Fox, YouTubeTV come to terms on a new agreement

Also: DirecTV Stream adds Weigel’s WCIU

As expected after agreeing to a short-term extension, Fox Corporation and YouTubeTV reached an agreement on Thursday. 

“We’re happy to share that we’ve reached an agreement with Fox to keep their content on YouTube TV, preserve the value of our service for our subscribers and offer more flexibility in the future. This means that Fox channels, including the Fox Broadcast Network, Fox News, and Fox Sports, remain available for our subscribers along with 100+ channels and football fans will not miss any of the action this weekend,” said a rep for the Google-owned virtual provider.

Had the impasse continued, subscribers would’ve lost access to all Fox channels, including Fox’s WFLD (Fox 32), WPWR (Fox Chicago +), and 28 other Fox-owned stations across the country, ranging from New York and Los Angeles to Houston and Gainesville, Fla (WOGX.) Viewers nationwide would have also lost Fox News, Fox Business, FS1, and the Big Ten Network, among others. Fox and Big Ten Network are scheduled to carry numerous college football games this weekend. 

Financial details were not disclosed. 

This scenario is almost a repeat of what happened in February, when Paramount nearly pulled its channels from YouTubeTV, including CBS, but reached a last-minute deal to avert a blackout. Disney and Comcast (owners of ABC and NBC, respectively) reportedly have their deals up by the end of the year. In December 2021, Disney pulled its channels from YouTubeTV in an impasse that lasted only two days. 

Meanwhile, Weigel Broadcasting’s WCIU announced it will be available on the streaming version of DirecTV immediately. 

As first reported by Crain’s Chicago Business on August 18, the independent station branded as “The U” was made available on August 28 to four packages: Entertainment, Choice, Ultimate, and Premier. The U joins multicast networks MeTV (WWME), MeTV Toons, Heroes & Icons, and StartTV on the platform. 

“We want to reach viewers on the platform that they are choosing to use,” Weigel Senior Vice President Steve Faber told Crain’s. “In today’s environment, a local television station like WCIU needs to have multiple ways to reach viewers.” 

After losing the CW affiliation back to WGN-TV last year, WCIU rebranded back to The U and added more sports to its schedule, simulcasting White Sox games from Chicago Sports Network and adding 31 Chicago Sky WNBA games. The U also airs high school sports programming, adding girls’ volleyball and flag football to the lineup this fall.

On the entertainment side, The U is adding off-network reruns of Chicago Fire this fall to pair with Chicago P.D. in primetime, and is adding new game show The Perfect Line with now-former Inside Edition anchor Deborah Norville as host. Other entertainment programs The U is airing this upcoming season include Flipside, Modern Family, Seinfeld, Judge Judy, and The Neighborhood. 

In June, rival virtual provider Fubo added The U to its channel lineup.