Vikings fans with YouTube TV won’t be left in the dark for the team’s Monday Night Football matchup with the Chicago Bears.
ESPN and other Disney-owned channels (such as FX and local ABC stations) were pulled from YouTube TV Friday evening after both sides couldn’t resolve a dispute over carriage fees.
That led to some angst for Minnesota sports fans that use YouTube TV. They saw their ESPN feed of the Timberwolves’ win over the Lakers disappear mid-game, and the same thing happened to NDSU football fans during the national semifinal game.
Worry about availability of the Vikings-Bears primetime game — set to air on ESPN while being simulcast locally on KSTP — followed.
But it turns out the content giants just needed a couple of days to sort things out.
YouTube TV and Disney announced Sunday afternoon they are back to playing nice.
“We’re happy to announce that we’ve reached a deal with Disney and have already started to restore access to channels like ESPN and FX, and Disney recordings that were previously in your Library,” YouTube TV said on Twitter. “Your local ABC station will also be turning on throughout the day.”
Disney issued a similar statement, writing they “appreciate Google’s collaboration to reach fair terms that are consistent with the market.”
That means, for YouTube TV subscribers, no need to dig out an antenna to get the Monday night broadcast. You should be all set to watch the inevitable unpredictable weirdness happen when the Vikings visit Soldier Field.
