Due to ongoing negotiations, YouTube TV is losing access to all Paramount-owned content, including channels like CBS and Nickelodeon. This takedown is scheduled for February 14th, though it may be avoided if YouTube TV and Paramount come to an agreement.
If you’re a longtime YouTube TV subscriber, then you’re probably familiar with carriage disputes. The situation is pretty straightforward—YouTube TV’s license to distribute Paramount-owned content is expiring, but the companies can’t agree on the terms for a renewal. YouTube TV suggests that Paramount is demanding too much money, an action that could pass on “addition costs to our subscribers.” Paramount hasn’t commented on the situation.
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Paramount owns a smorgasbord of popular television channels, including CBS and CBS Sports, Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, VH1, The CW, and Dabl. And that’s ignoring smaller sub-channels like TeenNick. All of these channels will be removed from YouTube TV if the streamer can’t cut a deal with Paramount.
“After February 13, 2025, all Paramount content, including CBS and CBS Sports, will be unavailable on YouTube TV … 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.”
But live TV channels aren’t the only thing affected by this dispute. Subscribers will also lose access to DVR recordings of Paramount-owned channels. And if you’ve subscribed to Paramount+ or BET+ through YouTube TV, those subscriptions will been canceled. (You may need to manually re-subscribe to these add-ons after the carriage dispute is resolved, according to YouTube.)
This, like previous YouTube TV carriage disputes, will probably be resolved within a matter of days (it may even be resolved before February 14th). But the key word here is “probably.” If YouTube and Paramount fail to reach an agreement, it may be some time before channels like CBS and Nickelodeon return to YouTube TV.
YouTube TV will give customers “an $8 credit” if it fails to restore Paramount channels in a timely manner. The company suggests that customers use this one-time discount to pay for a month of Paramount+.
Source: YouTube
