YouTube TV and NBCUniversal have agreed to a short-term extension that will keep the latter’s channels on the streamer for now, NBC said last night.
Update: YouTube TV & NBC Close to Final Deal
The current carriage pact was set to expire last night at midnight ET, but the extension was announced shortly before the deadline. The length of the extension is unknown.
“NBCUniversal and YouTube TV have agreed to a short extension while parties continue to talk. NBCUniversal will not go dark on YouTube TV at midnight eastern tonight,” NBCUniversal said in a terse statement.
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The network earlier this week said the channels that could be blacked out include:
NBC (all network affiliates), USA Network, Golf Channel, Bravo, MSNBC, E!, CNBC, Telemundo, Syfy, Oxygen, The Olympic Channel, Universal Kids, Universo, and the NBC sports regional networks in markets where they are available.
As of 5 a.m. ET today, YouTube TV has not issued a statement regarding the dispute. Earlier in the week, YouTube TV said if it loses the NBC channels, it will lower its monthly subscriber price from $64.99 to $54.99 for the duration of the blackout.
“If NBCU offers us equitable terms, we’ll renew our agreement with them. However, if we are unable to reach a deal by Thursday, the NBCU lineup of channels will no longer be available on YouTube TV and we will decrease our monthly price by $10, from $64.99 to $54.99 (while this content remains off our platform),” the streamer said.
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YouTube TV suggested that its NBC viewers use the savings (if they are implemented) to sign up for Peacock, NBC’s streaming site which offers the network’s programming with ads for $4.99 a month. (The ads-free plan costs $9.99 a month.)
The TV Answer Man will continue to monitor this situation and report back here if anything changes.
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— Phillip Swann
A local station manager told me this morning that the new deadline is 9:00 PM Friday evening.