YouTube TV Denies Disney Bid to Restore ABC for Election Day

(Bloomberg) — YouTube TV rejected Walt Disney Co.’s request to restore its ABC network to the online TV service during Election Day as a fight over distribution fees drags on.

Adding back the channel for one day might confuse subscribers, YouTube said in a blog post. Instead, YouTube asked Disney to let it restore the company’s ABC and ESPN channels while the two continue to negotiate.

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Subscribers to YouTube TV lost access to Disney channels such as ABC, ESPN and FX on Oct. 31 after the two companies failed to reach a new agreement over programming costs.

Both sides have accused the other of being unreasonable in their demands. YouTube has said it will offer customers a $20-a-month credit if the fight continues for an unspecified amount of time.

Election Day is Nov. 4 and includes a race for mayor in New York and governors’ races in Virginia and New Jersey as well as a ballot initiative over redistricting in California.

Disney put a broadcast of its football show online for free on Saturday on the ESPN app.

Absent an immediate agreement, YouTube TV subscribers won’t be able to see the Dallas Cowboys play the Arizona Cardinals on .

YouTube TV is an online alternative to cable-TV, offering 100 channels for $83 a month. It has 9.5 million to 10 million subscribers, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence estimate. YouTube is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.

(Updates with YouTube response in first paragraph)

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