Disney YouTube TV outage is ruining my life (I can’t watch ‘Jeopardy!’)

Google, the parent company of YouTube TV, has been locked in a showdown with Disney for nearly two weeks. The dispute began when the two companies failed to reach an agreement on a broadcast deal.

This means that for 12 days and counting, 10 million YouTube TV subscribers like me have been unable to access Disney-owned TV networks like ABC and ESPN, which have about 20 different channels.

Business Insider described sports fans as the “big losers” in this confrontation. The New York Times and Engadget publish guides to help viewers tune in to must-see college football games. But the press has ignored the suffering demographic trapped in silence while their peers initiate fubo trials to watch Monday Night Football.

This is me. I’m trapped. I can’t watch “Jeopardy!” Because it airs on ABC.

“risk!” It is a staple in my nightly routine. Finish the work. I’m making dinner. I watch “Jeopardy!” So imagine my surprise in early November when I turned on YouTube TV, to find that the latest episode had not been recorded. In fact, months of my “Jeopardy”! The recordings are gone! Horror! Who is the current “danger”! hero? Has Ken Jennings worn any cool ties lately? I don’t know. Because I can’t watch “Jeopardy!”

YouTube TV and Disney have been locked in this public dispute for weeks. On October 23, YouTube TV wrote in a statement that it was “working in good faith” to negotiate a deal with Disney, but the company was “proposing costly economic terms that would raise prices for YouTube TV customers.” […] Taking advantage of Disney’s live-action TV productions. In Disney’s view, YouTube TV “refuses to pay fair rates for our channels.”

YouTube TV announced Sunday that it will give subscribers a $20 credit — which must be redeemed manually — to make up for a roughly two-week Disney outage. While I thank the $3.46 trillion giant Google for its generosity, can I point out that in 2021, when a similar dispute led to Disney Channels being blacked out of YouTube TV for a day, subscribers got a $15 credit? (Also, YouTube TV was about $20 less per month at the time.)

According to Morgan Stanley, Disney will lose an estimated $60 million over two weeks — $4.3 million per day — by not making a deal with YouTube TV. But Disney could also generate new revenue streams with its recently launched ESPN Unlimited subscription, which gives subscribers access to all ESPN content for $30 a month. However, we should note that ESPN Unlimited critically does not include “Jeopardy!”, America’s favorite game show®.

I, like many others, could use this opportunity to explore other streaming channels, perhaps those owned by Disney — however, I may or may not share my YouTube TV account with five other people, which locks me into a sweet deal. (Please, YouTube TV, don’t pull Netflix on me.)

When will this national nightmare end? When will I again be able to criticize contestants’ mathematically illogical double daily bets? When will I be reminded that I know nothing about opera? The ball is in your court, Mr. Mouse.