YouTube TV is willing to drop NBCUniversal channels amid pricing dispute

Your favorite NBCUniversal channels will go dark on Thursday if both companies fail to reach a deal.

What you need to know

• YouTube TV subscribers may lose access to several NBCUniversal channels if both companies fail to make a new deal.
• Some 14 channels will go dark if Google and NBCUniversal’s carriage agreement isn’t renewed by Thursday.
• When NBCUniversal’s channel lineup becomes unavailable, YouTube TV will reduce its monthly price by $10.

YouTube TV subscribers may soon lose access to several NBC-owned channels. Google’s streaming TV service has announced that NBCUniversal’s lineup of channels will go offline after September 30 unless an “equitable” agreement is reached.

Google said in a blog post that it has been trying to renew its deal with NBCU. The existing agreement between the entertainment company and YouTube TV is set to expire on Thursday, but both companies are still locked in a carriage dispute, with no new agreement in sight.

In a statement, NBCU accuses Google of refusing to reach a deal to continue carrying its portfolio of “entertainment, Hispanic, news and sports networks” at fair rates. Instead, the search giant is willing to cut off customers’ access to “entertainment, news and sports programming,” the entertainment conglomerate said in a statement (via Deadline).

Google said it is willing to renew the deal if NBCU offers “equitable terms.” The Mountain View-based company added:

Our ask is that NBCU treats YouTube TV like any other TV provider. In other words, for the duration of our agreement, YouTube TV seeks the same rates that services of a similar size get from NBCU so we can continue offering YouTube TV to members at a competitive and fair price.

The pricing row could result in YouTube TV subscribers losing access to their favorite channels on many connected TVs, including the best Android TVs. These include NBC, Bravo, CNBC, E!, Golf Channel, MSNBC, Oxygen, SYFY, Telemundo, The Olympic Channel, Universal Kids, Universo, USA Network, and several NBC Sports regional networks.

When these channels go dark, Google plans to drop YouTube TV’s monthly price by $10, from $64.99 to $54.99. Alternatively, the company is encouraging users to switch to NBC’s Peacock streaming service to continue watching their favorite content for $4.99 per month if the pricing dispute is not resolved.