NBCUniversal has announced that all of the network’s channels will remain available on YouTube TV after the service launches in November. This includes NBC’s flagship network, NBCUniversal Television Studios, as well as CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo, and Oxygen. The decision to keep all of NBCUniversal’s channels available on YouTube TV comes as a result of the company’s investment in YouTube Red, which is a live streaming service that offers ad-free viewing of NBCUniversal content. The move also coincides with the launch of YouTube TV’s main channel in November. “We are excited to continue our investment in YouTube TV and make all of our networks available on one platform,” said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts in a statement. “This provides more choice for consumers and helps us compete against other providers who have built their businesses on exclusive content.”
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In a blog post, YouTube TV said, “We’re thrilled to share that we’ve reached a deal to continue carrying the full NBCUniversal portfolio of channels. That means you won’t lose access to any of their channels, and YouTube TV will continue to offer 85+ networks for $64.99.”
If YouTube TV and NBCUniversal were unable to reach an agreement, Google said it would lower the price of YouTube TV by $10 per month to compensate for the loss of programming. Even with a $10 discount, losing NBC, USA, and all of the other channels in the NBC portfolio would likely have caused a lot of people to move on to another streaming provider.
“While we would love every member to continue 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,” said a YouTube TV representative in a blog post.
First, NBCUniversal and YouTube TV inked a temporary deal that allowed the channels to stick around after the deadline, but now, the two companies have managed to lock in a long-term deal that’ll keep the channels around until the contract runs out.
It sounds like Google-owned YouTube TV is happy with the terms offered by NBCUniversal. “We appreciate NBCUniversal’s willingness to work toward an agreement, and we also appreciate your patience as we negotiated with them on your behalf,” the company said.
These types of disputes are common in the cable industry, and thankfully, they’re usually resolved before channels are removed, as was the case here.
