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Earlier this year, YouTube TV announced that it would be dropping a good number of the Fox RSNs that it had provided for the entire time YouTube TV had existed. It was able to negotiate an extension on those regional sports networks, but now, that extension is ending on October 1.
In an email sent to YouTube TV subscribers on Tuesday night, beginning October 1, all Sinclair-owned Fox Regional Sports Networks will be leaving the service. And that includes any recordings you have from those channels.
. @YouTubeTV dropping Fox RSNs starting on Thursday. Oof. pic.twitter.com/IuB8zsheHt
— Alexander Maxham 😷 (@alexmaxham) September 30, 2020
Why can’t Sinclair and YouTube TV get along?
While we don’t know the exact reason why Sinclair and YouTube TV couldn’t cut a deal, we have seen the writing on the wall from other streaming services. And it looks like Sinclair is being very greedy, when it comes to licensing for streaming Live TV services like YouTube TV.
Many other streaming Live TV services have opted to drop Sinclair’s different channels as well. So this isn’t just YouTube TV being cheap and not wanting to pay the money Sinclair is asking for licensing.
In fact, there are only two options left, as of October 1, that have Fox regional sports networks. Which are Hulu with Live TV and AT&T TV NOW. All other services have dropped these channels, including FuboTV, which is a streaming Live TV service tailor made for sports fans.
Does this mean all Fox RSNs are leaving?
Pretty much, all but a couple of regional sports networks are owned by Sinclair. Who bought them from Disney when it purchased Fox’s movie studios. These are all the networks that will be leaving on October 1:
Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports Carolinas, Fox Sports Detroit, Fox Sports Florida, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Kansas City, Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports New Orleans, Fox Sports North, Fox Sports Ohio, Fox Sports Oklahoma, Fox Sports Prime Ticket, Fox Sports San Diego, Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Southeast, Fox Sports Southwest, Fox Sports Sun, Fox Sports Tennessee, Fox Sports West, Fox Sports Wisconsin, SportsTime Ohio, and the YES Network.
On the bright side, YouTube TV quietly announced that NBC News is heading to the service. Though, that is a free 24/7 streaming news network from NBC, so it’s not that exciting for most people. But that does mean that you won’t need to download another app to watch it.
There is a chance that YouTube TV and Sinclair could come to terms and these Fox sports networks could come back to the service. But unless Sinclair budges, that is unlikely to happen. As YouTube TV customers really don’t want to see another price hike anytime soon.