Fubo TV blasts NBCUniversal for pulling channels

Subscribers of sports streaming work Fubo TV person mislaid entree to channels owned by NBCUniversal successful the latest TV organisation dust-up.

Fubo blasted NBCUniversal for its stance during collapsed declaration negotiations, resulting successful a blackout of NBCUniversal channels conscionable days earlier Thanksgiving erstwhile scores of viewers hunker down for turkey and football. NBC is acceptable to broadcast the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the National Dog Show and Thursday night’s NFL crippled featuring the Cincinnati Bengals battling the Baltimore Ravens. The events besides volition watercourse connected Peacock.

The blackout, which besides includes Bravo, CNBC and Spanish-language Telemundo, affects Fubo’s astir 1.6 cardinal customers.

The quality comes a period aft NBCUniversal’s rival, Walt Disney Co., acquired the controlling involvement of Fubo and folded the smaller sports-centric offering into Disney’s Hulu + Live TV. (Hulu + subscribers inactive person NBCUniversal channels disposable due to the fact that they are covered by a abstracted organisation contract.)

Fubo customers could besides miss NBC’s broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

(Eduardo Munoz Avarez / Associated Press)

In its Tuesday statement, Fubo alleged that NBCUniversal had refused to springiness Fubo leeway to connection conscionable a fewer of its channels — alternatively than its full portfolio. Fubo is looking to power costs and designed its merchandise to beryllium a slimmed-down mentation of a bulky bundle — but 1 with a dense complement of sports networks.

Fubo besides took contented with NBCUniversal negotiating connected behalf of the cablegram channels that NBCUniversal plans to formed disconnected successful January arsenic portion of a firm split.

Legacy cablegram channels including MS Now (formerly MSNBC), Syfy, CNBC, USA Network and Golf Channel volition beryllium signifier the caller publically traded company, Versant.

“Fubo offered to administer Versant channels for 1 year,” Fubo said successful its statement, adding that it views astir of those networks arsenic “not being worthy the cost.”

“NBCU wants Fubo to motion a multi-year woody - good past the clip the Versant channels volition beryllium owned by a abstracted company,” Fubo said. “NBCU wants Fubo subscribers to subsidize these channels.”

NBCUniversal, owned by cablegram and broadband elephantine Comcast, countered that it had offered Fubo akin presumption to those contained successful deals struck with different pay-TV distributors — but Fubo balked.

“Unfortunately, this is par for the people for Fubo,” NBCUniversal said. “They’ve dropped galore networks successful caller years astatine the disbursal of their customers, who proceed to suffer content.”

The Nov. 21 blackout came 1 week aft Disney resolved a separate, high-profile quality with Google’s YouTube TV. That dispute, which resulted successful a two-week blackout of Disney-owned channels, including ESPN, for astir 10 cardinal YouTube TV customers, hinged connected interest increases sought by Disney.

The 2 companies besides tussled implicit YouTube TV’s tendency to connection the ESPN streaming app to its customers astatine nary other cost.

They reached a compromise, and YouTube came distant with authorization to supply immoderate ESPN streaming content.

In September, YouTube TV avoided a akin blackout of NBC channels by making a woody conscionable hours earlier the deadline.

Disney acquired 70% of Fubo TV successful October 2025.

(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Fubo pointed to NBCUniversal’s caller deals with YouTube TV and Amazon Prime Video, which allows those companies to connection NBC’s streaming app Peacock arsenic portion of their transmission stores. Fubo alleged that NBC refused to springiness Fubo the aforesaid rights.

“Fubo is committed to bringing its subscribers a premium, competitively-priced unrecorded TV streaming acquisition with the contented they love,” Fubo said. “That includes aggregate contented options, including a sports-focused service, that tin beryllium accessed straight from the Fubo app. We anticipation NBCU reconsiders their stance, oregon we’ll beryllium forced to determination guardant without them.”