Fubo has pulled a handful of Nexstar-owned CBS affiliates after its contract to carry the stations ended recently.
The streaming cable television alternative began telling viewers on Thursday that their local CBS station was not available due to a dispute with Nexstar Media Group over terms to carry the channels.
The dispute impacts more than four dozen Nexstar-operated CBS affiliates across the country, including KLAS-TV (Channel 8) in Las Vegas and KGPE (Channel 47) in Fresno.
“Unfortunately, Nexstar Media Group who owns your local CBS affiliate has decided not to extend its agreement with Fubo TV at this time,” a message displayed to Fubo TV users in affected markets said. “We are continuing to work to bring your CBS affiliate back.”
CBS daytime and prime-time shows continue to be made available to users in affected markets via Fubo TV’s video on demand feature.
Carriage disputes are becoming increasingly common in the pay television space. Once relegated to satellite companies, disputes have started impacting cable and linear streaming TV services in recent years, with nearly every major provider finding themselves involved in one.
Those disputes tend to focus on financial terms in exchange for a platform’s right to carry certain channels, though they occasionally center around requirements to carry popular networks alongside other less-desired channels.
The dispute between Fubo TV and Nexstar is unusual in that it only affects stations affiliated with a single network. CBS affiliates owned by other companies, including those owned outright by CBS, aren’t impacted, nor are Nexstar stations that are affiliated with other networks like ABC, NBC or Fox.
Fubo TV’s dispute with Nexstar is likely to resolve itself soon: Football season is less than a week away, and CBS holds over-the-air and local streaming rights for many regular season games (the network is also the exclusive live broadcaster of Super Bowl LV, which takes place in February).
Should Fubo TV and Nexstar not reach an agreement, many local telecast games will be made available via the streaming service CBS All Access.
