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YouTube TV loses ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels in fee dispute

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Re: YouTube TV loses ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels in fee dispute

#101
post #47

I’m really surprised by the number of top level comments that are confusing two different products: YouTube and YouTube TV. YouTube TV is basically cable TV delivered via the internet with some on-demand content and an “unlimited” DVR system. There are multiple tiers via add-on packages (just like cable), and there is no ad-free offering. YouTube is the video sharing website everyone uses. The ad-free version of whic…

>"I’m really surprised by the number of top level comments that are confusing two different products: YouTube and YouTube TV." Thanks for the clarification. It probably adds to the confusion that the landing page for "YouTube TV" goes to the "youtube.com" domain: https://tv.youtube.com/

People don't confuse Gmail with Google Maps or Google Search just because they are on the same root domain

Re: YouTube TV loses ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels in fee dispute

#102
Think it’s worrying that YouTube hasn’t realized they’re the disruptor and actually have more value in a lot of people, especially young peoples minds than Disney properties.

I don’t see this as a space them worth burning the money to compete in. Makes more sense to invest that back in their own platform, even with their budgets lack of focus can be damaging.

Re: YouTube TV loses ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels in fee dispute

#103
post #32

If you just want TV on in the background and don't want to pay anything, checkout "Pluto TV" and "Tubi TV", both have apps and may cast to Chromecast or SmartTVs. https://pluto.tv/ https://tubitv.com/ Friends help friends cut cords.

Those are free alright but alllow me to recommend

magistv

It offers everything that's on star/hbo/netflix/hulu/disney plus/amazon/etc plus live sports plus a lot of live hd channels for just 9 a month.

Re: YouTube TV loses ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels in fee dispute

#104

I’m really surprised by the number of top level comments that are confusing two different products: YouTube and YouTube TV. YouTube TV is basically cable TV delivered via the internet with some on-demand content and an “unlimited” DVR system. There are multiple tiers via add-on packages (just like cable), and there is no ad-free offering. YouTube is the video sharing website everyone uses. The ad-free version of whic…

YouTube TV is a separate $65/month subscription. Seems like an absurdly high price relative to Hulu or Netflix, but it’s meant to compete more with local cable packages.

Without the premium content, it’s hard to do that. I think the content providers know this and are trying to squeeze YouTube into giving more of their profits to the content providers. Either that, or to raise prices to be similar to cable.

YouTube TV is claiming Disney content added $15/month to the bill, so they’re dropping the price by $15/month as long as Disney is out:

> “We will be decreasing our monthly price by $15, from $64.99 to $49.99 while this content remains off of our platform,” YouTube TV said in its Friday night statement.

Re: YouTube TV loses ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels in fee dispute

#105
post #91

I'm so frustrated by the state of things as I only subscribed to YoutubeTV because I wanted to watch Mets baseball and media blackouts prevent me from streaming despite my MLB.tv subscription. The price has only risen over the years and it's been a pretty bitter pill to swallow. I already pay for Disney+ but am also paying for their content through YoutubeTV, which I rarely consume (never watch the disney channel; so…

Yes, this is the thing that gets me. I'm paying a lot, for a bunch of separate services that have some but not complete overlap, because it's the only way to get all the stuff people in the family want. If it all worked well and wasn't a huge pain in the butt, I wouldn't even mind paying the amount we're paying. But it DOESN'T work well. Every app is different, things are constantly changing, now I have to explain to the rest of the family (who were skeptical about getting rid of cable in the first place) why they can't get ABC and ESPN on YouTube TV where they're used to getting it.

This is probably making all the rights-holders happy because they're making more money, but it's a short-term solution. In the long run, they're going to be driving viewers away and won't be able to win them back. Yes, TV-watching is a pretty ingrained habit for a lot of people, but it's not set in stone. Other forms of entertainment can and will replace it if it becomes too much of a pain, too expensive, or too confusing.

Re: YouTube TV loses ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels in fee dispute

#106

I’m really surprised by the number of top level comments that are confusing two different products: YouTube and YouTube TV. YouTube TV is basically cable TV delivered via the internet with some on-demand content and an “unlimited” DVR system. There are multiple tiers via add-on packages (just like cable), and there is no ad-free offering. YouTube is the video sharing website everyone uses. The ad-free version of whic…

YouTube TV is a separate $65/month subscription. Seems like an absurdly high price relative to Hulu or Netflix, but it’s meant to compete more with local cable packages. Without the premium content, it’s hard to do that. I think the content providers know this and are trying to squeeze YouTube into giving more of their profits to the content providers. Either that, or to raise prices to be similar to cable. YouTube T…

> so they’re dropping the price by $15/month as long as Disney is out

FWIW, I can’t see any traditional cable TV provider doing this. They might even charge an extra fee as a cherry on top.

