1. All Disney-owned television stations, which includes all of the ESPN channels, were pulled from YouTubeTV Thursday night while the two companies engage in a standoff over rights fees.
Naturally, sports fans are livid because the ESPN family of channels, including ABC, is set to air a full slate on college football on Saturday, as well as the Cardinals-Cowboys game on Monday night.
I don’t have a dog in the fight because I have Verizon Fios, and as I’ve said many times, I’ll be cable for life, but I do have a complaint with each company.
It’s so embarrassing that ESPN forced its on-air talent to make these videos begging viewers to call YouTubeTV and complain about what’s going on. This is just so cringe on every letter and doesn’t help at all.
YouTube TV customers: You may lose access to all of ESPN's networks. Head over to https://t.co/lBfCywZQeA now so you don’t miss any of this weekend's action. pic.twitter.com/cqmSXpzI9r
— Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) October 30, 2025
If you're a YouTube TV customer, you may lose access to ESPN's networks, including CFB, NFL and NBA games on ESPN and ABC. Go to https://t.co/7Rt52TtDUR now so you don't miss out. pic.twitter.com/pedTniPUUE
— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) October 30, 2025
YouTube TV customers: You may lose access to First Take, CFB, NFL and NBA games on ESPN and ABC. Head over to https://t.co/QCeJQoU6kj now so you don’t miss out. pic.twitter.com/77wlwvThL7
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) October 30, 2025
Meanwhile, YouTubeTV wants to act all benevolent because it is offering customers a WHOPPING $20 discount for the absence of the Disney channels. People are paying $80 to $90 per month for YouTubeTV, and the stations many people watch the most are gone, and YouTubeTV thinks $20 is gonna fix that.
We know how disruptive it is to lose channels you enjoy, and we’re committed to continuing to work with Disney to reach an agreement. If their content is unavailable for an extended period of time, we'll offer our members a $20 credit. For updates, visit https://t.co/fn10CU7gfP.
— YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) October 31, 2025
I don’t know who is to blame, although my guess is both sides are to blame since everyone is greedy, but both sides could use a little better PR in this matter.
Sports fans don’t care who is right and who is wrong, and they’re certainly not interested in a PR battle. They just want to watch their games. Period. End of story. Nothing else matters.
If it makes any of you YouTubeTV subscribers feel any better, I predict some sort of deal, even if it’s temporary, will be reached by Saturday morning, so fans aren’t shut out of a day of college football. If that doesn’t happen, I’d be shocked if the blackout isn’t over by Monday because once you start messing with the NFL, things go to another level.
2. The worst call of the NFL season came on Thursday night when Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon was called for a tripping penalty without even coming close to tripping anyone. The phantom penalty ended up negating a huge play for Miami.
The call was so bad that even Amazon’s rules analyst Terry McAulay had to disagree with the refs.
Dolphins flagged for a personal foul because Gordon slipped. This takes away a big pass from Tua to Waddle pic.twitter.com/VfMDH8A81b
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) October 31, 2025
On a side note, this play perfectly highlights my beef with the way rules analysts are used on game broadcasts. Why did Kirk Herbstreit bring in McAulay? Why did we need to hear from McAulay? Anyone with functioning eyesight saw that there was no trip. There was zero reason to bring in the rules analyst.
The play also led to a rough look for Dolphins running back coach Eric Studesville, who went nuts on Gordon for the penalty, even though Gordon did nothing wrong.
#Dolphins rookie RB Ollie Gordon was IRATE after getting flagged for what was a questionable tripping call.
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) October 31, 2025
Coach wasn’t very happy— I’m sure his mind will change once he watches the tape back: pic.twitter.com/vK0UJGzmuL
3. Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday, with Shohei Ohtani on the mound following the 18-inning marathon on Monday, drew an impressive 14.8 million viewers for Fox. According to The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch, another 7.2 million watched the game in Canada on Sportsnet.
4. It was never going to be easy for Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff to compete with ESPN’s College GameDay, but it actually wouldn’t be fair to even call it a competition.
ESPN’s College GameDay is averaging 2.8 million viewers this season, up 28% over last year.
In addition, head-to-head, College GameDay’s ratings are 168% better than Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff this season.
5. Trick-or-treaters who ring J.J. Watt’s doorbell will hit the jackpot today.
Emptied the clip. pic.twitter.com/aMtcDoYupo
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) October 31, 2025
6. This week's SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis.
The host of The Press Box podcast weighs in on all the latest sports media news. Topics discussed include: ESPN’s coverage of the Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups gambling scandals; Inside the NBA’s debut on ESPN; NBC’s use of Michael Jordan as a “special contributor”; Joe Davis’s performance calling the World Series, Stephen A. Smith continuing to go after LeBron James; ESPN’s massive win with SEC football; USC football’s lack of national appeal; Scott Van Pelt possibly moving from midnight to 5 p.m. and much more.
Following Curtis, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss Netflix’s new documentary on the Montreal Expos, my victory over Sal in our college football betting pool, this week’s monster Chiefs-Bills game, a birthday party scam, Halloween and more. You can listen to theSI Media With Jimmy Trainapodcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy Halloween.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Both Sides Look Out of Touch in ESPN-YouTubeTV Carriage Dispute.
