YouTube TV To Drop Price If They Lose NBC

By Russ Burlingame

Not long after a big price increase, YouTube TV might be dropping its monthly rate by $10. That's the good news. The bad news? The reason they are considering it, is because they might not be able to come to a deal with NBCUniversal, which would mean that a number of NBC-owned channels would suddenly disappear from the service. If it happens, the price drop will remain in place for as long as it takes to come to a new deal with NBCUniversal, and then return to current price levels when a deal is struck (assuming it will be at some point).

It's possible that NBCU is playing a little harder to get right now, since they have their own streaming platform to promote. If you want to get just NBCUniversal-branded content, you can get Peacock for $4.99 per month.

"If NBCU offers us equitable terms, we'll renew our agreement with them. However, if we are unable to reach a deal by Thursday, the NBCU lineup of channels will no longer be available on YouTube TV and we will decrease our monthly price by $10, from $64.99 to $54.99 (while this content remains off our platform)," a statement from YouTube TV reads in part. "NBCU is an important partner for us and as you can imagine, this is not the outcome that we want. We're still in active conversations with NBCU and are hopeful we can get past this impasse to keep their content available on YouTube TV."

Not all NBC networks are branded in an obvious way to casual viewers. In addition to NBC local channels, the networks owned by NBCU's cable arm include Bravo, CNBC, E!, Golf Channel, MSNBC, NBC Sports Network, Oxygen, Syfy, Telemundo, Universal Kids, Universo, and USA Network.

"NBCUniversal is seeking fair rates from Google for YouTube TV's continued carriage of the only portfolio offering entertainment, Hispanic, news and sports networks," came a statement from NBCUniversal (via Streamable). "Unfortunately, Google is refusing to make a deal at these fair rates and is willing to withhold entertainment, news and sports programming from their paying customers. NBCUniversal feels a responsibility to inform our fans that they are at risk of losing their favorite shows if Google continues with their demands."

Recently, YouTube TV lost its app on Roku streaming devices after the two companies failed to come to an agreement on terms. YouTube TV content is still available through the YouTube app using a few additional steps.

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