NBCUniversal

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

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

The blackout, which also includes Bravo, CNBC and Spanish-language Telemundo, affects Fubo’s nearly 1.6 million customers.

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 available because they are covered by a separate distribution contract.)

Fubo customers could also miss NBC’s broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

(Eduardo Munoz Avarez / Associated Press)

In its Tuesday statement, Fubo alleged that NBCUniversal had refused to give Fubo leeway to offer just a few of its channels — rather than its entire portfolio. Fubo is looking to control costs and designed its product to be a slimmed-down version of a bulky bundle — but one with a heavy complement of sports networks.

Fubo also took issue with NBCUniversal negotiating on behalf of the cable channels that NBCUniversal plans to cast off in January as part of a corporate split.

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

“Fubo offered to distribute Versant channels for one year,” Fubo said in its statement, adding 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 offered Fubo similar terms to those contained in deals 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 came 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 customers, hinged on fee increases sought by Disney.

The two companies also tussled over YouTube TV’s desire to offer the ESPN streaming app to its customers at no extra cost.

They reached a compromise, and YouTube came away with authorization to provide some ESPN streaming content.

In September, YouTube TV avoided a similar 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 recent deals with YouTube TV and Amazon Prime Video, which allows those companies to offer NBC’s streaming app Peacock as part of their channel stores. 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.”

NBCUniversal is launching a new cable network Monday that will carry live sports events, including some that are currently exclusive to its streaming service Peacock.

The company announced Thursday that the new NBC Sports Network will be carried on YouTube TV and parent Comcast’s Xfinity service. Deals with other pay-TV providers are expected in the coming months, the company said.

The new channel will enable NBC to make its sports offerings more attractive to advertisers who may balk at the limited reach of its Peacock streaming service, which currently has 41 million subscribers. There is little duplication between Peacock subscribers and the nearly 60 million households still buying a traditional pay-TV package.

Sports is also a key reason consumers keep paying for cable and satellite TV. NBCU executives believe the channel will help distributors such as Comcast to retain customers.

The new channel will carry Monday night NBA games that were previously exclusive to Peacock. During the Winter Olympic Games in February, it will be the home of Gold Zone, the daily whip-around coverage show hosted by Scott Hanson that was offered only on Peacock during the Summer Games in 2024.

While the deal has not been officially announced, NBCU is expected to get a package of Major League Baseball games, some of which will be shown on NBCSN.

Other events from the NBC sports portfolio that will appear on the channel include WNBA regular-season and playoff games, Big Ten, Big East and Big 12 men’s and women’s college basketball, select coverage of major golf tournaments, Premier League Soccer and undercard races at the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oats.

NBCUniversal had a cable sports network but folded it in 2021 after it lost the TV rights to the NHL. But the company has since made a significant investment in live sports that has strong appeal to advertisers.

In 2024, the company entered an 11-year deal to be a major media rights partner with the NBA.

The new channel will also carry Peacock’s sports talk shows including “The Dan Patrick Show,” “The Dan Le Batard Show,” and “Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry.”