- Disney CEO Bob Iger appeared on the ‘ManningCast’ during a ‘Monday Night Football’ game.
- Iger was not directly asked about the ongoing ESPN and ABC blackout on YouTube TV.
- The carriage dispute between Disney and YouTube TV has now lasted for two football weekends.
For those who thought Disney CEO Bob Iger’s ‘ManningCast’ appearance during the ‘Monday Night Football’ contest between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles would be a chance for the boss to make a public statement about the ESPN (and overall Disney) blackout on YouTube TV amid a corporate dispute, they were wrong.
An avowed Packers supporter, Iger – who was in attendance at the game in Wisconsin – was not explicitly asked by either of the Manning brothers about the carriage dispute that has now lasted two full football weekends and deprived YouTube TV subscribers from watching all sports that air on ESPN or ABC. He arrived for the final play of the first quarter and was gone with 12:30 until halftime.
Eli Manning did welcome Iger to the show with a question about watching sports on TV and said ‘so how we doing?’ But Iger didn’t take the half-baked bait. The rest of the conversation focused on how Iger fell in love with the Packers as a boy and some discussion of the controversial ‘tush push’ play.
YouTube, owned by Google, claims Disney, the parent company of ESPN, is charging too much in its licensing agreement with the cord-cutting service. Their previous agreement ended Oct. 31 at midnight.
All the NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY’s 4th and Monday newsletter. Check out the latest edition: Best and worst of unpredictable Week 10.
