The Future Is Here
We may earn a commission from links on this page

YouTube TV Is Losing Another Sports Channel Owned by Sinclair

Image for article titled YouTube TV Is Losing Another Sports Channel Owned by Sinclair
Photo: Caitlin McGarry/Gizmodo

Well, it looks like YouTube TV is losing another sports channel.

YouTube’s live TV service for cord-cutters informed subscribers by email this week that they will no longer have access to the Tennis Channel, a Sinclair-owned media property. The company told users that beginning Monday, they won’t be able to stream the channel live “or access any content that you have recorded from the Tennis Channel” through YouTube TV.

A spokesperson for YouTube told Gizmodo in a statement by email that the company’s agreement with Sinclair to carry the channel expired at the end of November.

Advertisement

“Our goal with YouTube TV is to offer you the content you love, delivered the way you want,” the spokesperson said. “Unfortunately, our agreement with the Tennis Channel has expired and starting November 30, this channel will no longer be available to our members. We regret the inconvenience this causes our customers, and will continue to work to make YouTube TV the best place to watch live TV, how you want it.”

Advertisement

Sinclair did not immediately return a request for comment.

This blow is the latest to YouTube TV sports fans after another Sinclair loss back in September. While YouTube TV previously carried Fox regional sports networks on the service, it was unable to reach a permanent agreement with Sinclair to continue supporting the channels after the end of the MLB, NBA, and NHL seasons. A YouTube TV spokesperson told Gizmodo at the time that the service had “been working to reach a more permanent solution since then, but, unfortunately now the seasons are over and that extension is expiring.”

Advertisement

Barry Faber, Sinclair’s president of distribution and network relations, said in a statement that while the company was “disappointed that YouTube will discontinue carriage of the RSNs, we remain in discussions in an effort to find a mutually acceptable path to returning the RSNs to YouTube TV.”

Given that Fox RSNs have also vanished from Hulu and Fubo TV, two other very good cable alternatives for live TV streaming, it appears that whatever terms Sinclair is seeking in exchange for carrying its channels may not be as “mutually acceptable” as it would like us to believe.