When Will Disney Be Back on Youtube TV – and What About ESPN, ABC, and FX?

Once upon a time, Disney content was readily available on YouTube TV for fairytale enthusiasts to enjoy. Unfortunately, in mid-Dec. 2021, all Disney-owned content was removed from YouTube TV.

The reason why? There was a financial dispute between the two mega-companies, and they were incapable of coming to an agreement in time. The lapse led to a lot of movies and shows suddenly going dark, but the good news is that this disruption won’t last for long — here’s what you should know.

Those interested in watching Disney content on YouTube TV can begin accessing many of those movies and TV shows as early as Dec. 19, 2021, according to The Verge.

A Disney rep stated, “We are pleased to announce that after a brief disruption, we have reached a new distribution agreement on Google YouTube TV for continued carriage of our portfolio of networks. We appreciate Google's collaboration to reach fair terms that are consistent with the market, and we are thrilled at our robust lineup of live sports news plus kids, family, and general entertainment programming is in the process of being restored to YouTube TV subscribers across the country."

In other words, Disney’s portfolio is slowly but surely being restored to YouTube TV over the next few days as 2021 comes to an end. The fact that Disney and YouTube TV were able to reach this deal is especially good news for YouTube TV, since they were temporarily planning to lower their monthly prices due to the potential loss.

In fact, they were willing to drop down to a $49.99 per month subscription, losing $15 in order to keep subscribers interested. Now that Disney content will remain on YouTube TV, they’re able to keep their $64.99 per month service cost, the same as before.

Just like what’s happening with Disney, other networks including ABC, ESPN, and FX will also still be available on YouTube TV. Having ESPN available on YouTube TV alone is a huge win, according to Meadowlark Media sports personality Jessica Smetana.

She tweeted, “I had no idea this many people used YouTube TV to watch sports. As a public service, I will live-tweet every bowl game today to ease your pain and suffering … I would be livid if I couldn’t watch the ball games today." The transitional period of YouTube TV bringing back these networks won’t last long, so she won't need to live-tweet sports outcomes forever.

There’s a lot to take into consideration when deciding between YouTube TV and Hulu Plus Live TV. Now that more people are spending more time at home, and WFH positions are on the rise, access to live TV options are extremely important.

One of the biggest differences between the two is that YouTube TV is known for being the best premium service while Hulu Plus Live TV is known for being the best on-demand service. In terms of monthly costs, they’re both about $65 per month.