YouTube TV vs Disney/ESPN - Billionaires Haggling for Billions, Customers Lose Regardless

After a long day of work and cooking dinner on Monday night for my wonderful girlfriend (defying gender roles, being a hero), the only thing on my mind that evening was relaxing and watching some Monday Night Football and College Basketball to unwind. But I, like many readers I'm sure, have YouTube TV -- meaning there would be no MNF on ESPN for me. There would be no ACC Network to watch my beloved Tar Heels vs a shitty Quad 4 opponent. There would be no relaxation, only rage.

Now luckily for me, I still have my High School iPad and a list of illegal streaming sites -- so I managed to watch the Cardinals ass-pump the Cowboys via that. But I had to watch the glorious 40-point UNC win through condensed game highlights on YouTube at 11 pm last night -- and THAT, is where I draw the line.

So what caused the issue in the first place? Disney and YouTube TV have been having negotiations for awhile now that have finally fallen through, leaving them at a Mexican Stand-off. One where the customers are caught in the middle without a gun. Disney claims they are seeking "fair rates" for their channels and services -- YouTube TV claims what Disney is seeking is too high a price, and would cause them to increase their prices to their customers on the overall plans.

This is essentially a lockout like we've seen in the major sports (and like we might see soon from the MLB -- holding out until a salary cap/salary floor gets implemented). The players -- in this case Disney/ESPN -- are holding out from the League -- in this case YouTube TV -- until they are fairly compensated. Neither side wants to give in, so the fans (customers of YTTV) get fucked.

What I believe to be true is this -- Disney has more money than God, but that doesn't mean they don't want more money. If you have a Disney+ or Hulu or ESPN+ subscription -- raising rates is nothing new to you. They raise their prices every 6 months and claim it's to better their services and bring you a better streaming experience -- but it's because they're greedy and know people will pay it. And this is exactly what they're doing to YouTube TV -- and they're referencing the deals they've made with other companies to say, "Hey, we're not singling you out -- we're doing this everywhere, just the cost of doing business." YTTV just wasn't having it.

But YTTV isn't the little guy getting squeeze out by The Man -- they're filthy fucking rich too. I do think they have some iota of concern for their customers and don't want to raise prices constantly -- but it's not their main motivation. They don't want to pay even more to Disney, even though they very likely could while keeping their subscription prices the same. So they're hiding behind the guise of "If we pay what they're asking, we have to raise our customers' prices!" to make themselves seem like a victim. And so when they finally cave in and pay Disney, they can raise the prices and say "See -- look what Disney did!" It's bullshit all around.

And obviously I'm biased to the sports aspect of these implications -- but it's more far-reaching than that. It's not just ESPN -- ABC, FX, Disney, NAT GEO -- the list goes on. November 4th was Election day in the U.S. which is televised on ABC -- so YTTV users lose that (not top of my priority list, but someone's parents are pissed about it). Dancing With the Stars is on ABC -- so all YTTV users are going to be missing out on Alix Earle's boobs and Andy Richter's dazzling contemporary performance on Tuesday.

So there is obviously a ton of fallout from these negotiations -- and both sides have been trying to find an edge, but nothing's sticking. For example, with the election day stuff, Disney offered to give YTTV ABC back for the day for all that coverage -- but it was declined because they didn't want to confuse customers who have it for a day and lose it the next. They instead proposed giving ABC back indefinitely while negotiations continued -- trying the old "foot-in-the-door" negotiating technique -- but Disney declined.

All of this is to say this -- this fucking sucks for one party involved only: the customers. Nobody feels bad for YTTV that they're getting their rates increased by Disney -- nobody feels bad for Disney that they're losing a huge chunk of viewership on MNF and Dancing With the Stars -- the only party that is even remotely affected by it are people who pay for YTTV. The Billionaires aren't losing sleep or bottom-line dollars by a few weeks of holdout -- the viewers are losing hair that they can't get the football games and entertainment they were promised when signing on.

Entertainment and television is already such a shit-show in this world -- you have to pay for 5+ different streaming services to get shows and movies you love, then you have to pay another bill for however you get your live sports/cables -- it's outrageous. Turning 20-something's like myself into the old man yelling at the sky -- but it genuinely is insane what has happened. There's 100 companies trying to make a buck in TV/streaming and they siphon money from viewers because they know people crave entertainment.

This entire YTTV/Disney situation is disgusting and is a prime example of why the streaming-age fucking blows -- Billionaires quibbling about their billions while everyday customers get bent over the barrel. Cold world.