YouTube TV and Fox Reach Last-Minute Deal, Keeping Football On Air for Millions

YouTube TV and Fox have reached a new multi-year carriage agreement, averting a blackout that would have blocked news and sports for millions of subscribers just as the fall football season kicks off. The deal ends a public dispute over fee increases that threatened to pull Fox content from the streaming platform.

• A high-stakes standoff: The public brinksmanship centered on money. YouTube TV told subscribers that Fox was demanding payments “far higher than what partners with comparable content offerings receive,” according to a company blog post. Fox fired back, claiming Google was exploiting its “outsized influence” with terms that were “out of step with the marketplace.”
• Down to the wire: The two companies blew past their original Wednesday deadline, agreeing to a short-term extension to finalize the deal. The standoff put major sporting events, including the highly anticipated college football matchup between Texas and Ohio State, on the chopping block for nearly 9.4 million subscribers.
• The OAN gambit: In a curious strategic play first reported by Variety, YouTube revealed a deal to carry the right-wing channel One America News with the Fox deadline looming. The move gave YouTube a potential bargaining chip and a ready-made alternative for conservative viewers had the Fox News channel gone dark.

It’s a familiar playbook for the streaming provider, which has weathered similar public showdowns with Disney and Paramount. The deal also came just a week after Fox launched its own standalone streaming service, Fox One, another chapter in the persistent tug-of-war between distributors and content creators.

• Also on our radar: The public nature of the dispute drew the attention of federal regulators, with the FCC chairman publicly urging Google to "get a deal done." The fight over fees also came after YouTube TV had already hiked its monthly price by 14%, citing the rising cost of content.