As you are undoubtedly aware at this point, YouTube TV is going to be losing all of the NBCUniversal channels tonight when the deal for carriage expires. But what channels are they? You might be surprised at just how many channels that NBCUniversal has, and that YouTube TV will be losing. These are the channels that YouTube TV will lose tonight: NBC (this includes all local affiliates), Bravo, CNBC, E!, Golf Channel, MSNBC, NBC Sports Network, Oxygen, Syfy, Telemundo, Universal Kids, Universo, and USA Network. You will also lose the NBC RSNs as well, which include NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports California, NBC Sports Chicago, NBC Sports Philadelphia, and NBC Sports Washington. It’s a real hit for YouTube TV, as it is essentially losing the remainder of its regional sports networks, after Sinclair took the Fox RSNs (now renamed to Bally Sports) last year.
Why is this happening?
Why is YouTube TV losing these channels? Well, its contract for carriage is expiring on September 30, 2021. NBCUniversal and YouTube TV have been in talks for quite some time about renewing this contract. But we’ve been hearing some conflicting reports about what’s going on, on both sides. We’ve heard rumors that YouTube TV have stated NBCUniversal wants it to bundle Peacock with its service. Which sounds odd, since Peacock is free, but it would be a way for NBCUniversal to add millions more subscribers to Peacock. These deals normally get ironed out at some point and are quite common, especially among cable providers. Sometimes the deals get signed before the current one expires and sometimes it doesn’t. So it’s not set in stone that YouTube TV users will lose these channels, but unless a deal is reached very soon, they will disappear. On the bright side, YouTube TV has stated that if it does lose these channels, it will decrease the monthly price by $10. Making it just $55. But that also greatly decreases the number of channels that YouTube TV has. As it is losing 13 channels, and five regional sports networks. That would bring YouTube TV down to about 70+ channels from the current 85+ that it touts.
