The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay a $50 million settlement following a class-action lawsuit filed by streaming service subscribers. The 2023 legal filing claimed that Disney inflated the cost of consumers’ streaming services by forcing platforms to include ESPN.
2023 Lawsuit Against Disney
The plaintiffs, YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream subscribers, claimed that The Walt Disney Company’s carriage agreements that forced ESPN to be included in streaming packages unnecessarily drove up prices and were “anti-competitive.”
In addition to a $50 million class-action payment, the lawsuit settlement agreement requires The Walt Disney Company to consider proposals for subscription packages that include fewer Disney-owned networks and potentially exclude ESPN. The plaintiffs claim that Disney previously would not consider deals with streamers who did not want to include ESPN.
Disney refused to acknowledge wrongdoing but “agreed to settle to avoid the costs and risks of continued litigation.”
Who is Eligible for Payment?
The proposed settlement class for The Walt Disney Company’s $50 million payout includes customers who purchased a YouTube TV or DirecTV streaming live pay TV subscription from April 1, 2019, through the date of preliminary approval.
The court has yet to approve The Walt Disney Company’s $50 million settlement. Once the court provides preliminary approval, YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream subscribers will be able to fill out claim forms.
FuboTV subscribers were previously included in the class, but were later separated into a separate case. FuboTV only subscribers who do not also have YouTube TV or DirecTV are not eligible for payment.
After attorney fees and administrative costs are calculated and deducted, the remaining $50 million will be split among the settlement class. The payment amount will vary depending on how long subscribers have been paying for a live TV subscription with YouTube TV or DirecTV Stream.
The $50 million settlement is non-reversionary, so The Walt Disney Company will not be able to reclaim any unclaimed funds.
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