YouTube TV just sent its members an email that suggests it’s heading off the cliff with NBCUniversal on Thursday. If a deal can’t be reached, YouTube TV subscribers may be without more than 14 NBCU-owned channels including all local NBC affiliates and NBC Sports RSNs.
The channels affected include all NBC locals, as well as Bravo, CNBC, E!, Golf Channel, MSNBC, NBC Sports Network, Oxygen, Syfy, Telemundo, Universal Kids, Universo, and USA Network.
Customers would also lose their local NBC Sports RSN like NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports California, NBC Sports Chicago, NBC Sports Philadelphia, and NBC Sports Washington. If the RSNs were to be dropped, YouTube TV would no longer offer Regional Sports Networks in any market, after dropping Bally Sports RSNs last year.
The message has sent subscribers scrambling to try other services like Hulu Live TV, fuboTV, and Sling TV, which each carry NBCU-owned channels.
Here’s the text of the email sent to subscribers:
We know that you love watching the wide variety of live sports, news, and shows available to you on YouTube TV. That’s why we have been working so hard to renew our deal with NBCUniversal to continue carrying their content on YouTube TV. However, since our agreement expires on Thursday, September 30, 2021, and we have not yet been able to reach an equitable agreement, we wanted to give you an early heads-up so you understand your choices.
Our ask is that NBCU treats YouTube TV like any other distributor. In other words, for the duration of our agreement, YouTube TV seeks the same rates that services of similar size get from NBCU so we can continue offering YouTube TV to members at a competitive and fair price.
If NBCU offers us the equitable terms we are asking for, we will 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 from $64.99 to $54.99 (while this content remains off our platform).
At that time, you can sign up for NBCUniversal’s own streaming service, Peacock Premium,* which NBC currently offers starting at $4.99/month to continue watching NBCU content, such as live football.
While we would love every member to stay with our service, we understand that you may still choose to pause or cancel your membership. We want to make YouTube TV flexible, so members can pause or cancel anytime. We will give you updates as negotiations continue, and going forward, please continue to check this webpage for additional information and updates.
Please know that NBCU is an important partner for us, and as you can imagine, this is not the outcome that we want. We are still in active conversations with NBCU and are hopeful we can keep their content available on YouTube TV.
Thanks for your patience and for being a YouTube TV member.
Sincerely,
The YouTube TV team
Peacock is not a perfect replacement for these NBC channels, but it can at least provide access to a majority of prime time programming. Viewers will most likely be hurt by the loss of live coverage on channels like CNBC or MSNBC.
If you’re looking for an alternative streaming service, The Streamable has collected your best options.
| DTV STREAM | Fubo | Hulu | Philo | Sling TV | YouTube | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Sign Up | Free Trial | Get 50% Off | Sign Up | |||
| $79.99 | $91.99 | $76.99 | $25 | $40 | $40 | $72.99 | ||
| Bravo | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| CNBC | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | + $6 | ✓ | |
| E! | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Golf Channel | + $15 | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | + $11 | ✓ | |
| MSNBC | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| NBC | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| NBC Sports Bay Area | + $29 | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | - | ✓ | |
| NBC Sports California | + $29 | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | - | ✓ | |
| NBC Sports Chicago | + $29 | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | - | ✓ | |
| NBC Sports Network | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| NBC Sports Philadelphia | - | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | - | ✓ | |
| NBC Sports Washington | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Oxygen | + $40 | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | + $6 | ✓ | |
| Syfy | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Telemundo | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | - | ✓ | |
| Universal Kids | + $40 | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | - | ✓ | |
| Universo | + $15 | + $10 | + $5 | - | - | + $6 | ✓ | |
| USA Network | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |