a new deal, a resolution has been reached.
As such, ABC Owned Stations and every affiliate, along with ESPN and Disney’s slate of MVPD-distributed offerings, are returning to the virtual MVPD that’s home to NFL Sunday Ticket.
Word was delivered to ABC affiliates including WBAY-2 in Green Bay, Wisc., in the 9pm Central hour, with the station’s Steve Beylon sharing a note from ABC Affiliate Relations and Marketing SVP Susi D’Ambra Coplan advising them that Disney has reached “a multi-year distribution agreement” with YouTube TB.
“As part of the deal, Disney’s full suite of networks, in addition to ABC Owned Stations and your local ABC affiliate station, have already begun to be restored on the YouTube TV platform,” she wrote.
On ESPN’s website, coverage of the retransmission consent resolution stated that YouTubeTV apologized for the disruption while thanking customers for their “patience as we negotiated on their behalf.”
Terms of the new deal were not disclosed.
The fresh deal ends a disruption that prevented YouTube TV subscribers from accessing top college football matchups and pro sports games on ESPN and ABC — something that attracted more media attention during the “blackout” than viewers missing ABC’s national news, “Dancing With the Stars,” or any local affiliate news programming. And, non-ABC Owned Stations were caught in the middle, as Disney negotiates virtual MVPD coverage for both affiliates and owned stations — a key difference compared to MVPD talks that involve actual station owners.
Disney Entertainment Co-Chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro expressed 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.”
That said, the restoration also brings back cable channels including NatGeo, FX, and Freeform as well as Disney Channel.
On November 3, four full days after the blackout transpired the night before Halloween, it was clear that negotiations between The Walt Disney Co. and Google’s YouTube TV could stretch well into November. Non-Disney owned ABC affiliates worked hard to explain to impacted viewers how it is Disney, not the station owner, that is responsible for the “blackout.” News-Press & Gazette Co.’s KESQ-3 in Santa Barbara, Calif., the ABC affiliate for the Central Coast, shared, “To be clear, we have not ‘blacked out’ our station. Neither KESQ nor News-Press & Gazette Company, the station’s parent company, is involved in the discussions between Google and The Walt Disney Company and do not control KESQ’s continued carriage on the service. We hope the parties can successfully conclude their negotiations as soon as possible, in order to restore our programming to our respective viewers and customers.”
In Dallas, TEGNA-owned WFAA-8 explained that the ABC affiliate serving North Texas, along with such cable TV networks as ESPN, were unavailable on YouTubeTV because of the failure between Disney and Google to reach a new licensing deal. That station’s coverage stated that YouTube’s view was that Disney proposed terms that would be too costly, resulting in higher prices and fewer choices for its subscribers. YouTube also asserted that the move also benefitted Disney’s own streaming products, such as Hulu + Live TV and Fubo.
In contrast, Disney argued that YouTube TV refused to pay fair rates of its channels — and therefore chose “to deny their subscribers the content they value most.” Disney also accused Google of “using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor.”
The tussle also saw FCC Chairman Brendan Carr go on social media platform X pleading for an agreement to be reached.
Google and Disney need to get a deal done and end this blackout.
People should have the right to watch the programming they paid for — including football.
Get it done! https://t.co/GxdXqhRBYd
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) November 10, 2025
