YouTube TV and DirecTV customers can now claim their shares of a $50 million antitrust settlement from Disney.
A November 2022 lawsuit alleges that Disney relied on anticompetitive practices to "set a price floor" in the television streaming subscription market.
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ESPN, owned by the Walt Disney Company, is the most expensive channel for streaming services to offer in their packages, the class-action lawsuit said. Disney also owns Hulu, a YouTube TV competitor.
The lawsuit argues that Disney’s agreements with television streaming services "provide Disney pricing power over the entire market." The suit points to Disney terms requiring streamers' base bundles to include ESPN, driving up costs.
On March 31, a judge granted preliminary approval to a proposed settlement in the case, Biddle v. The Walt Disney Co., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. (Heather Biddle is one of the YouTube TV subscribers who brought the action.)
Disney denies wrongdoing but has agreed to a settlement to put the matter to rest.
Who is eligible to claim the Disney settlement?
The proposed settlement includes customers who had YouTube TV subscriptions on or after April 1, 2019, through March 31, 2026, and "all persons who purchased a DirecTV streaming live pay TV subscription (branded at various times as, at least, DirecTV Stream, DirecTV Now and AT&T TV Now)," according to the judge's order granting preliminary approval.
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How much is the Disney settlement payout?
The exact payout amount is not yet known.
"Payment amounts will be calculated once the number of valid claims has been determined, with the goal of complete exhaustion of funds with no reversion to Disney," according to a March court filing by the plaintiffs for preliminary approval of the settlement.
The settlement covers an estimated 17 million class members, the filing said. Divide $50 million by that large of a class size — and subtract the attorney fees and other costs — and you'd get an amount well under $3 per claim.
But Epiq Class Action & Claims Solutions, the proposed settlement administrator, expects a claims rate in the ballpark of 2% to 5%, according to the March filing.
Those figures suggest that some longtime customers could receive more than just a token payout.
There's one catch: Payout amounts will depend on the claimant's state of residence. The bulk of the money (90%) is set to be paid to residents of "repealer jurisdictions," or states that allow so-called "indirect purchasers" to sue for antitrust damages. That covers most states (36) but leaves residents of the remaining 14 states splitting up a smaller fund.
How do you claim the settlement?
Eligible customers can complete a claim form by Sept. 8. The process can be completed online or by mail, and payments will be distributed by a digital method or by check.
The settlement website includes the online claim form, which prompts the user to enter a "Unique ID" number and PIN. According to Epiq, eligible customers should receive these numbers in emailed or mailed settlement notices.
Before payments can be issued, the settlement will need final approval from the judge, who has scheduled a hearing for Jan. 14, 2027. Any appeals must also be resolved, and the entire process can take months or years.
