Sheridan, Wyoming Aug 21, 2026 (Issuewire.com) A proposed $50 million partial settlement has been announced in Biddle, et al. v. The Walt Disney Company, Case No. 5:22-cv-07317-EJD, pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The settlement applies to certain purchasers of YouTube TV and DirecTV streaming services. Claims must be submitted online or postmarked by September 8, 2026.
The lawsuit alleges that The Walt Disney Company violated federal antitrust law and various state antitrust and consumer-protection laws through conduct that raised, maintained, or stabilized the prices of streaming live pay television services. Plaintiffs allege that this conduct caused subscribers to pay higher prices for services including YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream. Disney denies the allegations and denies any wrongdoing or liability. The court has not ruled that Disney violated the law.
The settlement covers two groups. The YouTube TV Settlement Class includes people and entities that purchased a YouTube TV subscription between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2026. The DirecTV Stream Settlement Class includes people and entities that purchased a DirecTV streaming live television subscription during the same period, including subscriptions marketed as DirecTV Stream, DirecTV Now, or AT&T TV Now.
The settlement is partial because claims brought by FuboTV plaintiffs have not been resolved through this agreement. The settlement notice applies only to the YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream portions of the litigation.
If the settlement receives final approval, Disney will pay $50 million to resolve the released claims of participating settlement class members. After court-approved attorneys fees, administration expenses, service awards, and other permitted costs are deducted, the remaining amount will be distributed to eligible claimants.
Eligible claimants who submit valid and timely claim forms may receive pro rata cash payments based on the length of their qualifying YouTube TV and/or DirecTV Stream subscriptions. The final payment for each claimant is not currently fixed and will depend on factors including the number of approved claims, the claimants subscription history, applicable state law, and the amount remaining in the net settlement fund. Claimants with qualifying subscriptions to both services may include both subscriptions on one claim form.
The settlement divides the net fund between subscribers in two jurisdiction groups. Ninety percent of the net settlement fund will be allocated to class members who resided in specified Repealer Jurisdictions during the class period, while 10 percent will be allocated to class members in the remaining jurisdictions. This allocation may affect individual payment amounts.
In addition to the monetary relief, Disney has agreed to certain non-monetary commitments related to its business practices. The detailed terms of those commitments are contained in the settlement agreement and related court documents.
The parties agreed to settle without a trial. According to the settlement notice, class counsel concluded that the agreement provided benefits to the settlement classes while avoiding the costs, delays, risks, and uncertainty associated with continued antitrust litigation. Disney agreed to the settlement to avoid the expense, inconvenience, and distraction of further litigation while continuing to deny wrongdoing.
The deadline to submit a claim or request exclusion from the settlement is September 8, 2026. Objections must be filed by December 1, 2026. The final approval hearing is currently scheduled for January 14, 2027, at 9:00 a.m. before Judge Edward J. Davila in San Jose, California. The hearing date and format may change, and class members should review the official settlement website for updates.
Sparrow, a platform that tracks class action and settlement deadlines, has published a summary of the Disney streaming television settlement to help consumers review publicly available information concerning eligibility, claim deadlines, and settlement benefits. Sparrow is not the settlement administrator, class counsel, or legal counsel in this matter. Consumers should rely on the official settlement website and court-approved documents for complete terms and instructions.
The settlement administrator can be contacted by telephone at 1-877-704-2517, by email at info@OnlineTVSettlement.com, or by mail at:
Biddle v. Disney
Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 4720
Portland, OR 97208-4720
Class counsel is:
Yavar Bathaee
Bathaee Dunne LLP
445 Park Avenue, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10022
disneysettlement@bathaeedunne.com
About Sparrow
Sparrow tracks active class action settlements and provides summaries of publicly available information, including eligibility requirements, claim deadlines, and links to official settlement materials.
Source :Sparrow
This article was originally published by IssueWire. Read the original article here.
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