YouTube TV and Disney's standoff over channel rights has stretched into its second week, and the companies' dispute appears poised to keep a major "Monday Night Football" showdown off of millions of subscribers' screens across the United States.
For customers in Connecticut and nationwide, YouTube is offering some financial compensation for the loss of ESPN, ABC affiliates (including WTNH) and all other Disney-owned networks.
The internet company is providing a $20 credit that can be applied to customers' monthly subscription, which will partially defray the $82.99 per month cost for a base plan that has now been stripped of at least 20 channels.
YouTube has started to roll out the $20 credit, which the company first mentioned on Oct. 30, hours after Disney pulled all of its channels off the streaming platform amid a disagreement over what a fair price is for those channels.
The company is emailing YouTube TV subscribers with instructions on how to apply the one-time $20 credit to their next billing statement, according to Variety. Those emails started arriving in inboxes on Nov. 9, and should all be sent out by Wednesday, Nov. 12, the Athletic reported.
According to instructions YouTube TV posted online, affected customers can also go to the settings tab in their profile, navigate to the updates section and claim the credit there.
While the removal of Disney's channels from the screens of nearly 10 million YouTube TV subscribers has angered sports fans, seen broadcast stars at the Bristol-based network boost ESPN's company line, and risked drawing eyeballs from primetime sporting events like Monday night's Eagles-Packers game, it has not yet led to a resolution to the stand-off.
In fact, both sides have dug in their heels, at least publicly, with each saying the other is looking for an unreasonable price.
"We know that subscribers are frustrated with the disruption and we continue to urge Disney to work with us constructively to reach a fair agreement that restores their networks to YouTube TV as soon as possible," YouTube, which is owned by Google, said in a statement on Saturday. "Instead of negotiating in good faith with us to reach a deal, Disney continues to resort to their playbook."
And Disney, which last month launched its own live television streaming service -- a bundle of Fubo and Hulu + Live TV -- to compete with YouTube TV, has not conceded either.
In an internal memo sent last week to employees by three Disney executives -- Disney Entertainment Co-Chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro -- that was widely leaked, the execs blamed YouTube TV for insisting on below-market terms and failing to make adequate concessions.
"Rather than compete on a level playing field, Google's YouTube TV has approached these negotiations as if it were the only player in the game," the executive troika wrote in the memo. "It goes without saying that the reason so many consumers value our programming above others is because we invest in the best talent, creators and content in the world, and we cannot allow anyone to undercut our ability to do so."