The ongoing feud between Disney and Google is heating up. It all started last week, when Disney pulled its channels from YouTube TV, Google’s Live TV service, over fee disputes. Now, Disney seems to be pulling content from other Google services as well. As first noted by 9to5Google, Disney movies are starting to disappear from YouTube’s pay-per-view offerings too, and even other platforms like Google TV.
For instance, try typing “Avengers” into your YouTube search bar right now. Aside from trailers and videos uploaded from individual users, you’re more likely to see a rental option pop up for that 1998 Sean Connery and Uma Thurman spy movie than Marvel’s superheroes. Meanwhile, Superman, a Warner Bros. movie, has a large “Buy or rent” button right at the top of the page.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
The same goes for Lilo & Stitch. Currently, YouTube shows no option to buy or rent either the original Lilo & Stitch or its remake, but pay-per-view buttons for Dreamworks family movie The Bad Guys 2 show up front and center at the top of the page, just like with Superman.
Even movies from Disney subsidiaries seem to be affected. While I was able to navigate to a rental page for Alien, which is now owned by Disney after its acquisition of Fox, I couldn’t actually go through with purchasing the movie. Instead, I just saw a message saying, “This video contains content from Fox. It is not available.”
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
I ran into the same issues trying to find these movies on other Google services, like Google TV (which also offers rentals, much like Apple TV) or the Play Store, but notably, all of the movies listed above are available on non-Google platforms, like Prime Video. Even older “Disney Vault” titles, like the original The Little Mermaid, are on Prime, but are nowhere to be seen on Google’s services.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
I’ve reached out to both Disney and Google for comment, and will update when I hear back. In the meantime, neither company has made an official statement about this seeming pay-per-view content blockade.
My two cents? It’s a negotiation tactic. YouTube’s pay-per-view offerings are a separate service entirely from YouTube TV, and are thus likely unaffected by that platform’s licensing deals. At the same time, in pulling more of its content from Google’s other platforms, Disney can exert additional leverage on Google to pay up to stream its channels.
It’s not the only mind game going on right now, for what it’s worth. At time of writing, it’s currently the first major election day in the U.S. since last year’s presidential election, and yesterday, Disney offered to temporarily return ABC to YouTube TV so viewers could keep up with the news. YouTube rejected the proposal, saying it would “cause customer confusion” and instead proposed that Disney “immediately restore” ABC and ESPN while negotiations continue, as a sign of good faith.
“Those are the channels that people want,” YouTube said, implying that it is being overcharged for additional channels that viewers show little interest in. The company then said that if Disney is willing to play ball, it can “get these channels live in hours.”
That’s certainly more heated than we’ve seen past YouTube TV negotiations, which were largely settled before customers saw any impact, get. While it’s possible Disney might actually take YouTube up on its offer, we’re probably not out of the woods yet. Luckily for YouTube TV subscribers, YouTube is promising remediation if the situation drags on any further, and some have even started to see it.
As someone who doesn’t subscribe to YouTube TV but does rent movies through YouTube, though? I have to admit I feel a little caught in the crossfire.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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