The Walt Disney $DIS Company agreed to pay $50 million to settle a federal antitrust class action lawsuit alleging it drove up subscription prices for YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream, though the company denied any wrongdoing.
The suit — Biddle et al. v. The Walt Disney Company — centered on allegations that streaming platforms were contractually pressured into bundling ESPN and related channels as part of their standard offerings, a practice subscribers attributed to Disney's outsized grip on must-have content. The effect, plaintiffs contended, was to block services from assembling lower-cost packages, pushing subscription costs higher across the board. Disney agreed to settle to avoid prolonged litigation without admitting liability.
Eligibility extends to anyone who held a subscription to YouTube TV or DirecTV Stream — a category that also covers the service's earlier incarnations under the names DirecTV Now and AT&T $T TV Now — during the window running from April 1, 2019, through March 31, 2026, according to USA Today. Current subscribers and those who have since canceled may both qualify. The deadline to submit a claim, either online or by mail, is Sept. 8, 2026.
The exact payout each claimant receives has not been set. Under a pro-rata distribution model, individual payouts will be calculated by weighing how long a claimant was subscribed against the overall pool of approved filings. Geographic location during the subscription period is also a factor — the settlement groups claimants accordingly, and that grouping could influence how money is ultimately allocated.
Before any money changes hands, the settlement must clear a judicial review set for Jan. 14, 2027. At that hearing, the court retains authority to modify the terms, reject the deal, or sign off on it — with disbursements beginning only after an approval is entered.
This case, which began in 2022, is part of ongoing disputes in the streaming industry over content licensing and the power major programmers have over distributors. Sometimes, these disagreements have led to service interruptions, with subscribers to YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream losing access to Disney-owned channels during contract disputes.