The ongoing carriage dispute between YouTube TV and NBC could be coming to an official end with a potential new deal in sight, according to Puck sports correspondent John Ourand. Earlier this week, before the previous contract was set to expire at midnight ET Tuesday, YouTube TV and NBC reached a short-term agreement in order to avoid a blackout in coverage.
“I’m told that YouTube TV and NBC are close to working out a deal,” Ourand wrote on X/Twitter on Thursday afternoon. “More to come in tonight’s private email.”
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Now it appears a new agreement could be just around the corner. Ourand previously reported YouTube TV and NBC were “still far apart” in their negotiations as of Monday afternoon. A key holdup in the negotiation has been YouTube TV’s desire to “ingest” Peacock programming through the new deal. LightShed’s Rich Greenfield added YouTube TV pays more than $10 per subscriber per month for the NBCUniversal channels, according to Ourand, and YouTube TV “sees Peacock run promos for $25/year.”
For football fans, Big Ten games air in primetime on NBC, and Notre Dame football also plays games on the network. NBC has two games on its air Oct. 4 after the deal would expire – Boise State at Notre Dame and Minnesota at Ohio State.
Of course, NBC also has the rights to the NFL’s Sunday Night Football game every week, with the New England Patriots set to play the Buffalo Bills in primetime Sunday evening.
YouTube TV, NBC warned of blackout
News of the pending dispute broke last week when CNBC reported the deal was nearing its expiration. Both YouTube TV and NBCUniversal then released separate statements, warning customers a blackout could be on the way.
“YouTube TV has refused the best rates and terms in the market, demanding preferential treatment and seeking an unfair advantage over competitors to dominate the video marketplace – all under the false pretends of fighting for the consumer,” NBCUniversal said. “The result: YouTube TV customers will lose access to NBCUniversal’s premium programming.”
YouTube TV, however, struck a different tone and said NBCUniversal is asking for a charge higher than what consumers pay for Peacock to get the same content. If a blackout occurs, YouTube TV said it would offer subscribers a $10 credit.
“NBCUniversal is asking us to pay more than what they charge consumers for the same content on Peacock, which would mean less flexibility and higher prices for our subscribers,” YouTube TV said in it own statement to CNBC. “We are committed to working with NBCUniversal to reach a fair deal for both sides ahead of our current agreement expiring on September 30. If their content is unavailable for an extended period of time, we’ll offer our subscribers a $10 credit.”
— On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.
