Why is the Disney vs YouTube TV standoff going so long? – Awful Announcing

Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images Why has the Disney, nee ESPN, standoff with YouTube TV gone on so long, now around two weeks, with ominous comments from the Mouse’s CFO today suggesting the blackout could go longer (writing this almost surely means the sides will settle shortly!). This is already one of the longest blackouts stemming from a contract dispute between a pay TV distributor –YouTube TV – and a content company, Disney. There are a few reasons why YouTube TV subscribers have been shut out from watching Monday Night Football and SEC football–not to mention the local ABC affiliate and even National Geographic channel. Obviously money is the primary concern, but there are others too. First off, YouTube TV is a division of Alphabet, the corporate name for Google.  While YouTube TV with its 10 million subs may be a big deal in the pay TV business, it is not the major money center for Google, not by a longshot. This is not to say YouTube TV is playing hardball because of this, but the pressing need for a deal may be a little different than for those pay TV distributors whose primary business is just that. “There’s a real
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