TV Talk: YouTube TV vs. ABC unleashes new wrinkle in retransmission spats, taking out WTAE

Pay TV subscribers are accustomed to losing channels when negotiations go south between station groups and cable or satellite providers.

In those instances, TV stations get yanked from the cable lineup until a deal is reached, which can take hours, days, weeks or months.

If the dispute is between Disney and DirecTV, the Disney-owned ABC stations get pulled from the satellite service, but non-Disney-owned stations, like Hearst-owned WTAE in Pittsburgh, are unaffected.

But when the distributor is a vMPVD — Virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributor — like YouTube TV, there is additional collateral damage. YouTube TV subscribers have discovered that in the past week since Disney’s channels, including ABC, disappeared from the YouTube TV lineup.

Not only are the Disney-owned ABC affiliates and cable channels (ESPN, Freeform, Nat Geo) gone, but so too are the non-Disney-owned stations, including WTAE.

The reason for the difference?

Traditional pay-TV distributors like Comcast, Verizon and DirecTV negotiate directly with local affiliates (or station ownership groups) for retransmission consent. But when internet-distributed vMVPDs like YouTube TV came along, broadcast networks and their parent companies arranged to negotiate national carriage deals on behalf of all affiliated stations, whether the stations are network-owned or not.

The terms of this spat are the usual: YouTube TV, owned by Google/Alphabet, says Disney wants an unprecedented fee increase for the full suite of ESPN channels, cable networks and local ABC stations, while Disney says the tech giant refuses “to pay fair rates for our channels.”

For viewers who subscribe to YouTube TV, this means no access to ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” (unless they have Disney+ and/or Hulu, where the show streams) or ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” (still available via the ESPN streamer). The Steelers play the Miami Dolphins on “MNF,” airing on WTAE, ABC and ESPN, on Dec. 15.

Consumer reactions to this retransmission dispute may differ because it’s easier to subscribe or cancel YouTube TV than it is traditional cable/satellite service.

A survey of 1,100 U.S. consumers by Drive Research found that 24% of YouTube TV subscribers already have canceled or intend to cancel YouTube TV over the loss of channels, per Variety. And 30% of YouTube TV subscribers said they have subscribed or plan to subscribe directly to ESPN Unlimited or Hulu + Live TV to keep access to the sporting events and networks they want. About 15% admitted they have used or may consider an illegal stream of their missing channels.

In response to the survey, a YouTube TV spokesperson told Variety, “We’re not familiar with this firm and can’t speak to their credibility or methodology. What we can say is that while subscriber churn is always regrettable, it’s been manageable and does not align with the findings of this survey.”

In remarks on an earnings call Wednesday, Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO Chris Ripley criticized YouTube TV and Disney.

“As local broadcasters, we have no say in whether our content and the content we pay to air will be distributed to local viewers,” Ripley said of vMPVDs like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and similar internet-delivered services, per Deadline.com. “This was clearly not the intent of the Telecommunications Act, and 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.”

Ripley said ABC and other broadcast networks “should not be able to dictate to us whether we can or cannot distribute content to YouTube TV. … 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.”

In a memo to staffers sent Friday, Disney executives acknowledged, “unfortunately, we are headed into another sports-packed weekend without a deal in place.”

YouTube TV has about 10 million U.S. subscribers, which makes it the largest virtual, internet-delivered pay-TV provider in the U.S. ahead of Disney’s Hulu + Live TV and Fubo, which merged in recent months and have close to 6 million subscribers.

The YouTube TV-Disney stand-off is just the latest in a string of disputes involving YouTube TV. Univision has been absent from YouTube TV since September. NBCUniversal narrowly avoided having its channels go dark on YouTube TV last month.

Channel surfing

Undeniable earworm “Golden” from Netflix hit “KPop Demon Hunters” received Grammy nominations for song of the year, best pop duo/group performance and best song written for visual media. … A new episode of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was replaced with a rerun Thursday night because of “a personal matter,” per Deadline.com. … Hulu renewed “Reasonable Doubt” for a fourth season. … In addition to its recent order for a competition series based on the board game “Clue,” Netflix also ordered “Win the Mall,” a shopping spree competition series where contestants “attempt to gain control of storefronts, increase their spending power, and outmaneuver their rivals,” per Netflix.

You can reach TV writer Rob Owen at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Follow @RobOwenTV on Threads, X/Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky and Facebook. Ask TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and location.