Angry YouTube TV customers threatened to cancel their subscriptions after the streaming service said it was dropping CBS — which broadcasts NFL games and other live sports.
The Google-owned company, which charges $83 a month for its basic plan, announced on Wednesday that it was at an impasse in negotiations with CBS parent Paramount Global over the renewal of an agreement on carriage fees for its linear television properties.
Despite the NFL season coming to an end with last Sunday’s Super Bowl, some YouTube subscribers vowed to switch to rival streamer FuboTV, which costs $95 a month for its basic plan, to get their sports fix.
“You’ve gone from being the best stream provider to becoming one of the worst,” wrote X user Jason Morris, who noted that YouTube TV has dropped regional sports networks as well as MLB Network “all while raising your price significantly over the past few years.”
“FuboTV here I come.”
Another X user, Erin Mays, wrote: “I only have live TV for sports, and Purdue basketball is on CBS the next two Saturdays. If this isn’t fixed by Saturday I will cancel,”
When a YouTube TV subscriber inquired on X as to whether the service would reduce its monthly fees, the company replied: “At the moment, we have no plans to lower the price of YouTube TV and our main goal is to keep Paramount content on the platform.”
The Post has sought comment from Google and Paramount.
The streamer said that it had been “working hard to reach a fair agreement with Paramount that allows us to keep their channels, including CBS and CBS Sports, on YouTube TV without passing on additional costs to our subscribers.”
“Unfortunately, despite our good faith negotiations, we haven’t been successful yet.”
In addition to its NFL coverage, CBS broadcasts NCAA football and basketball, including the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, as well as major golf tournaments like The Masters and the PGA Championship.
YouTube TV insisted that it was still “actively negotiating with Paramount” on a deal that would allow it to continue carrying its networks on its platform.
“If we can’t reach an agreement and their content is unavailable for an extended period of time, we’ll offer subscribers an $8 credit,” the company said.
YouTube TV subscribers have the option of paying an additional $7.99 per month for the Paramount+ streaming service, which includes the channels that are being booted from YouTube TV’s basic tier.
“Paramount is an important partner for us and as you can imagine, this is not the outcome that we want,” YouTube TV said.
