Bob Iger defends Disney's offer to YouTube TV as ESPN, ABC blackout continues

As the ABC and ESPN blackout connected YouTube TV threatens to agelong into a 3rd week, Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger defended his company’s stance successful the contentious negotiations.

YouTube TV’s 10 cardinal customers person lacked entree to Disney-owned channels and ABC stations for 14 days. The 2 companies person been locked successful a combat implicit the size of the organisation fees that Google, which owns YouTube TV, indispensable wage Disney for the close to transportation its channels.

It’s not wide erstwhile the 2 sides volition scope a deal.

“These discussions could spell for a small while,” Disney’s Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston told Wall Street analysts during a Thursday league telephone to sermon the company’s earnings.

Iger, during the call, said Disney’s connection connected the array asks Google to hold to presumption akin to those contained successful Disney’s caller agreements with different pay-TV providers.

“The woody that we person projected is adjacent to oregon amended than what different ample distributors person already agreed to,” Iger told analysts. “We’re not trying to truly interruption immoderate caller ground.”

A Google typical declined to comment.

The tech elephantine has balked astatine Disney’s demands, pointing to ratings declines astatine the ABC network, among different channels. The 2 sides person spent overmuch of this week successful discussions to scope a caller woody to regenerate the 1 that expired Oct. 30, prompting the blackout of Disney channels.

“While we’ve been moving tirelessly to adjacent this woody and reconstruct our channels to the platform, it’s besides imperative that we marque definite that we hold to a woody that reflects the worth that we deliver,” Iger said.

The quality highlighted the ongoing tensions betwixt pay-TV distributors and programmers amid the displacement to streaming.

Disney and different programmers person been trying to boost fees to offset the nonaccomplishment of pay-TV customers who person chopped the cord oregon switched to smaller streaming bundles. A shrinking excavation of pay-TV subscribers has been asked to enarthrosis higher programming expenses.

In particular, the outgo of carrying broadcast channels (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) and sports networks, including ESPN, has skyrocketed owed to a immense leap successful TV rights deals with large sports leagues.

ESPN is the astir costly basal cablegram channel, costing pay-TV distributors astir $10 a period per subscriber home. ABC besides comes with a premium arsenic it carries sports, including “Monday Night Football.”

But distributors, including YouTube TV, person tried to clasp the enactment connected prices, cognizant that their customers are bushed of seeing their monthly bills proceed to rise. YouTube TV offered a bundle of channels for $35 a period erstwhile it launched successful 2017. The work present costs $82.99 a month.

“We’re trying truly hard ... moving tirelessly to adjacent this deal,” Iger said.

In a abstracted quality connected CNBC, Johnston suggested that Disney was buckled up for the slog.

“We’re acceptable to spell arsenic agelong arsenic they privation to,” Johnston said.

Separately, YouTube TV customers person been without Spanish-language Univision since Sept. 30. That quality centered connected YouTube’s program to radical the Univision channels with different Spanish-language programming connected a abstracted tier alternatively than connection the channels arsenic portion of YouTube’s basal packages.