By Gavin Boyle
As the YouTube TV/Disney dispute stretches towards two weeks, analysts estimate that Disney is losing $4.3 million in revenue per day because of the blackout.
“Members, when we renew our contracts with network partners, we advocate for fair pricing to offer you the best TV experience,” YouTube TV recently wrote on Oct. 30, when the blackout first began. “Our contract with Disney has reached its renewal date, and we’ll not agree to terms that disadvantage our members while benefiting Disney’s TV products.”
“Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to reach a fair deal, and starting today, Disney programming will not be available on YouTube TV,” the platform continued. “This means you will no longer be able to watch channels like ABC and ESPN or access recordings from these networks in your Library.”
Related: YouTube TV Promises Subscribers This Amid Dispute With Disney
Members, when we renew our contracts with network partners, we advocate for fair pricing to offer you the best TV experience. Our contract with Disney has reached its renewal date, and we’ll not agree to terms that disadvantage our members while benefiting Disney’s TV products.
— YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) October 31, 2025
As the blackout nears two full weeks, it seems poised to have a significant windfall on both company’s finances as Disney is burning an estimated $4.3 million per day, while nearly a quarter of all YouTube TV subscribers may cancel their subscriptions as a result of the dispute.
The sticking point between the two companies is the fact that Disney requires platforms to pick up all of its channels or none of them, whereas YouTube TV only wants to pick up select channels rather than Disney’s entire suite. Regardless of how this dispute ends, Disney and YouTube could find themselves in hot water as local broadcasters affiliated with Disney-owned channels are calling on the FCC to investigate how this dispute is cutting off their access to viewers.
“As local broadcasters, we have no say in whether our content and the content we pay to air will be distributed to local viewers,” said Chris Ripley, the CEO of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. “This was clearly not the intent of the Telecommunications Act (of 1966), and it seems to be, from our perspective, an antitrust issue as well. This dispute, and others like it, continue to hurt local viewers and local journalism, and the ecosystem of global journalism. So as we and many broadcasters have discussed with the FCC and antitrust regulators, we believe this practice needs to be stopped.”
“We’re seeing those hurtful practices play out in front of our eyes as viewers are missing local news and local sports,” he added. “Particularly concerning is that consumers are now being forced to buy more streaming services from one of the parties in the dispute to get the content that they literally already paid for. We call on Congress, the FCC and antitrust regulators to further review this and stop the harm to local broadcasters and local viewers.”
Thus, the economic impact may be even more significant if the FCC imposes fines for this lengthy blackout. Regardless, Disney is paying the price for its dispute with YouTube TV, thought the cable provider is not faring much better given how many subscribers it could lose as a result.
Read Next: Is the Latest YouTube TV Blackout Breaking Antitrust Laws?
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