YouTube TV is back to normal after a two-week carriage dispute with Disney, but the fighting that led to blackouts for ABC, ESPN, and other Disney-owned channels could reshape the service as we know it.
It will likely get more expensive, because programmers like Disney always want higher carriage fees for their channels, but you’ll get more for your money through bundled streaming services. YouTube might also offer cheaper packages with fewer channels, reflecting the greater flexibility we’ve seen from other providers.
You don’t have to do anything about this right now, but you should know what the options are for when things inevitably change down the road.
Prepare for a price hike
Just like on the cable side, annual price hikes have become common for live TV streaming services. These services are not immune to the demands of programmers, which generally seek more money with each new carriage agreement, and those costs get passed onto you.
YouTube TV last raised prices in January 2025, from $73 to $83 per month. The price hike prior to that arrived in March 2023, raising the cost from $65 to $73 per month. With YouTube wrapping new carriage deals with both Disney and NBCUniversal in the last two months, you can expect prices to rise yet again. A Disney press release crows about how its YouTube deal “recognizes the tremendous value of Disney’s programming,” which likely means it’s getting paid more.
I’m just speculating here, as YouTube hasn’t announced new pricing, but my money’s on $90 per month. That would match Disney-owned rival Hulu + Live TV, which just raised its own price in October.
Further reading: Still on YouTube TV? It’s time to start looking at cheaper options
You’ll get more to watch
On the upside, YouTube’s new deal with Disney lets it offer ESPN Unlimited at no extra cost. This includes all the programming that would normally require a separate ESPN Select (formerly ESPN+) subscription. YouTube TV will also bring some of this content directly into its own app.
It’s unclear when ESPN Unlimited will become available for YouTube TV subscribers—the companies are merely saying by the end of 2026—but those who currently pay separately for ESPN Select should be able to cancel and save some money when it happens. (If you subscribe to a different TV service and pay extra for ESPN Select, you should also make sure it’s not already included.)
A separate deal with NBCUniversal last month achieved a similar goal, albeit in a different way: YouTube is now carrying a revived NBC Sports Network, which will air sports programming that had been exclusive to Peacock. If you were subscribing to Peacock just for exclusive coverage from NBA, WNBA, or Premier League, you might not need to anymore.
Less clear is whether YouTube TV will bundle Disney+ and Hulu as well. According to Disney, YouTube has the “ability to include the Disney+, Hulu Bundle as part of select YouTube offerings,” but that doesn’t explicitly say they’ll be included with YouTube TV. That said, bundling Disney’s streaming services would put YouTube TV on equal footing with Hulu + Live TV, which carries Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Select at no extra charge.
Enter the skinny bundles
If you’re thinking that all this will make YouTube TV more like the bloated cable bundles it aimed to replace, you’re right. Cable might be pricier, but the gap has narrowed over the years, and some traditional TV packages (like Spectrum’s TV Select) include streaming services as well.
Thankfully, a new wave of skinnier bundles are bringing prices down again by cutting out channels you might not want. DirecTV has its Genre Packs, Fubo has its $56-per-month Sports bundle, and now YouTube TV has Disney’s blessing to launch “various genre-specific packages.”
No pricing or packaging has been revealed, and YouTube might still need agreements with other programmers, but it’d be foolish not to launch more flexible options as soon as possible. The result will be a fork in the road for YouTube TV subscribers, who will need to choose between a full-sized, increasingly expensive bundle or an array of slimmer, cheaper options.
Not willing to wait for changes in YouTube TV? Jared will help you explore your live TV-streaming alternatives.
This story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best live TV streaming services.
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Author: Jared Newman, Contributor
Jared has been a freelance technology journalist for more than 15 years and is a regular contributor to PCWorld, Fast Company, and TechHive, where he's written a weekly cord-cutting column since 2014. His Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter has more than 30,000 subscribers, and his Advisorator tech advice newsletter is read by nearly 10,000 people each week. Jared has a master's degree in journalism from NYU and specializes in making complex tech topics easy to understand, from streaming and cord-cutting to neat apps and useful tech tricks. He is based in Cincinnati, OH.