By Joe Flint

Steven Neely wasn't going to let a fight between Google's YouTube TV and Disney keep him from watching "Monday Night Football."

The suburban Nashville resident couldn't get ABC this past Monday to watch the Arizona Cardinals-Dallas Cowboys game because the network went dark on YouTube TV. So he found a workaround: a paper clip.

Channeling the fictional 1980s secret agent MacGyver, he unwound the paper clip and stuck it in his TV's coaxial port to get a signal.

"My picture looked great -- good enough to watch the game," he said. He posted his solution on X, figuring younger people might not know "you can go old school without even buying an antenna."

Neely is one of many consumers seeking a quick fix to get them through the blackout of Disney channels on YouTube TV, which also includes ESPN and FX. The fight is now in its second week and executives on both sides say little progress has been made to restore the channels to YouTube TV's 10 million subscribers.

That means YouTube TV customers could miss the coming high-profile "Monday Night Football" game between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles and several top-tier college games this weekend including Brigham Young battling Texas Tech.

But it isn't just sports enthusiasts who are frustrated. Some viewers of ABC's long-running competition show "Dancing With the Stars" have taken to social media to detail their trips to Target and Best Buy to purchase antennas and hook them up.

Because ABC is a broadcast network, its signal can be received without a pay-TV subscription.

"I know my husband loves me because he set up an antenna so I could watch 'DWTS,'" Chandler Majewski said in a TikTok post that included video of the installation.

The dispute between Disney and YouTube TV stems from multiple issues, with the major sticking point being the fees Disney is seeking to carry its channels.

In a memo to staff on Friday, Disney senior executives Dana Walden, Jimmy Pitaro and Alan Bergman said YouTube TV has been offered terms in line with all other distributors. "Despite all this, YouTube TV continues to insist on receiving preferential terms that are below market," the email said.

YouTube TV said in a statement that Disney is "misrepresenting the facts including from the deals they've offered." YouTube TV has also said the performance of Disney's channels on its service doesn't justify the desired fee increases and that the "costly economic terms" would force customers to pay more.

YouTube TV alleges that Disney's actions are intended to benefit its own rival pay-TV distributors Hulu + Live TV and Fubo, which Disney denies. Combined, those two services have roughly six million subscribers.

YouTube TV declined to disclose how many subscribers it has lost since Disney's networks went dark. One person familiar with the matter described the blow as "manageable."

Ratings for last Monday's "Monday Night Football" game and last weekend's college football games were slightly down from recent weeks.

Satellite broadcaster DirecTV, which last year endured its own two-week blackout of Disney channels, said it gained some subscribers as a result of the YouTube standoff but didn't say how many.

"The sales trends are very positive for us," said DirecTV Chief Marketing Officer Vince Torres.

The company has been monitoring social media for mentions of the Disney-YouTube TV stalemate and pouncing when anyone mentions DirecTV by answering questions and providing information.

Disney isn't the only media company in a fight with YouTube TV. It stopped carrying Spanish-language broadcaster TelevisaUnivision at the end of September because the two sides couldn't come to terms on a new deal. It also had tense negotiations with NBCUniversal and Fox Corp. before signing new pacts with both companies.

Industry analysts expect YouTube TV, currently the third-largest pay-TV distributor, to become No. 1 in the next few years. It is growing when other distributors such as Comcast and Charter are losing subscribers.

ESPN personality Pat McAfee, whose show also runs on the free version of YouTube, weighed in on the fight on his Nov. 4 show, urging both companies to "figure this s -- out" for sports fans.

Write to Joe Flint at Joe.Flint@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 08, 2025 05:30 ET (10:30 GMT)

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