CBS and several other Paramount channels go dark on YouTube TV

YouTube TV, owned by Alphabet, told its customers that it’s “working hard to reach a fair agreement with Paramount that allows us to keep their channels,” but despite negotiations, it hasn’t “been successful yet.”

“Paramount is an important partner for us and as you can imagine, this is not the outcome that we want,” YouTube TV said in a statement. “We’re still in active conversations with Paramount and are hopeful we can come to an agreement to keep their content available on YouTube TV.”

Paramount said on a special webpage that YouTube TV is “attempting to pressure Paramount to unfavorable and one-sided terms” and that it’s proposing a “comprehensive deal” to keep its channels on the service.

“Paramount has a long track record of successfully and amicably renewing partnerships with every major distributor, including several in recent months, and we will continue our efforts to reach a new agreement with YouTube TV,” a Paramount spokesperson told CNN.

Subscribers of YouTube TV can get an $8 credit on its website if Paramount’s channels are “unavailable for an extended period of time.” YouTube TV is also telling people to sign up for Paramount+ to keep watching CBS and other content.

The dispute comes a month after YouTube TV hiked the prices of its basic package by $10 to $82.99 per month. The service has around 8 million subscribers and is the most popular internet-based pay-TV service, surpassing competitors like DirecTV Stream and Fubo.

YouTube TV has previously clashed with Disney in 2021, when its collection of channels disappeared on the service for two days before a contract renewal was struck.