YouTube TV Dropped Disney: 5 Things to Know

Update: YouTube TV and Disney reached an agreement to keep Disney Channels on the YouTube TV streaming service.

Due to contract disputes over pricing, YouTube TV has dropped Disney properties from its popular live TV streaming service. YouTube TV has a ton of great features, including unlimited DVR, and a 4K upgrade, which is why the has grown to an estimated 4,000,000 subscribers. How will losing Disney’s family of channels impact the platform? Here’s your debriefing, cord cutters.

#1. YouTube TV will be cheaper

The good news is that the loss of Disney properties means YouTube TV just became more affordable, as the platform pre-announced dropping the channels would mean cutting rates from $64.99 per month to $49.99 per month. Our Streaming Jungle subscription, which includes the 4K Plus plan for an additional $19.99 per month, will drop from $85.99 to $69.99.

#2. YouTube TV will no longer have ESPN programming

Saving money is great, but the bad news is that some of cable’s most popular channels, with ESPN the most noteworthy, have dropped from YouTube TV altogether as the result of failing to reach a deal with Disney.

#3. YouTube TV has less to offer college football fans

ABC and ESPN are stalwarts of college football programming, and losing them will hurt YouTube TV.

The reaction to YouTube TV and Disney parting ways has been particularly severe on college football Twitter, with fans complaining the switch came right as Bowl season is kicking off, and YouTube TV competitor Sling TV doing some top level trolling by suggesting some cord cutters might want to enter the “streaming transfer portal.”

If you are a sports fan wanting to test the waters and try a different streaming platform, we wrote a recent blog post – The Best YouTube TV Alternatives for Sports Fans you might want to check out.

#4. YouTube TV will lose these 18 channels

Again, of all these channels, the hardest hits come to sports fans, with ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN3 all dropping. Notably, viewers also lose ABC, which will be a tough pill to swallow for fans of the Bachelor and Bachelorette.

1. Your local ABC channel
2. ABC News Live
3. Disney Channel
4. Disney Junior
5. Disney XD
6. Freeform
7. FX
8. FXX
9. FXM
10. National Geographic
11. National Geographic Wild
12. ESPN
13. ESPN2
14. ESPN3
15. ESPNU
16. ESPNEWS
17. SEC Network
18. ACC Network

#5. 4K Plus loses some allure

Of the 8 channels that YouTube TV offers in 4K, 3 of them are Disney properties:

• ESPN
• FX
• Nat Geo

ESPN, FX, and Nat Geo dropping means YouTube TV’s 4K Plus plan will lose some value as the library of 4K programming shrinks. Read our 4K Plus review.

The Bottom Line

I created a Family Group through YouTube TV’s excellent family sharing feature, and with some effort, got my whole family using the service, which they love.

When I texted my Mother with the bad news about the dropped channels, she replied:

So, in sum, all is not lost for YouTube TV subscribers. The cord cutters who do enter the “streaming transfer portal” will likely do so to regain ESPN, that’s the biggest loss.