Last updated on December 17th, 2025
Update (12/17/25): Movies Anywhere and Google are now cooperating again.
As of this writing, there’s yet another ongoing dispute between a cable company, or rather a cable replacement service, and cable channel owners. This time, it’s between Disney, the owner of ESPN and ABC, and Google, the owner of YouTube TV; as usual, the dispute’s over money. A contract to carry the Disney-owned channels expired on Halloween, and since the two conglomerates couldn’t come to an agreement, YouTube TV dropped all Disney-owned channels: ABC, ESPN, Disney Channel, Freeform, FX, National Geographic, and more.
Sports fans aren’t thrilled, especially since sports are the biggest selling point left for cable or cable-like services like YouTube TV. However, what’s worse is the two companies have decided to play hardball in a way that affects even customers who don’t pay for YouTube TV or care about cable. Disney’s removed the ability to buy or rent most of their content from YouTube/Google platforms. Meanwhile, Google has removed all Disney related recordings from YouTube TV users’ DVRs (which are cloud based, of course) and pulled out of Movies Anywhere.
Pros and cons of Movies Anywhere
Movies Anywhere is a Disney-owned platform that allows access to digital movie purchases bought on any participating platform. The current platforms (minus Google) include: Apple, Amazon, Fandango, DirecTV, Verizon Fios TV, and Xfinity. Content purchases on any platform can also be synced and viewed on the others. Digital copy codes from Blu-ray purchases can also be redeemed on Movies Anywhere, with the films also added to one’s linked libraries.
Movies Anywhere is one of the better options for digital movies. Hollywood is obsessed with maximizing copyright and locking down their films/TV shows in consumer-hostile ways. As such, unlike the music industry (where one can buy DRM-free MP3s from anywhere), Hollywood execs would sooner stop making sequels than offer DRM-free video files. So given that, Movies Anywhere is an easy to use and convenient compromise in serving as a digital locker for movies. It also lessens the risk of buying films from the “wrong” digital store, in case said store goes out of business or, like Google, stops participating in the service. (Assuming one links more than just one online store to Movies Anywhere.) Movies Anywhere also can be played on pretty much every platform, including within a web browser. (Yes, that includes Linux.)
Still, Movies Anywhere has flaws. Several studios don’t participate: Paramount, Lionsgate, and MGM. The service is only available within the United States. There’s no option to download films as DRM-free files (of course). Some playback or video features that might be specific to certain platforms (such as Apple) aren’t available within the Movies Anywhere app/website, which might annoy home theater enthusiasts. Finally, it’s Movies Anywhere literally: TV shows aren’t available through the service, which feels like a glaring omission.
The media bought on Google-related platforms is still available through Google’s own sites, of course. And I assume Disney and Google will eventually come to an agreement, with Google possibly returning to Movies Anywhere. Still, Movies Anywhere losing Google just feels like a reminder of its flaws, as well as the flaws of DRM-locked media. Customers shouldn’t have to worry about their purchased media subject to being pawns for two massive conglomerates’ financial disputes.
Of course, the alternative is buying physical media, but not everything for sale digitally (or on a streaming service) is available on Blu-ray. (Or obnoxiously there’ll only be a DVD release, not a Blu-ray one, despite everything over the past 10-15 years made and aired in HD by default.) And it’s also a reminder of how obnoxious these constant cable TV disputes are. Again, if you don’t need cable for a specific reason (i.e., sports/news/local TV), there’s no reason to keep it anymore.
Image: Movies Anywhere’s Disney/Pixar section. (Disney)
