Disney drops 8% after revenue miss, warns of lengthy YouTube TV fight

https://www.axios.com/2025/11/13/disney-earnings-youtube-tv-blackout

Disney shares plunged 8% in early trading Thursday after the company 
reported disappointing revenue and warned of a prolonged distribution 
fight with YouTube TV.

Why it matters: Disney+ and Hulu's continued growth was overshadowed by a 
streaming-era carriage disagreement and declines in the legacy TV 
business.

Zoom in: Entertainment revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter declined 6% 
from a year ago, dragged down by a 21% drop in linear network revenue.

Disney said domestic advertising revenue fell due to both lower rates and 
a decline in average viewership.

Overall, Disney reported adjusted earnings of $1.11 per share on revenue 
of $22.46 billion. Analysts had expected EPS of $1.05 on revenue of $22.75 
billion, per CNBC.

Yes, but: Disney's streaming business helped offset difficulties elsewhere 
in the entertainment unit.

While the overall entertainment segment reported a 35% plunge in operating 
income, the direct-to-consumer unit's operating income surged 39%.

Disney reported a total of 196 million Disney+ and Hulu subscribers.

Catch up quick: Millions of YouTube TV subscribers lost access to Disney 
channels in late October after the companies failed to reach a new 
distribution deal.

Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said during an earnings call Thursday that 
negotiations with YouTube "could go for a little while."

"In terms of the dollar impacts, keep in mind, there's two pieces to it. 

There's the piece that we're not getting paid for and then the piece that 
we're picking up by virtue of subscribers moving elsewhere," he said.

While this is YouTube's fourth carriage dispute with a major content 
provider since August, a key difference in the Disney fight is that the 
company operates a competitor pay-TV product in Hulu + Live TV.

What they're saying: Disney CEO Bob Iger said the deal the company 
proposed to YouTube "is equal to or better than what other large 
distributors have already agreed to."

"While we've been working tirelessly to close this deal and restore our 
channels to the platform, it's also imperative that we make sure that we 
agree to a deal that reflects the value that we deliver," he said in an 
earnings call Thursday.

Iger also said both YouTube and parent company Alphabet have told Disney 
its value "is greater than the value of any other provider."

What to watch: How Disney and YouTube structure an eventual deal to 
resolve their current disagreement.

YouTube has reportedly explored creating a separate sports package, and 
Disney launched a new streaming service for ESPN in August.


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