Disney projected to lose $4.3M per day; YouTube TV 24% of subscribers

Nov. 12 (UPI) — A carriage dispute between Disney and YouTube TV costs Disney about $4.3 million per day and could cause YouTube TV to lose a fourth of its subscribers.

The dispute is in its 13th day on Thursday and would cost Disney about $30 million per week as Google-owned YouTube TV refuses to air ABC, ESPN and other programming, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne, as reported by The Wrap.

Swinburne initially estimated the dispute would last for 14 days and cost a total of $60 million, but that timeframe is about to expire.

The YouTube TV blackout of Disney-owned programming started on Oct. 31 after Disney demanded more money from YouTube TV to carry more than 20 of its channels.

YouTube TV officials refused and have said they will give subscribers a $20 credit.

Disney says YouTube TV refuses to pay a fair rate for Disney-owned programming, while YouTube TV says Disney wants to levy an unreasonable rate hike.

Morgan Stanley analysts said they expect Disney and YouTubeTV to resolve their differences by the end of the week, Variety reported.

In addition to Disney’s lost revenue, YouTube TV is poised to lose nearly a fourth of its subscribers, according to a survey conducted earlier this week.

YouTube TV on Sunday began notifying subscribers of how to obtain the $20 credit to their accounts to try to reduce the amount of service cancellations.

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