YouTube TV, ESPN, and ABC Dispute: What's at Stake?

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00:00Well, it's been two lost weekends of ESPN for YouTube TV's 10 million subscribers.

00:04That is, the platform is now issuing a $20 credit to those affected.

00:08However, a spokesperson for YouTube TV is saying that the sticking point in the negotiations is not the price of ESPN, it's ABC.

00:15So let's bring in front office sports reporter Eric Fisher.

00:18So, Eric, why is ABC the sticking point here?

00:20Well, retrans of broadcast networks is always a complicated issue,

00:25but I think it's a little bit of a red herring where, because Disney is such a diverse programmer like any of these deals,

00:32it's just one facet of many things.

00:35We've talked about a whole bunch of things, whether it be ESPN, the presence of Hulu in this situation.

00:40I think for YouTube to sort of call out one particular thing probably does a disservice to the overarching complex nature of this negotiation.

00:49Given the fact that ESPN, let's just say in Monday Night Football's case, is able to simulcast that game on ABC,

00:55are they able to get more fees and all of that stuff from places like YouTube TV because of that?

01:02Maybe a little bit, but it's important to note that there's been a bunch of simulcasting of major events,

01:08you know, not just football, but many ESPN events on ABC.

01:11That's been a fundamental component of the entire Disney sports strategy for some time.

01:17Again, these issues are getting heightened now because we're in the midst of a carriage dispute,

01:21but this is a multi-year Disney strategy that they've been pursuing.

01:26It seems like both sides are really dug in here,

01:29just even sort of the comments that they're both sort of lobbing at each other right now.

01:34How long do you think this standoff could go?

01:36Is this going to be something that's going to be a prolonged sort of fight here?

01:38Yeah, this is increasingly looking like something this could be months and months and months.

01:42I've done a lot of these over the years.

01:44This one appears to be one of the more dug in ones that I can certainly recall and just not just the invective,

01:51but how they just seem to be talking way past each other that it wouldn't necessarily surprise me if we go well past the holidays on this one.

01:59And is it because it's Google, a tech company, rather than, say, a charter or a DirecTV that's a traditional carriage provider?

02:06Is that what maybe also is changing the dynamic here?

02:09A little bit that there are other sort of non-traditional carriers that Disney and other programmers have to deal with,

02:16certainly one not as large as this.

02:19You know, again, as we've discussed, that YouTube TV is now the number four carrier

02:24and only trail three very traditional ones in the market here.

02:28So, you know, I think those market dynamics all sort of feed into this.