YouTube TV & Fox Sign New Carriage Deal; Blackout Averted

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Follow me on X.

YouTube TV announced late Thursday night that it has reached a new carriage agreement with Fox, ensuring that the live streamer will continue carrying the network’s national and local channels.

The news comes after the two companies signed a short-term deal on Wednesday, barely averting a blackout with the old agreement set to expire at 5 p.m. ET.

“We’re happy to share that we’ve reached an agreement with Fox to keep their content on YouTube TV, preserve the value of our service for our subscribers and offer more flexibility in the future,” YouTube said in a blog post at its site. “This means that Fox channels, including the Fox Broadcast Network, Fox News, and Fox Sports, remain available for our subscribers along with 100+ channels and football fans will not miss any of the action this weekend.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but the reference to ‘more flexibility’ could mean that Fox agreed to allow YouTube TV to offer its programming in smaller, less expensive bundles similar to DIRECTV’s slimmed down genre packs.

Fox also announced the new agreement at its web site, KeepFox.com.

The deal is good news for YouTube TV subscribers, particularly sports fans with the college football season heating up this weekend with the first full week of games. And the NFL season is set to start next week. Fox carries both college and pro football games.

Fox on Monday first threatened to remove the channels if there was not a new agreement by Wednesday. The dispute drew the attention of powerful politicians including FCC Chairman Brendan Carr who urged Google, the owner of YouTube, to ‘get a deal done.’

Carr last night posted on X that last night’s agreement was “great news for college football fans.”

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