Fubo Blacks Out NBCU Channels in Thanksgiving Dispute

Fubo has dropped all NBCUniversal channels in a bitter carriage dispute over fees, leaving its 1.6 million subscribers without key sports and holiday programming.

• War of words: Fubo argues NBCU is demanding "egregiously" high fees, while NBCUniversal fired back, stating it offered Fubo the same terms as hundreds of other distributors and that dropping networks is "par for the course" for the streamer.

• Holiday havoc: The timing couldn't be worse for viewers, threatening to disrupt holiday viewing plans just ahead of Thanksgiving. The blackout jeopardizes access not only to Sunday Night Football but also to traditions like the Macy’s Day Parade and the primetime NFL game on Thanksgiving.

• The Disney factor: This isn't Fubo's first carriage dispute, but it comes as its ownership grows more tangled. Disney's acquisition of Fubo was approved in October, meaning the media giant now owns a direct competitor to its own Hulu + Live TV service—which, notably, is not affected by the blackout.

While Fubo has promised a $15 credit for a prolonged outage, it has offered no timetable for a resolution, leaving subscribers caught in the middle of the corporate showdown. In the meantime, Fubo is trying to fill the programming void by expanding its lineup of free ad-supported channels in the slots formerly occupied by NBCUniversal networks.