Disney agreed to $50M settlement over claims it made live-TV streaming expensive

Ars Technica News
disney settlement streaming antitrust lawsuit live-tv cost

Summary

Disney agreed to a $50 million settlement over claims that its practices made live-TV streaming more expensive. Eligible customers who subscribed to YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, or AT&T TV Now between 2019 and 2026 may receive payments.

<p>The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay $50 million to subscribers of YouTube TV and DirecTV’s live TV streaming services to settle a lawsuit that claimed that Disney forced these services to raise their prices.</p> <p>In November 2022, four YouTube TV subscribers filed a class action complaint <a href="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Biddle_et_al_Disney_complaint.pdf">(PDF) </a>against Disney in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. They accused Disney of entering “anticompetitive agreements with YouTube TV” and other companies that provide access to broadcast channels via the Internet.</p> <p>The complaint argued that Disney forced over-the-top (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-top_media_service">OTT</a>) live TV services to cost more by requiring distributors to include ESPN, which Disney owns, with their base packages.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/disney-agreed-to-50m-settlement-over-claims-it-made-live-tv-streaming-expensive/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/disney-agreed-to-50m-settlement-over-claims-it-made-live-tv-streaming-expensive/#comments">Comments</a></p>
Original Article
View Cached Full Text

Cached at: 06/24/26, 10:53 PM

# Disney agreed to $50M settlement over claims it made live-TV streaming expensive Source: [https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/disney-agreed-to-50m-settlement-over-claims-it-made-live-tv-streaming-expensive/](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/disney-agreed-to-50m-settlement-over-claims-it-made-live-tv-streaming-expensive/) The complaint sought class action certification and a jury trial\. Instead, the parties reached a settlement agreement in March[\(PDF\)](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Biddle_et_al_Disney_settlement_agreement.pdf)\. The court preliminarily approved the agreement later that month\. A final approval hearing is scheduled for January 14, as first reported this week by local Alabama news outlet[AL\.com](https://www.al.com/news/2026/06/youtube-tv-and-directv-stream-subscribers-are-eligible-for-payments-from-disney-settlement.html)\. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Disney agreed to pay a settlement amount of $50 million\. Customers eligible to receive part of the settlement purchased a YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, DirecTV Now, and/or AT&T TV Now subscription between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2026\. Disney admits no wrongdoing under the agreement\. It also agreed to “consider” offering distributors that it’s negotiating with the option to offer their subscribers fewer Disney\-owned channels, including ESPN, for three years after the final approval of the settlement\. Still, per the agreement’s language, Disney doesn’t seem*required*to provide more affordable or skinnier bundles of its channels\. Also, Disney can easily afford the $50 million settlement amount, considering it made $4\.6 billion in total segment operating income in its most recent fiscal quarter\. Still, for affected streaming users who feel slighted by Disney’s practices, the settlement agreement may provide some feeling of justice\. Disney didn’t respond to Ars Technica’s request for comment in time for publication\.

Similar Articles