Josh Hendrickson
YouTube TV, the Sinclair Broadcast Group (which owns Fox Regional Sports), and the Yes Network have been battling it out over contract negotiations. A temporary extension while the groups negotiated gave us some hope that everything would work out, but that appears not to be the case.
YouTube TV viewers will lose access to Yes Networks everywhere, and in select markets, some viewers will lose Fox Sports.
You’d probably expect us to point to an official statement from YouTube TV at this point; perhaps something explains why this happened and what markets will lose access to Fox Sports. But we can’t because as of this writing YoutTube TV hasn’t released one. No, instead, you have to turn Twitter for the bad news, where the service answered a request for an update on the contract negotiations.
We've reached an agreement with Sinclair and we’ll no longer be able to offer FOX Regional Sports Networks in select areas as of March 5th. If your area is impacted by a channel loss, you’ll be notified in the YouTube TV app soon.
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) March 5, 2020
Honestly, that’s par for the course for how this whole has gone. It seems that YouTube TV and Sinclair Broadcast Group couldn’t reach an agreement to let everyone watch Fox Sports, so it settled for allowing some people to watch in select markets.
What markets, you ask? We don’t know, because Youtube TV isn’t saying. It promised to notify anyone affected in the app later today. Not exactly reassuring. Even less reassuring is the forceful tweet from Yes Network explaining why all YouTube TV subscribers are losing access to the channel.
YouTube TV has dropped the YES Network. pic.twitter.com/RxVgSIjQsR
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) March 5, 2020
If you’re subscribing to YouTube TV, you probably did so with the idea of dropping cable for a less confusing service that wasn’t always in flux. Something predictable, dependable, and affordable. We’re sorry to say, that hasn’t worked out so well. We’ve tried to put together a guide to the best streaming options and failed.
Are you in an affected area and need Fox Sport or Yes Network? It’s worth noting that Hulu + Live TV still carries both options. You’ll pay a little more than you would have with YouTube TV, but you’ll actually have the channels you carve.
via 9to5Google
