PlayStation Vue Must Extend Deals With AMC, Turner, Discovery, & NBCU This Month
The next two months, PlayStation Vue has important content deals that are about to expire. According to the company’s website deals with AMC, Turner (TNT, TBS, CNN), Discovery, and NBCUniversal (Bravo, E!, USA, CNBC) expire in June — while their deal with NFL Network will end in July. While in most cases these deals are resolved without issue, this is a substantial amount of rights deals ending all at the same time.
On their website, PlayStation Vue shared:
Most of the programming/content you watch on PlayStation™Vue is licensed from programmers for the right to air their networks/channels. Once these agreements near expiration, we enter into renewal discussions where we work hard to try and obtain the best value for our customers. Though infrequent, sometimes certain licenses will not be renewed, in which case PlayStation™Vue would no longer carry the affected channels or networks. This section will be updated periodically to list channels and networks coming up for renewal. Please note that the dates listed below are subject to change.
Last month, PlayStation Vue was unable to come to an agreement with NESN which saw the channel dropped from their service. In the past, the service has had disputes with Sinclair Media Group which so locals disappear for a few months and Viacom which had their channels removed in November 2016.
This is not new to the streaming industry. DIRECTV NOW removed NFL Network from their service last month after their agreement with the channel was not extended. In the last few months, AT&T has also had extended disputes with Viacom and A+E — but were able to come to last minute agreements with the media companies.