Fubo TV blasts NBCUniversal for pulling channels

Subscribers of sports activities streaming service Fubo TV have misplaced access to channels owned by NBCUniversal in the latest TV distribution dust-up.

Fubo blasted NBCUniversal for its stance during collapsed contract negotiations, ensuing in a blackout of NBCUniversal channels just days before Thanksgiving when scores of viewers hunker down for turkey and soccer. NBC is set to broadcast the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the National Dog Show and Thursday evening’s NFL sport that includes the Cincinnati Bengals battling the Baltimore Ravens. The occasions also will stream on Peacock.

The blackout, which also contains Bravo, CNBC and Spanish-language Telemundo, impacts Fubo’s almost 1.6 million clients.

The dispute comes a month after NBCUniversal’s rival, Walt Disney Co., acquired the controlling stake of Fubo and folded the smaller sports-centric offering into Disney’s Hulu + Live TV. (Hulu + subscribers still have NBCUniversal channels out there because they’re coated by a separate distribution contract.)

In its Tuesday assertion, Fubo alleged that NBCUniversal had refused to give Fubo leeway to offer just a few of its channels — relatively than its complete portfolio. Fubo is trying to control prices and designed its product to be a slimmed-down model of a cumbersome bundle — but one with a heavy complement of sports activities networks.

Fubo also took issue with NBCUniversal negotiating on behalf of the cable channels that NBCUniversal plans to solid off in January as half of a company cut up.

Legacy cable channels including MS Now (previously MSNBC), Syfy, CNBC, USA Network and Golf Channel might be kind the new publicly traded company, Versant.

“Fubo offered to distribute Versant channels for one year,” Fubo said in its assertion, including that it views most of those networks as “not being worth the cost.”

“NBCU wants Fubo to sign a multi-year deal – well past the time the Versant channels will be owned by a separate company,” Fubo said. “NBCU wants Fubo subscribers to subsidize these channels.”

NBCUniversal, owned by cable and broadband giant Comcast, countered that it had supplied Fubo related phrases to those contained in offers struck with other pay-TV distributors — but Fubo balked.

“Unfortunately, this is par for the course for Fubo,” NBCUniversal said. “They’ve dropped numerous networks in recent years at the expense of their customers, who continue to lose content.”

The Nov. 21 blackout got here one week after Disney resolved a separate, high-profile dispute with Google’s YouTube TV. That dispute, which resulted in a two-week blackout of Disney-owned channels, including ESPN, for about 10 million YouTube TV clients, hinged on payment will increase sought by Disney.

The two firms also tussled over YouTube TV’s need to offer the ESPN streaming app to its clients at no additional price.

They reached a compromise, and YouTube got here away with authorization to present some ESPN streaming content.

In September, YouTube TV averted a related blackout of NBC channels by making a deal just hours before the deadline.

Disney acquired 70% of Fubo TV in October 2025.

(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Fubo pointed to NBCUniversal’s current offers with YouTube TV and Amazon Prime Video, which permits those firms to offer NBC’s streaming app Peacock as half of their channel shops. Fubo alleged that NBC refused to give Fubo the same rights.

“Fubo is committed to bringing its subscribers a premium, competitively-priced live TV streaming experience with the content they love,” Fubo said. “That includes multiple content options, including a sports-focused service, that can be accessed directly from the Fubo app. We hope NBCU reconsiders their stance, or we’ll be forced to move forward without them.”