Free Republic

YouTube TV customers watched ESPN go dark Thursday night as talks between the Google-owned platform and sports network broke down, leading the channel — along with other Disney-operated channels — to disappear from the platform. A deal between the two sides could not be reached, and by late Thursday night, the stations, which include ABC, FX, Disney Jr. and National Geographic, along with ESPN channels, went dark for more than 10 million YouTube TV customers, escalating the prolonged back-and-forth between the two sides. At the heart of the issues is pricing, according to Sports Business Journal, with both sides pointing...

The Fox broadcast network, Fox News and other Fox owned TV stations may be pulled from YouTube TV in the coming days, as the two companies appear engaged in a carriage dispute that is bursting into public view. Fox on Monday began warnings customers that its channels were at risk of being pulled “unless Google engages in a meaningful way soon.” According to YouTube, the deadline for their agreement is 5 PM ET on Wednesday, Aug. 27. August and September are often critical times for carriage deals, as they coincide with the start of the NFL season. If the Fox...

YouTube TV has been removed from Roku's channel store, after Roku and YouTube TV parent Google failed to come to a distribution agreement amid accusations that the tech giant made anti-competitive demands. Why it matters: These spats happen regularly between Pay-TV providers and linear TV networks. But in the digital era, this is one of the rare times in which consumers will have a major streaming network removed from their platform's channel store due to a breakdown in negotiations. Details: The channel will still be available for existing YouTube TV customers, but new users that wish to download the app...