Alphabet and Disney on Friday said they have reached an agreement to return ABC and ESPN content to YouTube TV.
The agreement ends a two-week standoff that began on Oct. 31, during which YouTube TV subscribers lost access to several major live sporting events, including college football matchups and two Monday Night Football games.
“We’re happy to share that we’ve reached an agreement with Disney that preserves the value of our service for our subscribers and future flexibility in our offers,” YouTube said in a statement. “Subscribers should see channels including ABC, ESPN and FX returning to their service over the course of the day, as well as any recordings that were previously in their Library. We apologize for the disruption and appreciate our subscribers’ patience as we negotiated on their behalf.”
Disney Entertainment co-chairs Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, along with ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, said in a statement that the deal reflects “how audiences choose to watch” entertainment today.
“We are pleased that our networks have been restored in time for fans to enjoy the many great programming options this weekend, including college football,” they said.
Over 20 Disney-owned channels were taken off YouTube TV, which issued $20 credits to subscribers this week amid the dispute. Alongside ABC and ESPN, affected networks included FX, NatGeo, Disney Channel, and Freeform.
The primary dispute between the companies centered on the fees Disney charges YouTube TV for its channels. ESPN, Disney’s most valuable network, commands a carriage fee of over $10 per month per subscriber—higher than any other U.S. network.
This is not YouTube TV’s first clash with legacy media this year.
In October, NBCUniversal content was nearly pulled from the platform before the companies reached an agreement, avoiding the removal of shows like Sunday Night Football and America’s Got Talent.
Earlier, in August, YouTube TV came close to losing Fox channels—including Fox News and Fox Sports, just ahead of the college football season, but the two sides struck a deal to prevent a blackout.
