YouTube TV Drops Some NBCUniversal And Sports Channels Going Into The New Year

YouTube TV is slimming down going into the new year, as the streamer drops CNBC World, Stadium College Sports, New England Cable News (NECN) and NBC Sports Network, according to an email obtained by The Streamable. 

Three of those networks are owned by NBCUniversal, which had a carriage dispute with YouTube TV last October. One of those networks, NBC Sports Network, is going dark entirely on all cable systems, as its parent company has decided to fold sports programming into Peacock, its streaming service, and sister channel USA Network. 

There is no explanation on why YouTube TV is dropping NECN, a New England-based regional news network also owned by NBCUniversal, or its sister network CNBC World. CNBC World is CNBC’s sister network, typically offering coverage of world financial markets using a mix of CNBC’s programming from Europe. The network is typically not offered in high definition. 

It is likely the channels drops are as a result of a change to the carriage agreement renewed by the companies in October. Distributors, like YouTube TV, pay carriage fees to media companies that offer broadcast and cable networks. Often, media companies will require distributors to bundle and pay rights’ fees for less popular networks and subchannels in order to be able to offer must-have channels. 

Stadium College Sports was a collection of three channels that were available as a part of YouTube TV’s $11 Sports Plus add-on. The networks are owned by Sinclair, which dropped its other regional sports networks from the streaming service in February 2020. Since then, the two companies have been unable to reach an agreement on re-adding the networks, which carry most regional MLB, NBA, NHL and MLS sports broadcasts. YouTube TV also removed sister sports channel Tennis Channel late last year. 

The channel removals come after YouTube TV briefly lost ESPN and other Disney-owned channels, as the two companies continued their carriage dispute. Eventually, both sides came to a new agreement. 

YouTube TV is the social video platform’s streaming TV service, also known as a virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributor (MVPD). It competes with the likes of Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and Fubo TV. Recent estimates show YouTube TV is the largest virtual MVPD in the U.S.