YouTube TV Might Soon Lose Paramount Channels

“Cutting the cord” has taken on a bit of a funny twist in the past few years, as every production company under the sun seems to want to make its own a la carte subscription service, and former cable alternatives have started offering what are essentially their own cable packages. Such is the way with YouTube TV, a separate subscription from YouTube Premium that allows users to stream live TV over the internet, but one that might soon be losing access to a few key channels.

According to YouTube, the company is currently in negotiations with Paramount to keep offering channels including Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central MTV, VH1, and dang, even CBS and CBS Sports. Currently, YouTube TV costs a starting price of $70 a month for your first six months, followed by $83 a month after that, so that’s a fairly hefty loss for the pricey package.

It’s unclear what exactly YouTube’s struggle is here, although the company says it’s “still in active conversations with Paramount” to keep these channels without raising prices on subscribers. YouTube has been upfront in saying it hasn’t “been successful yet,” though, and that if it doesn’t strike a deal by end-of-week, February 14 will be the day these channels leave the service.

If that happens, subscribers will also lose access to any recordings they’ve already made from these channels, and will no longer be able to add-on packages including Paramount+ with Showtime or BET+.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. YouTube says that if it can’t reach a deal with Paramount and its "content is unavailable for an extended period of time,” it will give subscribers an $8 credit to subscribe to Paramount+ on their own. However, there’s currently no word on whether that credit will be recurring—I’ve reached out to YouTube and will update this article once I hear back.

Even with the promise of a credit, though, the situation isn’t ideal. To me, part of the appeal of a pricey subscription like YouTube TV is being secure in the knowledge that you just have access to everything you could possibly want to watch and don’t need to juggle five or so a la carte subscriptions anymore. Losing Paramount channels, even if you’re then able to pay for Paramount+ on Google’s dime, is a bit of a thorn in the side of that plan.

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