The multi-week nightmare for YouTube TV subscribers is over. Disney and Google finally came to an agreement over a new contract that restored ESPN, ABC and more channels to the lineup. Football fans were able to watch all the college games on Saturday, and they’ll be able to watch Monday Night Football tomorrow. That’s the key short-term takeaway for most subscribers, but quietly within the Disney/ YouTube TV agreement, there’s reportedly a key provision that could be the most important long-term takeaway.
YouTube TV has been open in the past about wanting to house outside content within its interface. Think of it like Starz on Amazon Prime. If you have a Starz subscription, you don’t need to leave the Amazon Prime app. You can just watch it within the same interface. Well, YouTube TV wants to do the same, but not every streaming service has been interested in playing along. Many would rather consumers navigate to their specific app, which allows them more control over advertising and what other content is recommended.
Well, according to Awful Announcing, the new agreement between the new mega-companies will allow YouTube TV to eventually put all of the content from ESPN’s new Unlimited streaming service into its own interface. That means, for example, if someone wants to watch a WWE premium live event that’s streaming exclusively on ESPN Unlimited, they’ll eventually be able to do that without ever leaving YouTube TV. The exact timeline isn’t clear on when that’ll be available, as there’s a lot of tech work needed to make that happen, but it’ll reportedly be sometime in 2026.
Now, that might not sound that important if you’re not a wrestling mega-fan like myself, but the larger idea here is extremely important. It’s very likely YouTube TV will use this as a test case to try and bring more streaming services under its umbrella with new agreements. Imagine a world in which Peacock’s content is also available within YouTube TV or Paramount Plus. Netflix would present some unique challenges since that’s a one off streaming service and couldn’t be negotiated as part of a larger package, but I’m sure YouTube TV would at least inquire.
Execs at YouTube TV have made no secret that they want to be the most popular cable service in The United States. Rumors swirled during the Disney negotiations that they may have been seeking a reduction in rates if/ when they were able to hit certain thresholds with numbers of subscribers. Whether that’s true or not, it’s clear they’re planning to just keep growing, and if they do, it should give them even more leverage in bringing other streamers into the fold.
Right now, what matters is that we all have ESPN and ABC and other networks back. That’s the biggest headline and what matters the most in the short-term, but years from now, we may look back and see this agreement to add content within YouTube TV as the true game-changer.