Fox and YouTube carriage dispute could black out college football
Fox and YouTube carriage dispute could black out college football
The dispute could well threaten broadcasts of college football games this upcoming weekend.
YouTube TV customers giddy about the return of college football this weekend are now dealing with storm clouds on the horizon. A carriage dispute has sprung up between YouTube and Fox, one of the top college football broadcasters in the country. Not only could the dispute blackout the No. 1 Texas vs. No. 3 Ohio State season opener on Saturday, but it would also impact all sports broadcasts, access to the Fox News channel, library recordings from Fox networks, and more.
Key Details:
- Quick deadline: Fox and YouTube TV have until Aug. 27 to settle their dispute.
- They said, they said: Both sides are laying the blame on the other for a potential disruption.
- Bill credits: YouTube TV has already pledged that customers would get a $10 credit off their bill if the channels disappear.
There isn’t much time for Fox and YouTube TV to set aside their differences and play nicely. Their current carriage agreement will expire on Wednesday, Aug. 27, at which date Fox will have the right to pull all of its owned and operated broadcast and cable channels from YouTube TV until a new deal is made. While the two sides could reach a temporary agreement to extend the deal, generally, the football season is used as a negotiating deadline on both sides in order to reach a deal.
Quite predictably, both sides are laying the blame for the disruption on the other.
“While Fox remains committed to reaching a fair agreement with Google’s YouTube TV, we are disappointed that Google continually exploits its outsized influence by proposing terms that are out of step with the marketplace,” Fox said in a statement. “We are alerting Fox viewers who are YouTube TV subscribers that they could lose access to much of their favorite news, sports, entertainment and local station programming unless Google engages in a meaningful way soon.”
In a blog post on Monday, YouTube responded with its side of the story.
“Our current agreement with Fox is approaching its renewal date and we are in active and ongoing negotiations to continue carrying their content,” YouTube said. “Fox is asking for payments that are far higher than what partners with comparable content offerings receive. Our priority is to reach a deal that reflects the value of their content and is fair for both sides without passing on additional costs to our subscribers.”
The Streamable has seen far too many of these carriage disputes crop up near the start of football season over the years. What is most likely to happen in our eyes is that a deal will be made hours before college football game broadcasts on Saturday — such as the Texas Longhorns vs. Ohio State Buckeyes game — are disrupted. If a deal isn’t reached by that time, it almost certainly will be by next weekend, when the NFL starts back up.
Deadlines of this kind spur action in carriage disputes. Similar pressures led Disney and DIRECTV to solve their disagreement over carriage fees in 2024, and in 2023 Disney’s carriage dispute with Spectrum was also ended early in the football season after mounting fan anger drove both sides back to the negotiating table.
YouTube TV is clearly preparing its customers for a long absence of Fox programming. In an email to customers on Monday, YouTube TV pledged that viewers would get a $10 credit off their bill if Fox’s channels are absent from its lineup for “an extended period of time,” though it did not specify how long that time would have to be to trigger the credit offers.
What concessions will each side get? Will YouTube TV customers be forced to endure a price increase after Fox gets its extra boost in carriage fees? All of those questions are relevant, but they won’t be answered until Fox and YouTube TV inevitably make a new carriage agreement. Until then, however, YouTube TV subscribers will be exposed to a good deal of posturing from both sides.
YouTube TV
YouTube TV is a live TV streaming service with more than 60 channels for $82.99/month. This plan includes local channels 32 of the top 35 cable channels, and regional sports networks (RSNs) in select markets. The base plan includes more than 100 live channels, including major broadcast networks like ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, as well as popular cable channels such as ESPN, CNN, FX, USA Network, and TNT. Local channels are included in most markets, making YouTube TV a full replacement for traditional cable for many viewers.