The YouTube / NBC drama is officially over. After reaching a temporary deal to keep NBC Universal channels on YouTube TV, the companies officially resolved their despite Saturday afternoon. "We’re thrilled to share that we’ve reached a deal to continue carrying the full NBCUniversal portfolio of channels," YouTube wrote on its blog. "That means you won’t lose access to any of their channels, and YouTube TV will continue to offer 85+ networks for $64.99. We appreciate NBCUniversal’s willingness to work toward an agreement, and we also appreciate your patience as we negotiated with them on your behalf."
Disputes between networks and cable providers (or internet TV services like YouTube) are not uncommon, but a few things made this particular spat noteworthy. For starters, YouTube TV would have lost 14 channels, including major ones like NBC, USA Network, Golf Channel, Bravo, CNBC and Telemundo. Because of NBC Universal's reach, it would have been a major blow to YouTube TV.
It was such a potential problem for YouTube TV that the service said it would cut its price by $10 per month if it wasn't able to reach a deal with NBC Universal. Fortunately for YouTube TV customers, nothing is changing, at least for now. It settled its spat with NBC, but there's always another conglomerate of networks that YouTube will likely need to negotiate with before long.