Disney is a massive entertainment behemoth with so much content that it’s nearly impossible to avoid it. However, if you watch your television through YouTube TV, you have no choice but to avoid it, as the two companies have been involved in a stalemate that has kept all Disney-owned content off the platform for weeks. When this fight will end is anybody’s guess, but Disney seems willing to keep fighting.
Disney released its quarterly earnings for the fourth quarter of 2025, and while numbers overall were good, many still had questions about what’s happening between Disney and YouTube. Appearing on CNBC (via Deadline), Disney CFO Hugh Johnston confirmed that negotiations are ongoing, but indicated he wasn’t worried, saying he thought Disney had “some leverage” in the conversations. Johnston said…
This is ultimately about your customers, and, right now, YouTube customers are suffering without this critical content for them, right? Sports in the middle of football season is about as important as you can get. So, I think from that perspective, we perhaps have some leverage as well, because there are other places people can go to get that sports.
Johnston’s comment that consumers can go to other places is a reference to the fact that Disney itself owns multiple platforms that would give customers access to its channels, specifically ESPN. There is some data that shows that platforms that compete with YouTube TV have seen growth in the weeks since the fight began. Disney owns three of them in the form of Fubo, Hulu Live TV, which just offered a discount to new subscribers, and ESPN, which recently launched its own standalone app.
The YouTube TV conversation also came up during the Disney Q4 2025 Earnings Call. Bob Iger made a point to bring it up at the end, noting that the deal that Disney has offered YouTube is something more than the platform is getting from others. Iger said…
The offer that’s on the table is commensurate with deals that we’ve already struck with, actually, distributors that are larger than they are. We’re trying really hard, working tirelessly to close this deal, and we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to do so on the timely enough basis to at least give consumers the opportunity to access our content over their platform.
Those with a YouTube TV subscription likely feel this situation has already gone past “timely” when it comes to when access will be restored. But while Disney is reportedly losing millions by not being available on YouTube TV, the platform is losing a lot as well, offering rebates to customers as a way to make up for the loss.
Disney seems to feel that what it is offering, and what YouTube is losing, may be enough to make a deal happen. While a solution could be announced at any moment, there are no signs that anything is ready to happen quite yet.
