
YouTube TV and Comcast-owned NBCUniversal has agreed to a short-term agreement extension, publishing a blackout and ensuring YouTube TV followers retain access to NBCUniversal programming while talks continue.
Some of the popular NBC shows as well as “Sunday Night Football” and “America’s Got Talent” were at risk of being inaccessible on YouTube TV after midnight on Tuesday if the two sides failed to reach an agreement, a standoff that could influence the future of television.
“We’ve reached a short-term addiction with Google to avoid YouTube TV customers losing access to NBCUniversal programming as we continue negotiations,” a NBCU spokesperson said. A YouTube spokesperson confirmed the statement.
Carriage talks had stalled over the rates that YouTube TV, which ranks among the four largest U.S. pay-TV distributors, will pay to carry the shows of NBCUniversal to its 10 million subscribers.
NBCUniversal presented YouTube the same terms it expanded to other large TV distributors – including Amazon’s Prime Video Channels – and is looking to include its streaming service as part of the bundle of programming that YouTube TV distributes, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
YouTube now accounts for the largest share of TV viewing in the U.S., ahead of streaming rival Netflix and traditional media companies such as Disney , according to analytics firm Nielsen.