Fox Sports Could Cease on YouTube TV This Week Due to Carriage Dispute as NFL Season Approaches

Fox Networks could go dark on YouTube TV this week over an ongoing carriage dispute, with less than two weeks to go before the NFL season kicks off.

YouTube TV, owned by Google, stated in a press release on Monday that Fox could face a network blackout on its service as early as August 27, just before 5:00 PM EST.

“Our current agreement with Fox is approaching its renewal date, and we are in active negotiations to continue carrying their content,” YouTube TV said. “Our priority is to reach a deal that’s fair for both sides and allows us to preserve the value of our service.”

“We’re committed to continuing to work with Fox to reach an agreement, but if their content becomes unavailable for an extended period of time, we’ll offer our subscribers a $10 credit,” it added.

Fox was less diplomatic and accused Google of exploiting its influence to manipulate the marketplace.

“While Fox remains committed to reaching a fair agreement with Google’s YouTube TV, we are disappointed that Google continually exploits its outsized influence by proposing terms that are out of step with the marketplace,” the network said. “We are alerting Fox viewers who are YouTube TV subscribers that they could lose access to much of their favorite news, sports, entertainment, and local station programming unless Google engages in a meaningful way soon.”