Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
NBC and YouTube find themselves in the midst of a rights dispute over Peacock exclusive content such as Sunday Night Football and many other programs NBC holds the rights to. The issue is that YouTube TV has been streaming these things, and Comcast, the parent company of NBC, must decide whether to allow YouTube TV to continue streaming their exclusive content. NBC holds the rights to the US broadcasting of NASCAR, United States Golf Association, and the NBA come October. According to The Athletic late on Tuesday, NBC and YouTube came to an agreement for an extension to prevent any service disruption for viewers while they come to a permanent agreement.
YouTube posted on X saying that the renewal date of their agreement with NBCU was approaching and that if they could not reach a fair agreement NBC coverage would be suspended on September 30th. If an extended blackout happens, YouTube is prepared to offer a $10 credit to their subscribers as compensation. Currently YouTube pays NBC Universal $10 per month per subscriber to stream their content. On the other hand, NBC pays YouTube to advertise Peacock and its subscription offers.
The Athletic quoted a statement from a NBC Universal spokesperson saying, “Google, with its $3 trillion market cap, already controls what Americans see online through search and ads — now it wants to control what we watch, YouTube TV has refused the best rates and terms in the market, demanding preferential treatment and seeking an unfair advantage over competitors to dominate the video marketplace — all under the false pretense of fighting for the consumer.” YouTube TV responded with a statement of their own saying, “NBCUniversal is asking us to pay more than what they charge consumers for the same content on Peacock, which would mean less flexibility and higher prices for our subscribers.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBCU’s statement goes further with saying, “YouTube TV has refused the best rates and terms in the market, demanding preferential treatment and seeking an unfair advantage over competitors to dominate the video marketplace — all under the false pretense of fighting for the consumer, The result: YouTube TV customers will lose access to NBCUniversal’s premium programming, including Sunday Night Football, NBA, Big Ten Football, WWE, Premier League, Saturday Night Live, The Voice, The Real Housewives, and much more.”
Currently YouTube and NBC are working towards a permanent agreement that will work for both parties without causing a prolonged service disruption to their customers. As for YouTube, they had a similar dispute that resulted in a similar temporary measure with FOX. In the end, FOX and YouTube came to an agreement. YouTube TV was able to continue streaming FOX and all FOX owns. This dispute happened back in August, and the short-term solution lasted only one day in that dispute. According to The Athletic, football fans can still watch Sunday Night Football for the NFL and College Football on YouTube TV through NBC without worry.
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