Monday evening, some fuboTV subscribers will lose access to their local CBS affiliate, which was confirmed to The Streamable by a spokesperson at FuboTV.
According to Broadcasting + Cable, CBS gave its affiliates a January 27 deadline to decide whether they would continue airing on fuboTV or not. In areas where affiliates decline the deal, fuboTV will switch over to the CBS National Feed on Monday at 5 p.m. Reports suggest stations have until the Monday switchover to change their minds.
In a statement to The Streamable, a Paramount Global spokesperson said: “CBS, through the Affiliate Board, has provided our affiliates a fair opportunity to continue their carriage on FuboTV with short-term, mid-term and long-term options, including under the existing contract. Unfortunately and inexplicably, the Board has not endorsed any of our multiple solutions. This may result in certain CBS affiliates electing to discontinue their local feeds on the FuboTV platform.”
In order to gain wide carriage of CBS across Live TV Streaming Services, Paramount Global can negotiate a standard agreement for all CBS affiliates. However, affiliate owners can choose not to participate in those deals.
This isn’t the first time that group of CBS affiliates went dark on Fubo. In September 2020, Nexstar CBS affiliates were dropped from Fubo. The channels were unavailable on the service until December 2020, in the meantime, Fubo provided users a credit to sign-up for Paramount+ (which at the time was called CBS All Access).
This also happened twice between Sinclair’s CBS affiliates and Hulu + Live TV, most recently in December 2020.
How Will This Affect FuboTV Subscribers?
The outcome depends on where you live. For markets where there is a CBS owned-and-operated station (commonly called “O&Os”), the experience should remain the same. There will also be no difference for areas where the station owner agreed to the fuboTV terms.
In markets that CBS affiliates are not available, FuboTV will replace the channel with a National Feed. However, in the past, while that feed carries CBS primetime programming and late-night, it does not include some live sports, like NFL games, local news, or syndicated programming. The new deal will reportedly extend through the 2024 Super Bowl, which will air on CBS.
This is a list of the stations that should remain unaffected because they’re owned by Paramount.
| State | City | Station |
|---|---|---|
| California | Los Angeles | KCBS |
| California | San Francisco | KPIX |
| California | Sacramento | KOVR |
| Colorado | Denver | KCNC |
| Florida | Miami | WFOR |
| Illinois | Chicago | WBBM |
| Maryland | Baltimore | WJZ |
| Massachusetts | Boston | WBZ |
| Michigan | Detroit | WWJ |
| Minnesota | Minneapolis | WCCO |
| New York | New York | WCBS |
| Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | KYW |
| Pennsylvania | Pittsburgh | KDKA |
| Texas | Dallas/Fort Worth | KTVT |
Your local station may also be safe, but we won’t know that until Monday night. In areas where station owners have opted out, the big difference will come during any local newscast timeslots. At that time, users will see a national feed, which means there will be no localized weather or sports.
What Other Ways Can You Watch Local CBS?
Paramount+
One excellent option is to sign up for Paramount+. With a 30-day free trial to the Premium tier ($9.99/mo.), you’ll get your local CBS affiliate. On their cheaper Essential Tier ($4.99/mo.), while you won’t get your local affiliate, you will get live NFL games.
In addition to the CBS feed, you’ll get almost all the biggest hits from BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Smithsonian Channel.
Paramount+ is a soccer lover’s dream with Serie A, Argentina Liga Profesional de Fútbol, and UEFA Champions League.
The movie library stretches back 100 years, so there’s plenty to watch, from silent films and old Westerns to modern-day “Mission: Impossible” adventures with Tom Cruise. It’s also home to the Star Trek movies and TV series.
When it comes to original series, Paramount+ has hitched its wagon to “Yellowstone” co-creator Taylor Sheridan. You’ll see the prequel series “1888” and “1923,” alongside other Sheridan projects like “Mayor of Kingstown” and “Tulsa King.”
For children, that Nickelodeon library is a slam dunk. You’ve got thousands of hours of “PAW Patrol,” “Spongebob Squarepants,” “Digby Dragon,” “Rugrats,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Peppa Pig,” and much more.
If you’d like more adult content, you can add Showtime to Paramount+. The combined bundle is $11.99 / month with ads or $14.99 / month commercial-free with live CBS.
Paramount Plus
Paramount+ is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 40,000+ TV show episodes from BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and more. Get free access with a Walmart+ subscription.
Paramount+ includes “1883,” “Tulsa King,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and “PAW Patrol.” Subscribers can watch the NFL, college football, The Masters, college basketball, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa, Serie A, and NWSL. The service also offers the option to watch your live CBS affiliate. The upgraded ad-free package includes premium movies and shows from Showtime.
Get an Antenna
Another obvious way to get CBS and your other local channels is to grab an antenna. This method is always free (after the cost of the antenna), but the downside is that you don’t have a DVR or an easy way to watch on demand.
Mohu Leaf 30
Up to 30 Mile Range
Mohu Leaf 50
Up to 60 Mile Range
Switch to Another Live Streaming Service
Most live TV streaming services carry CBS. You can often grab a free trial to try a new service and see how you like it. One popular option is DIRECTV STREAM, along with Hulu Live TV and YouTube TV –– all of which carry CBS.
Check Free Streaming Services
If you’d like to continue with fuboTV, but you still want local news, weather, and sports, you may be in luck. Several free streaming services carry local CBS affiliates. Depending on where you live, your CBS station’s newscast may air on:
These services are also helpful if you’d like to watch the news in another part of the country.
Why is This Happening?
Every live TV streamer negotiates with the channel owners to secure retransmission rights. While Paramount owns CBS, it doesn’t own every station (called affiliates) that carries the CBS feed. However, in order to get wide distribution for affiliates with Live TV Streaming Services, Paramount Global negotiates a master agreement for all affiliates. Those stations can opt out of the agreement and decline carriage, or negotiate themselves.
The group representing the affiliates says Paramount is trying to negotiate a larger deal with fuboTV that includes its cable stations like Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon, so Paramount may not be dealing in the affiliates’ best interests.
Carriage disputes are not uncommon. They occurred frequently even back in the days when cable TV ruled the landscape. There’s always an opportunity for the parties to come back to the table. They usually do after a brief outage, but there’s no guarantee.
Stay with The Streamable for updates as they become available.
Fubo
Fubo is a live TV streaming service with about 90 top channels that start at $79.99 per month. This plan includes local channels, 19 of the top 35 cable channels, and regional sports networks (RSNs). In total, you should expect to pay about $94.99 per month, after adding in their RSN Fee. Fubo was previously known as “fuboTV.”