If you have YouTube TV and were waiting anxiously for your regional sports networks to disappear Saturday … well, it didn't happen. You can still watch Fox Sports North (and other regional channels in other markets) for now on the streaming service.
But you have to work strangely hard to find out why.
The last tweet from the main YouTube TV account is still the one from four days ago indicating the RSNs would be going away Saturday as part of a negotiating impasse with Sinclair (which completed a purchase for all the regional networks in August).
But the TeamYouTube account has been tweeting at individual subscribers that the two sides are still working to resolve the issue. An example from Monday morning:
FOX RSNs are currently on a temporary extension so they should be available while we work to reach an agreement. We'll send an update as soon as we get more info. … At this time, negotiation is still underway and we can't provide any timeline on how long the temporary extension will last. Just always keep an eye out for updates on the specifics!
Several Minnesota subscribers confirmed Monday that they are still able to watch FSN on YouTube TV.
Sinclair spokesman Ronn Torossian released a statement late last week as well explaining their side of the negotiation:
"We offered YouTube TV the best terms under which their competitors carry our Regional Sports Networks. Unfortunately, they alone decided to drop these channels citing 'rising costs' despite our offer to actually lower the fees they pay us. We also offered to continue negotiating under a short-term extension so that their subscribers could continue to watch their favorite hometown teams. They've not yet responded to this offer."
Sometime between then and Saturday, it appears the sides got together again in an attempt to work it out.
We'll see if they are able to adequately figure out how to divvy up the money you, the subscriber, are paying for access to sports on TV.
Maybe YouTube TV will update its Twitter feed when and if there is a resolution one way or the other. Or maybe the channels will just disappear? If this is all some negotiating ploy, it's a strange one at best.
