Paramount Global and Google-owned YouTube have reached a new distribution agreement that keeps linear channels and streaming services on YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels for a few more years.
The pact was announced late Saturday evening, about two days after Paramount began warning TV viewers that nearly two dozen broadcast and cable channels were likely to be dropped from YouTube TV. The warning came after Paramount said Google and YouTube required an agreement to “one-sided terms” that included “non-market demands” in order to continue carrying the channels on YouTube TV and streaming services like Paramount Plus, BET Plus and Showtime on YouTube Primetime Channels.
A source previously told The Desk that both sides had largely squared things away on the price Google and YouTube must pay to distribute Paramount-owned broadcast and cable channels like CBS, Paramount Network, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon on YouTube TV. To keep the price of YouTube TV stable, Google was demanding a bigger slice of ad inventory on clips distributed through YouTube, the source said. Offering up more ad inventory on YouTube channels like “The Daily Show,” “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and “60 Minutes” would allow Google to pay out more money for Paramount-owned channels without raising subscription fees on customers. YouTube TV currently costs $83 per month.
It wasn’t clear how that part of the dispute was settled, but a source followed up with The Desk early Sunday morning to confirm that YouTube TV will have price stability for at least a while longer. Google is still working through distribution agreements with a number of other broadcasters and cable network owners that could see the price go up in the future.
A Paramount spokesperson said the company was pleased that both sides had reached a new agreement, which allows for “the continued carriage of Paramount’s leading portfolio of entertainment, news and sports networks across YouTube TV’s platform.” The spokesperson also said Google will be allowed to continue re-selling subscriptions to Paramount Plus with Showtime and BET Plus through its YouTube Primetime Channels marketplace, and will have the option to provide the ad-supported tier of Paramount Plus to subscribers of YouTube TV as part of their service. So far, YouTube TV has not said whether it will activate the perk; other companies, including DirecTV and Charter’s Spectrum TV, provide Paramount Plus to their pay TV customers without extra cost if they receive Paramount’s linear channels in their programming packages.
For its part, YouTube TV said the new agreement will allow it to continue serving over 100 channels in its base package “while enabling more user choice in the future.” The company did not say what flexibility it obtained through the new Paramount deal.
