Because of the launch on Wednesday of YouTube's $10-a-month ad-free subscription service, Red, ESPN started to remove its videos from YouTube.
The pull out is because of rights issues, but both ESPN and YouTube did not provide an explanation on the legal implication of the sports news portal participation in Red, reports ABC. One theory, according to Laura Martin of Needham & Co, a media analyst, could be ESPN's pre-existing contracts with cable and satellite companies such as Comcast that prevents it from signing up for the YouTube service.
She says ESPN has to exit YouTube to avoid lawsuits from pre-existing partners since the deals cover several years that cannot be renegotiated. The contracts expire only after eight years.
YouTube required content creators to be part of Red so their videos could be shown in the U.S. even on the free site with ads. Google, owner of YouTube, says 99 percent of video creators have already signed on Red.
YouTube had started to send new contracts to content creators six months ago to be part of Red, expected to be a revenue generator for Google. Those who will not sign in, their videos could not be seen in the U.S., except the uploader.
TechTimes reports that as a result, 11 of ESPN's 13 channels are affected by Red. Only X-Games and Nacion ESPN are still live in YouTube, but popular channels such as Grantland, First Take and NBA on ESPN have been removed.
ESPN's advice to sports fans is that "Content previously available on the free YouTube service will be available across ESPN digital properties."