YouTube TV and Disney stand-off branded an ‘antitrust issue’ by broadcaster – here's what could happen next

• The Disney-YouTube drama is getting more heated, and it's starting to have an impact on local ABC stations
• CEO of Sinclair, Chris Ripley, has shared that the company has experienced a $1 million loss since the drama started
• He also said that the FCC has launched an investigation over "hurtful practices"

Disney’s dispute with Google over YouTube TV carriage rights has been going on for almost a week, and now the drama is starting to affect local stations, leading broadcasters to air their thoughts, particularly Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley.

During the company’s Q3 earnings call, Ripley drew attention to the ongoing spat saying that Sinclair’s ABC stations are currently being affected by the dispute. He went on to reveal that the company experienced a net loss of $1 million, which Ripley has tied to Google’s conflict with Disney, labelling it as an "anti-trust issue" that will "hurt local viewers and local journalism".

ABC stations as well as other Disney-owned networks, such as ESPN, the Disney Channel and Nat Geo Wild, were dropped from YouTube TV last week after the two media companies couldn’t come to an agreement over asking fees. As a result, popular viewing, including US state and local elections as well as sports coverage, have been blacked-out for YouTube TV’s 10 million subscribers, but the platform is giving $60 in credit to its customers in compensation.

"As local broadcasters, we have no say in whether our content – and the content we pay to air – will be distributed to local viewers," Ripley said while referring to over-the-top (OTT) streaming services, such as YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV. “This was clearly not the intent of the Telecommunications Act (of 1996),” he said, adding that broadcasters "should not be able to dictate to us whether we can or cannot distribute content to YouTube TV".

Following these remarks, Ripley took time to address the unfairness that this places onto loyal YouTube TV customers who are now faced with potentially having to subscribe to additional platforms just to access ABC content. “Particularly concerning is that consumers are now being forced to buy more streaming services from one of the parties in the dispute to get the content that they literally already paid for," Ripley said.

So, how is Sinclair moving forward from this? Although it could be a while before Disney and Google find themselves in a place to come to an agreement, Ripley already has a plan of action.

In addition to his comments above, Ripley revealed that he has discussed the situation with the FCC, which has since opened an investigation into these practices that can be harmful to local stations. He concluded by stating “we call on Congress, the FCC, and antitrust regulators to further review this and stop the harm to local broadcasters and local viewers”.

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