The blackout of Disney networks on YouTube TV may be affecting ratings for those networks.
A carriage dispute between the two companies led to ABC, ESPN and other Disney outlets going dark on YouTube TV on Oct. 31. With about 10 million subscribers, YouTube TV is among the larger multi-channel providers in the U.S., covering about 8 percent of TV homes.
Ratings for ABC’s primetime college football game on Nov. 1 fell off significantly from their season average, but that could be attributable to airing opposite game seven of the World Series as much as anything else; college football games on CBS and NBC also suffered that night. Evidence from Monday and Tuesday, however, suggests that the dispute might be pulling viewing numbers down for two of ABC’s biggest shows.
averaged 16.37 million viewers on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, well below the 20.17 million viewer average for six other MNF simulcasts this season. ABC’s portion of the simulcast had about 9.84 million viewers, its second-lowest total of the season (including two weeks when the network wasn’t part of a simulcast).
Dancing With the Stars fared better on Tuesday, finishing in its usual spot as the night’s most watched primetime show. But its 6.33 million viewers marked the show’s first decline of the season after six straight weeks of audience growth (the longest such streak for a fall broadcast series in at least 34 years). DWTS declined by about 6 percent week to week in viewers (vs. 6.74 million on Oct. 28) and by 10 percent among adults 18-49 (1.36 rating to 1.22).
Disney also notes that live streaming of Dancing With the Stars on Disney+ was higher than usual Tuesday (though it didn’t provide specific numbers), suggesting some blacked-out viewers may have turned to the streamer to watch the show.
There is some noise in that data, as there always is with TV ratings: Monday Night Football featured a not especially exciting game between two sub-.500 teams (the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys), and election night coverage Tuesday may have pulled some viewers to cable news. On the other hand, the Cowboys — regardless of record — are typically one of the NFL’s bigger draws. And on Tuesday, CBS saw its audience grow a little bit week to week in the first two hours of primetime, while Fox was fairly steady (full figures for NBC’s live NBA coverage weren’t immediately available).
