ESPN’s Power Play and the Battle for Warner Bros. Discovery

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Here’s some entertainment business news you may want to know about:

* Disney has pulled its channels — including ABC and ESPN — from YouTube TV, officially over a failure to agree on carriage fees. But I suspect there’s more to it. Streaming cable services like YouTube TV rely heavily on live sports to attract and keep subscribers, and ABC and ESPN are major sources for that content. Without access to NFL, NBA, and college football games, many subscribers may cancel and go straight to the source — the Disney and ESPN apps. It’s a clever way for ESPN+ to pad its streaming numbers. And if you’re already paying for YouTube TV primarily for ESPN, the pivot makes sense.

* Meanwhile, Netflix and Co

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