YouTube TV and Fox have avoided a programming blackout after reaching a short-term contract extension, a spokesperson for the media giant told TheWrap.
“We are committed to advocating on behalf of our subscribers as we work toward a fair deal and will keep you updated on our progress,” YouTube TV said.
The extension allows the two parties to continue to work towards a new carriage agreement without disrupting YouTube TV subscribers’ access to Fox programming. The current contract expired on Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET.
Fox began warning YouTube TV subscribers on Monday that they could lose access to its news, sports, entertainment and local station programming if the two sides were unable to reach a deal, including the NFL, college football, the Big Ten Network and Major League Baseball.
YouTube TV currently carries Fox, Fox Sports, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network, Fox Deportes, Fox News Channel and local Fox stations across the country.
“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,” the company said at the time.
YouTube TV fired back, arguing that Fox is asking for payments that are “far higher than what partners with comparable content offerings receive.” It added that it would give subscribers a $10 credit if programming was disrupted and said they could subscribe to Fox One during a potential blackout.
The short-term extension came after FCC chairman Brendan Carr urged Google to get a deal done with Fox on Tuesday so that millions of Americans could keep watching their news and sports content.
In addition to Fox, YouTube TV previously got into a carriage dispute with Paramount earlier this year, which risked the removal of channels such as CBS, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central from its platform. However, the two parties ended up reaching a deal that averted a blackout from happening.
That multi-year deal expanded the two parties’ streaming relationship, with the ongoing inclusion of Paramount+ with Showtime and BET+ on YouTube Primetime Channels and Google giving qualifying YouTube TV customers the option to bundle Paramount+.
With more than 8 million subscribers, YouTube TV is the fourth-largest pay TV operator, behind Charter Communications, Comcast and DirecTV. It is the largest virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD).