Re: YouTube TV loses ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels in fee dispute

#107
post #32

If you just want TV on in the background and don't want to pay anything, checkout "Pluto TV" and "Tubi TV", both have apps and may cast to Chromecast or SmartTVs. https://pluto.tv/ https://tubitv.com/ Friends help friends cut cords.

How is this legal? Do Pluto and Tubitv have some contract with providers that allows this? I remember a company named Aereo being sued out of existence because they were offering OTA TV to their subscribers by allocating an micro antenna to each user. The excuse did fly in court. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aereo BTW, thanks for sharing!

Pluto TV is owned by ViacomCBS and Tubi is owned by the Fox Corporation (the non-Disney one), and as others have pointed out, all their content is licensed. There's also Xumo, owned by Comcast. Pluto TV has partnership deals with Roku, Vizio and others to provide them with content for their branded apps. Amazon has a somewhat similar service with IMDb TV, although it has a crappy interface modeled off Amazon Prime's. And of course even Plex has now (sadly) entered the game with their "Live TV" section.

What annoys me about these free offerings is that they have cannibalized their content from paid streaming services. Before, services like Hulu and Amazon Prime would stock their catalog with tons of old "classic" TV shows that you could binge commercial free. Now, the only way to stream many of those shows is with commercials, they are no longer available as part of any paid commercial-free packages, unless you are willing to purchase the individual episodes.

Re: YouTube TV loses ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels in fee dispute

#108

I’m really surprised by the number of top level comments that are confusing two different products: YouTube and YouTube TV. YouTube TV is basically cable TV delivered via the internet with some on-demand content and an “unlimited” DVR system. There are multiple tiers via add-on packages (just like cable), and there is no ad-free offering. YouTube is the video sharing website everyone uses. The ad-free version of whic…

YouTube TV is a separate $65/month subscription. Seems like an absurdly high price relative to Hulu or Netflix, but it’s meant to compete more with local cable packages. Without the premium content, it’s hard to do that. I think the content providers know this and are trying to squeeze YouTube into giving more of their profits to the content providers. Either that, or to raise prices to be similar to cable. YouTube T…

Hulu + LiveTV is $65 and Sling is about $50 and Youtube TV $65.

These aren’t really comparable to standard Hulu or Netflix or Amazon Prime etc. It’s for people that want to pretend they’re cord-cutting while buying the exact same thing from a streaming company.

Re: YouTube TV loses ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels in fee dispute

#109

Personally I'm delighted to trade ABC, ESPN, etc [1] for a $15 reduction in my YouTube TV bill. It just makes me wish Google would unbundle all their different providers so I could choose only the ones I want. [1] Your local ABC channel, ABC News Live, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FX, FXX, FXM, National Geographic, National Geographic Wild, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 (by authentication to the ESPN app)…

Thing is I would be delighted the the opposite. I'd love to only pay for ESPN and the other sports channels only for $15/mo. Maybe add in CNN/FOX/MSNBC/Etc. for the wife to have on in the background, but plenty of ways to get that otherwise cheaply. OTA works fine for local news, even if the apps are a bit buggy if you want anything DVR or digitally distributed.

As would likely most I believe. Thus sports propping up this ancient model and myself being part of the problem.

I'm surprised Disney/ESPN is only $15/mo of the bill to be honest, I think Youtube is taking a hit there as I'd bet it's more than half the total base subscription fee.

Re: YouTube TV loses ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels in fee dispute

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YouTube TV is a separate $65/month subscription. Seems like an absurdly high price relative to Hulu or Netflix, but it’s meant to compete more with local cable packages. Without the premium content, it’s hard to do that. I think the content providers know this and are trying to squeeze YouTube into giving more of their profits to the content providers. Either that, or to raise prices to be similar to cable. YouTube T…

> so they’re dropping the price by $15/month as long as Disney is out FWIW, I can’t see any traditional cable TV provider doing this. They might even charge an extra fee as a cherry on top.

Not only did they drop the price, but in the email they referred subscribers to the Disney+ package that includes Hulu and ESPN.
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