After a public standoff, YouTube TV has been extended by NBCUniversal to allow the streaming service to carry several broadcasters channels. YouTube TV will still be able to stream more than a dozen channels owned by NBCUniversal, including NBC's regional sports networks, at least for the moment. YouTube TV's monthly subscription will not be $10 less.
If talks had failed, NBCUniversal programming could have been pulled from YouTube TV at midnight ET. Protocol and Vulture are told by a spokesperson for NBCUniversal that NBCUniversal has agreed to a brief extension while the parties continue negotiations. NBCUniversal will not turn off YouTube TV at midnight eastern tonight.
YouTube stated in a blog post that if the companies failed to reach an agreement on carriage, it would reduce its monthly subscription price from $65 to $55 per mois undercutting other comparatively priced streaming services such as Hulu with Live TV or FuboTV. YouTube TV users would be losing access to more than a dozen NBC channels including:
NBC
Bravo
CNBC
E!
Golf Channel
MSNBC
Oxygen
Syfy
Telemundo
The Olympic Channel
Universal Kids
Universo
USA Network
There are also regional sports networks which include:
NBC Sports Bay Area
NBC Sports Boston
NBC Sports California
NBC Sports Chicago
NBC Sports Philadelphia
NBC Sports Washington
SNY
According to NBCUniversal the dispute over carriage, which has become too common in streaming wars, especially when it comes to regional sporting programming, involved a demand to what a source close to the matter called a fair rate relating market terms. YouTube spokeswoman said the company was trying to negotiate terms it considers fair, according to industry standards and the service's size. A spokesperson for YouTube TV also stated that NBCUniversal requested YouTube TV to bundle Peacock. This spokesperson claimed would lead to users paying twice the amount for the same content.
YouTube announced earlier this week that anyone looking for NBCUniversal programming could go to Peacock, NBCUniversals flagship streaming service. YouTube TV users could save a few dollars by using the Premium tier of Peacocks. It costs $5 per month. They would need to use two apps to stream content from a single live TV service.
