Congressional Hispanic Caucus urges YouTube TV and Spanish-language broadcasters to reach a deal
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Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Friday sent a letter to the heads of Google, TelevisaUnivision and Telemundo urging all parties to reach distribution agreements to avoid risking a Spanish-language blackout on YouTube TV, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: YouTube TV is one of the largest pay-TV providers in the U.S., with more than 8 million customers.
- If Telemundo parent NBCUniversal and YouTube TV fail to strike an agreement by Tuesday night, both of the country's largest Spanish-language broadcasters — Univision and Telemundo — could be made inaccessible to YouTube TV customers at the same time.
Zoom in: The letter is notable because it urges all parties to submit information to the caucus on how they plan to address the ongoing dispute, as members of Congress "continue to evaluate legislative considerations regarding access to Spanish-language media."
- Congress rarely intervenes in intra-market disputes between pay-TV providers and content programmers, but the caucus appears to be particularly interested in these disputes because of their potential impact on access to Spanish-language programming.
- "While families could seek other options, the sudden disruption of such longstanding access could create challenges for viewers at a time when trusted reporting and diverse representation remain especially important," the letter reads.
- "As Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, we encourage all parties to engage in good faith negotiations and come to a beneficial agreement soon."
Other lawmakers, including Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Bernie Moreno of Ohio, have also blasted YouTube for the potential Spanish-language TV blackout.
Catch up quick: NBCU on Thursday warned customers that its networks may be dropped from YouTube TV if the two parties cannot reach a new distribution agreement by Sept. 30.
- Channels that would be impacted include NBCU broadcast networks NBC and Telemundo, as well as cable networks such as Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, USA Network and others.
- While YouTube said in a statement it's committed to reaching a deal with NBCU by Sept. 30, it said the price was too high.
- Meanwhile, TelevisaUnivision earlier this month warned customers that YouTube TV planned to remove Univision from its core offering and move it to a Spanish-language package at an extra cost. The two sides don't appear close to striking a deal.
Zoom out: While pay-TV disputes like this are common ahead of the fall sports season, YouTube TV has been at the center of most of the major disagreements this year.
- In August, ahead of football season, YouTube TV threatened to drop Fox Corp. channels. The two sides ultimately came to an agreement days later.
