YouTube TV and NBCUniversal agree to short contract extension

After a prolonged public trial Over a contractual dispute that could have resulted in the removal of 14 NBC Universal channels from YouTube TV, the two services announced Thursday evening that they had worked out a short-term contract. to fix.

“NBCUniversal and YouTube TV have agreed to a short extension while the parties continue talks. NBCUniversal will not be shutting down on YouTube TV at midnight EST tonight,” a spokesperson for NBCUniversal said in a statement. “We will continue to be in touch for next steps as we have more information. Thank you for your patience.”

a existing contract between the two companies was will expire at midnight on September 30, but both parties encountered the conditions of carriage in the days preceding the deadline, creating uncertainty over the fate of NBCUniversal channels on YouTube’s streaming service. While NBCUniversal reportedly demanded that the Google-owned YouTube TV is bundling its streaming service, Peacock, as a condition of continuing to have access to the broadcaster’s channels, YouTube TV objected to the conditions, asking NBCUniversal to treat it “like any other television provider”.

“In other words, during the term of our agreement, YouTube TV charges the same rates that similarly sized services get from NBCU so that we can continue to offer YouTube TV to members at a competitive and fair price,” wrote the service. in a blog post announcing the impasse of negotiations.

To compensate for any inconvenience to customers that would result from the 14 channels, which would have included NBC, Bravo, and with regional sports networks, among others, being phased out, YouTube TV initially proposed lowering the monthly price of its service by $ 10, from $ 64.99 to $ 54.99. While this deal is apparently now off the table, negotiations between the two companies are In progress.

While cable subscribers are probably all too familiar with outages linked to transport conflicts that spoil their service, streaming platforms are relatively new in practice and submitted their clients to increasingly frequent disruptions, especially when regional sports networks are involved. As streaming platforms compete for control of the board, subscribers can expect to see more of these types of land wars unfolding in front of them in real time.– which makes you wonder if cutting the cord is still the cleanest and most convenient alternative to the cable we were promised.