TelevisaUnivision has accused YouTube TV of “discriminatory” tactics in negotiations amid a dispute between to the two media companies over a fasting-approach Sept. 30 expiration to their current carriage deal.
In a new ad campaign launched Tuesday, Spanish-language media company TelevisaUnivision labeled YouTube TV’s plan to pull its broadcaster Univision from the pay-TV provider’s basic tier and shift the network to a Spanish-language add-on option beginning Sept. 30 an “18% Hispanic Tax.”
See the ad in question below.
“Google’s proposal to remove Univision from its core offering on YouTube TV and charge its customers 18% more to access the leader in Spanish-language broadcasting is discriminatory and an abuse of its market power,” TelevisaUnivision said in a statement Tuesday. “Alongside the major English-language networks, Univision is an essential part of the American mainstream. Univision is of critical importance to millions of Hispanic Americans, something that has been recognized by every single major content distributor – except Google. Univision is not niche – it moves America.”
Univision is currently the most-watched channel by U.S. Hispanics. The broadcaster is offered as part of the basic packages for pay-TV distributors including DirecTV and Hulu + Live TV, among others.
YouTube TV refutes TelevisaUnivision’s claims about “discriminatory” carriage decisions, saying instead a “fair deal” must be reached between the two parties by Sept. 30 or “their programming will no longer be available on YouTube TV.”
“TelevisaUnivision’s demands aren’t supported by their performance on YouTube TV over the last four years,” a YouTube spokesperson said Tuesday. “If we cannot reach a fair deal by September 30th, their programming will no longer be available on YouTube TV. Our carriage renewal decisions are based on viewer consumption and pricing, and any suggestion to the contrary is false.”
The TelevisaUnivision-YouTube TV carriage dispute news was first reported by Axios.
YouTube TV’s current carriage battle with the owner of Univision comes on the heels of another back-and-forth, this one with Fox Corp over Fox News, local Fox stations and other channels. That agreement was eventually reached on Aug. 28 with a YouTube spokesperson saying: “We’re happy to share that we’ve reached an agreement with Fox to keep their content on YouTube TV, preserve the value of our service for our subscribers and offer more flexibility in the future. This means that Fox channels, including the Fox Broadcast Network, Fox News, and Fox Sports, remain available for our subscribers along with 100+ channels and football fans will not miss any of the action this weekend.”
