By Jay Bemis | Advertising Systems Inc.
A closely watched standoff between two tech giants was paused Wednesday when Google announced that it reached a short-term extension with Fox that will prevent channels on its YouTube TV streaming service from going dark this weekend.
“We have reached a short-term extension with Fox to prevent disruption to YouTube TV subscribers as we continue to work on a new agreement,” Google announced in a blog post Wednesday afternoon.
“We are committed to advocating on behalf of our subscribers as we work toward a fair deal and will keep you updated on our progress.”
Google had faced a deadline of 5 o’clock later Wednesday afternoon to complete a YouTube deal. Google did not specify, when announcing the reprieve later in the day, how long the extension in talks might last.
Such a deal was important to Google and its YouTube subscribers because Week 1 of college football for the 2025 season kicks off this weekend. It includes a matchup that features top-ranked Texas hitting the road Saturday to play reigning national champion and third-ranked Ohio State.
Fox is airing that highly anticipated contest, and YouTube TV subscribers stood to miss out on the game.
YouTube TV serves roughly 9.4 million subscribers. And as far as sports fans are concerned, the Fox network will air many upcoming football games, both college and pro. The NFL season begins next week, with Fox set to air games starting on Sunday, Sept. 7.
Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, on Tuesday had urged the two sides to come to an agreement.
“Google removing Fox channels from YouTube TV would be a terrible outcome,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Millions of Americans are relying on YouTube to resolve this dispute so they can keep watching the news and sports they want — including this week’s Big Game: Texas @ Ohio State. Get a deal done Google!”
TV Rights Dispute a Case of Déjà Vu
Spats over “carriage” fees and TV rights aren’t particularly new. Seems we’ve seen local channels go dark before — for periods of a few days to a month or so. But the players in those disputes didn’t involve such big players as YouTube and the Fox network.
Before Wednesday’s extension in the talks, the two sides had spent the week trading verbal salvos in the stalemate.
For Google, the issue is how much Fox is charging for its content.
“Fox is asking for payments that are far higher than what partners with comparable content offerings receive,” YouTube wrote in a Monday blog post.
In their analysis of the dispute, meanwhile, the folks at eMarketer noted:
“This standoff highlights a broader industry shift in which content owners are cutting out distributors and building direct-to-consumer platforms. Paramount, Disney and now Fox are positioning their streaming arms as fallback options or primary channels.
“Our first take: Fox Sports drives real-time viewership. Losing it weakens YouTube TV’s live-programming value proposition. For advertisers, this means fragmented reach. For platforms like YouTube TV, it’s a warning — content gatekeepers are no longer willing to share access without premium payouts.”
