Latest in streaming woes: YouTube TV customers briefly lost ESPN

First, they came for the regional sports networks, and I said nothing.

(OK, actually I said a lot in various posts about the wars between streaming services and Sinclair-owned RSNs).

But then a new wrinkle arrived late Friday: Google-owned YouTube TV, with a deadline to reach an agreement with Disney-owned properties (including ESPN), failed to do so.

Any of their 3 million subscribers who happened to be watching the Timberwolves vs. Lakers game Friday on ESPN — many of them local, obviously — were cut off from it mid-game.

I talked about that on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast with Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse — who, himself, is a YouTube TV subscriber who experienced that sudden loss.

Reusse's outrage was warranted, as the chore of watching sports on TV has become a game of keeping up with which carriers have which channels (though the highlight of the podcast was Reusse, born in 1945, claiming he was older than pizza. The first pizza establishment in the United States reportedly opened in 1905, but it's possible it didn't make it to the Minnesota prairie for several decades).

Streaming services like YouTube TV and Hulu dropped regional sports channels like Bally Sports North more than a year ago, disrupting the viewing habits of Twins, Wild, Wolves, United, Lynx and pretty much any other fans except those who root for the Vikings.

But the absence of ESPN was a different story.

Fortunately for fans — or unfortunately, depending on your view of the game's aesthetics — the channel returned Sunday, a day in advance of Monday Night Football between the Vikings and Bears on ESPN.

Granted, there are far more serious things going on in our world than the ability to watch sports on TV at a lower rate and with more favorable terms than what is offered by traditional cable or satellite providers.

But it would be nice if there was an end to the constant disruption, with viewers caught in the middle of a greedy battle.