NBCUniversal and YouTube TV extended negotiations to avoid a programming blackout for the latter’s roughly 10 million subscribers, as they continue negotiating for a new carriage deal.
“We’ve reached a short-term extension to avoid disruption to our service while we work toward a new agreement with NBCUniversal. We appreciate our subscribers’ patience while we negotiate on their behalf,” a YouTube spokesperson told TheWrap. A spokesperson for NBCU shared a similar statement. Neither party specified the duration of the extension.
Upcoming programming that would’ve been impacted by the blackout starting Wednesday include Sunday Night Football, the NBA and new seasons “The Voice” and “Saturday Night Live,” which is set to return on Saturday, Oct. 4.
The latest dispute/agreement comes after YouTube avoided a programming blackout of Fox’s content by hours after striking a new deal in August. The same cannot be said for TelevisaUnivision programming, which went dark on the service earlier on Tuesday after both parties failed to come to terms on a new agreement.
The extension comes less than a week after NBCUniversal first warned of a possible blackout of its programming on YouTube TV.
“Google, with its $3 trillion market cap, already controls what Americans see online through search and ads — now it wants to control what we watch. YouTube TV has refused the best rates and terms in the market, demanding preferential treatment and seeking an unfair advantage over competitors to dominate the video marketplace,” an NBCU spokesperson told TheWrap in a statement, “all under the false pretense of fighting for the consumer. The result: YouTube TV customers will lose access to NBCUniversal’s premium programming, including Sunday Night Football, NBA, Big Ten Football, WWE, Premier League, Saturday Night Live, The Voice, The Real Housewives, and much more.”
A YouTube spokesperson said at the time that the Comcast-owned entertainment company was “asking us to pay more than what they charge consumers for the same content on Peacock, which would mean less flexibility and higher prices for our subscribers.”
Telemundo Enterprises chairman Luis Fernández also shared an open letter amid the dispute, signaling how a shutdown would leave Spanish-speaking YouTube TV users without access to both of the major networks for Spanish speakers in the U.S.
When asked about Fernandez’s letter, a YouTube TV spokesperson told TheWrap that its carriage renewal decisions are “based on viewer consumption and pricing, and any suggestion to the contrary is false.”
