A potential blackout has been averted as YouTube TV and Paramount Global announced a new, multi-year retransmission agreement. This deal will keep CBS-owned stations and Paramount's cable networks available on the virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMPVD). The companies previously agreed to a short-term extension on February 14, 2025, before finalizing this longer-term contract.
While financial details remain undisclosed—standard practice for such agreements—the deal encompasses both linear cable networks and includes cross-marketing opportunities with Paramount+, encompassing Showtime. YouTube TV's substantial subscriber base, estimated at 8 million, makes it the largest vMPVD. This positions it significantly in negotiations, although large-scale blackouts also have far-reaching consequences.
YouTube TV's size—second only to the combined subscriber counts of Charter, Comcast, and DirecTV (nearly 40 million)—gives it considerable leverage. Other vMPVDs like Hulu+Live TV (under 4.5 million subscribers), Sling TV (2 million), and Fubo (1.5 million) have significantly smaller audiences. This contrasts with YouTube TV's influence and its history of crediting subscribers during past channel blackouts. The averted blackout would have impacted access to a wide range of channels, including CBS and networks like Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Paramount Network, CMT, Comedy Central, TV Land, Smithsonian Channel, Logo, and Pop TV.