What are the YouTube TV channels you couldn’t live without?

YouTube TV is the market leader in live TV streaming, with the most popular, and one of the most expensive, subscription services. The platform is estimated to have more than 10 million subscribers, and costs $83 per month. The high price understandably results in consumer frustration when major channels disappear from YouTube TV during negotiations — something that has already happened multiple times in 2025.

This time, YouTube TV fans are noticing that all Disney content is unavailable as of October 30, when their contract expired. A whopping 21 channels immediately disappeared from the platform, including big names like ABC, ESPN, and National Geographic. You might not know that most of your favorite channels are consolidated under just a few media companies. That means when YouTube TV fails to reach a deal with the largest brands, an entire chunk of channels go dark.

Your essential YouTube TV channels

YouTube TV offers more than 100 live TV channels at full strength, but that number can quickly dwindle if the streamer can’t come to terms with the six largest media companies. Disney, Paramount, Fox, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, and AMC Networks represent over 50 channels on YouTube TV combined. So, which collection of channels do you consider essential on YouTube TV?

Most of us probably think of YouTube TV channels individually, until a content rights battle serves as a reminder that many of them are linked. What’s your favorite YouTube TV channel, and would you unsubscribe if that one channel went dark? Let us know in the comments.