YouTube TV subscribers, rejoice! Sunday Night Football won't be leaving YouTube TV. YouTube TV and NBCUniversal reached a settlement after a heated public battle over a contract dispute.
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We are thrilled to announce that we have reached a deal with Google to continue carrying all channels from NBCUniversal, the streaming service owned by Google. YouTube TV will continue to offer 85+ networks at $64.99, so you won't lose your access to any of their channels. We are grateful for NBCUniversals willingness and ability to reach an agreement. We also appreciate your patience while we negotiated on your behalf.
As the companies clashed over carriage terms, the fate of NBCU's 14 channels on YouTube TV (which include NBC, Bravo and E! as well as several regional sports networks) remained unclear. This was just days before their contract expires. They reached an agreement on Thursday night to extend the contract for a brief time. However, it was unclear if that temporary solution would lead to a final deal or NBCU channels going dark on YouTube TV.
NBCU, like YouTube, also had positive things to say about the end of these long-running negotiations.
A spokesperson for the company stated that they are happy to have reached a deal YouTube TV. This will allow us to continue offering our entire network portfolio without interruption. YouTube is a valuable partner. While we don't want to get into a dispute with our fans, we felt the need to inform them. We are grateful for the loyalty of our viewers and pledge to keep bringing them the programs and networks they love.
The terms of the agreement were not disclosed by either company. We reached out to YouTube and NBCU for more information and will update this blog once we hear back.
According to reports, negotiations were hampered by NBCU's request that YouTube TV bundle its streaming service, Peacock as a condition of its offering to remain on the platform. YouTube TV argued against these terms and argued that NBCU should treat YouTube TV as any other TV provider. It also demanded the same rates from the media giant that services of a similar scale receive.
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YouTube TV offered to reduce the monthly cost of the service by $10, from $64.99 - $54.99, in order to please customers who were losing their access to 14 channels, but the companies failed to come to an agreement. However, the price of the service will not change with a new agreement.
