Hollywood Week: Disney/YouTube TV, ESPN Sports Bet Shuttered, June Lockhart, Diane Ladd
- Details
- Category: Haute This Issue
- Published on Saturday, 08 November 2025 09:47
- Written by Janet Walker
YouTube TVs 10 million subscribers could be facing a prolonged season without sports content and other programming since the current deal expired, as the streamer and its parent Google tangle with Disney over the high cost of sports content.
The Disney YouTube TV Battle
YouTube TV subscribers will face another weekend in the dark as the battle between Disney and YouTube parent, Google, continue over distribution fees for content including ESPN sports, ABC programming and other Disney channels.
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Google claims Disney is attempting to coerce the technology giant into paying more than other distribution networks to tap into Google's deep resources to undergird the Burbank behemoth's streaming goals and content production.
"In the current negotiations, Google has asked Disney to agree to lower its rates when YouTube TV surpasses Comcast's and Spectrum's subscriber counts. Disney maintains that YouTube already pays preferred rates, in recognition of its competitive standing, and that Google is trying to drive down the value of Disney's networks," according to the Los Angeles Times.
Of course, during these negotiations, the 10 million YouTube TV subscribers are out of luck, paying for a service that is now suspended as the two titans battle over who receives a greater share of the profits available. And for the consumer, the argument reduces to this philosophy.
For both Disney, who is also burden with the escalating cost of sports content, and Google, who has unlimited resources and can wait out the negotiation process, even if Disney digs in, Google won't be touched by the financial injury for some time.
How long is the question, and it is the same question that has plagued every negotiation, including the current governmental shut down, how long can each side hold out?
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As Disney and YouTube and parent Google continue to hold the YouTube TV consumer hostage, the consumers, who flocked to YouTube TV for the attractive subscriber fees and the marathon sports television programming, even at this pivotal sports heavy season, are caught in the middle without options.
Affiliate giant Sinclair whose CEO Chris Ripley, not one month ago led the suspension of the Disney programming across its network of stations, is now crying foul.
"Disney/ABC and other networks should not be able to dictate to us whether we can or cannot distribute content to YouTube TV or even Hulu and Fubo, which, coincidentally are now also owned by Disney," Ripley said. "Particularly concerning is that consumers are now being forced to buy more streaming services from one of the parties in the dispute to get the content that they literally already paid for," reported The Hollywood Reporter.
While not stated, and more than likely not considered, there is an obvious correlation between the current Disney battle with YouTube TV and Google and is representative of the power shift which now has Disney in control. Sinclair who not weeks ago was controlling the affiliate market and flexing and touting its power to bring Disney to its knees suspending late night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in its absurd targeting of host Jimmy Kimmel, over ill-timed comments.
Of course, business is business, and eventually both parties will reach an acceptable agreement.
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ESPN Shutters Sports Betting Branch
The fallout from the massive NBA sport betting indictments, has resulted in ESPN, which is owned by Burbank behemoth Disney, in the early termination of its sports betting partnership with Penn Entertainment.
ESPN is not exiting the gambling ecosystem and has announced simultaneously its deal with DraftKings as its official sports betting organization.
"ESPN said the move means DraftKings products will be "exclusively integrated across ESPN's ecosystem with a full rollout expected in 2026," with users able to access DraftKings' sportsbook, daily fantasy and DraftKings Pick6 on ESPN platforms. ESPN Bet — the sportsbook operated by Penn — will shift to a "sports betting content brand with DraftKings Sportsbook integrations," and anchored by ESPN's betting show and dedicated social and digital channels," according to The Athletic.
The original deal, signed with 2023, with Penn Entertainment, paid ESPN $150 million annually, for the length of the ten year contract, totaling $2 billion and granted the rights to Penn Entertainment to use the ESPN name, and integrated Penn into the ESPN branding.
Sports analysts explained that for Penn Entertainment the ESPN deal was their big opportunity, the invitation to the big leagues, and for ESPN it was like stealing candy from a baby, an opportunity to take advantage of a little known sports betting company with big dreams, and higher hopes.
The gaming industry, which includes sports betting, currently rakes in more annually that the top six technology giants. The gaming industry net worth is valued at $467 billion. Vice over nice, vice works every time. Playing the odds has long been a fascination as chasing the big score spills over tempting even the alleged straight and narrow crowd with a big easy win.
As of December 1, 2025, DraftKings will now be ESPN's official sportsbook and odds provider.
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June Lockhart Dies
June Lockhart, star of stage, screen and film, died recently. She was 100.
Lockhart, who was born in New York City into a thespian family, her father, Gene, one of the founding members of the Screen Actor's Guild, and mother, Kathleen, a singer, musician and stage actress. After a move to California, Lockhart returned to Manhattan to make her acting debut on the Broadway stage in 1947, to huge acclaim winning the first ever Tony award, for a performance by a newcomer.
Her career spanned nearly eight decades, she became a staple for early television sitcoms and found a home on the long running show "Lassie," playing 'Ruth Martin' for more than 200 episodes. When the show was cancelled she moved on to play 'Maureen Robinson' on another long running sitcom, "Lost in Space," for three seasons.
It was during this time that she developed an interest in space, which turned into a lifelong dedication to the space program. Ms. Lockhart became an avid supporter of the NASA Space program and appeared many times in support of the agency's space mission.
"She brought her celebrity to NASA and spent a lot of time in Houston and elsewhere, making appearances at dinners and conventions and mixing with the astronauts and their wives. The agency honored her with its Exceptional Public Achievement Medal in 2013," reported The Hollywood Reporter.
Lockhart continued acting through 2021 lending her voice to the remake of "Lost in Space."
Ms. Lockhart is survived by two daughters, and four grandchildren.
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Diane Ladd Dies
Diane Ladd, an Academy Award nominated actress and mother to actress Laura Dern, died this week, in her home in Ojai, California. She was 89.
Her death was announced by her daughter, Academy Award winning actress Laura Dern, who stated, "She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created," Dern, 58, said in her statement. "We were blessed to have her," The Los Angeles Times reported.
Ladd, whose career spanned six decades, has more than 140 credits and was nominated three different times during her career for an Academy Award. Her first nomination came for her performance as 'Flo,' the wisecracking waitress at a greasy spoon diner," in the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, directed by Martin Scorsese, in which she won the BAFTA.
Her second nominated came in 199o for Best Actress in Wild At Heart, and her third nomination, for her performance in the 1991 film Rambling Rose made Academy Awards history as both she and her daughter were nominated in the same year.
Across her career Ladd was nominated on 12 occasions and honored with eleven wins including a BAFTA, for Alice Doesn't Live here Anymore, and a Golden Globe, for her television work on the sitcom, "Alice," a spinoff of her award winning performance in in the 1974 film. She also earned an Independent Spirit Award for her performance in Rambling Rose, and was honored by the AARP Movies for Grownup Award for her performance in the 2016 film Joy.
Ladd is survived by her daughter Laura Dern.
Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.
