Fox Corporation and YouTube TV have reached a distribution renewal agreement; Jay Wright is stepping away from full-time broadcasting; and the ad-free tier of Peacock will become available through Prime Video channels. Plus news on the NFL and Sky Sports, Desmond Howard, Dan Weiss and Chris Low.
Fox Corporation, YouTube TV reach distribution renewal agreement
Fox Corporation and YouTube TV announced Thursday night that they have reached a distribution renewal agreement, keeping the FOX portfolio of networks accessible to subscribers of the vMVPD. The deal comes ahead of Saturday’s marquee Ohio State-Texas college football game, the start of the NFL season, and the home stretch of MLB. Financial terms of the distribution renewal agreement were not disclosed.
Earlier this week, the companies warned that the Fox networks could go dark on YouTube TV if no deal was reached by 5 PM ET on Wednesday. Though the deadline came and went, the sides reached a short-term extension to keep the networks on the service as they worked towards a deal. Had Fox content become unavailable for an extended period of time, YouTube TV said that it would grant its members a $10 credit.
John Ourand of Puck News reported late Thursday that YouTube TV wanted to make the new FOX One direct-to-consumer streaming service available through its platform, akin to Amazon’s Prime Video “Channels” offering. Per Ourand, it was not clear how the dispute over the inclusion of Fox One was resolved.
Ourand also reported that YouTube TV has weighed the launch of “a broadcast-and-sports tier.”
Wright to depart full-time broadcasting
CBS college basketball analyst Jay Wright has announced that he will depart full-time broadcasting in order to focus on his role as special assistant to the president at Villanova University. Wright had been part of the CBS Sports college basketball team over the past three seasons, working as a game analyst during the regular season and in the studio for CBS and TNT Sports coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
“Huge thanks to the CBS Sports and TNT Sports teams,” Wright said in a statement. “They’re truly the best in the business. I’m grateful for the incredible experiences and friendships. I look forward to staying connected and collaborating with them on future projects.”
According to CBS Sports president and CEO David Berson, Wright will still make occasional contributions to its coverage.
Wright coached for 21 seasons at Villanova and won two national championships and five Big East tournament titles. In addition to his head coaching experience, which began at Hofstra University in 1994, he was also an assistant on the coaching staff as Team USA secured the gold medal win in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Wright officially retired as Villanova men’s basketball coach in April 2022 and was succeeded by Kyle Neptune.
Peacock Premium Plus available on Prime Video
Peacock will now be accessible through Prime Video Channels under a new deal between Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon, it was announced Thursday. The agreement enables Prime Video users to purchase and access the $17/mo ($170/year) Peacock Premium Plus package directly through the Prime Video app. Premium Plus is the ad-free version of Peacock, though it should be noted that all live sports programming will carry ads regardless of tier.
Peacock, which as of its most recent quarterly earnings report has a base of 41 million subscribers, is entering its first season carrying NBA games and its third airing an exclusive NFL contest, plus the upcoming Winter Olympics.
The Prime Video “Channels” platform has incorporated several streaming services in recent years, including Paramount+, HBO Max and Apple TV+. The company originally launched the subscription video on demand (SVOD) service in 2015, and it has evolved since that time to enable users to purchase external subscriptions within the app. The Peacock deal comes as Amazon’s head of sports and advertising Jay Marine is said to have added business oversight of Prime Video in the United States to his responsibilities, per a company memo obtained by Nellie Andreeva of Deadline.
Some of the other facets of the deal with NBCUniversal include the Peacock app remaining available on Fire TV devices, access to Prime Video for Xfinity X1 and Xumo customers and the continued ability for users to rent Universal Pictures Home Entertainment movie releases. Prime Video has an ad-supported tier of its own with more than 130 million subscribers in the United States, according to Amazon data released in May.
Plus: NFL-Sky Sports, Desmond Howard, Dan Weiss, Chris Low
- Sky Sports has inked a new three-year deal with the National Football League that will provide viewers in the United Kingdom and Ireland with more game broadcasts and the continued presentation of “NFL RedZone.” The company is adding a second game at 6 PM local time “and up to an additional two games at 9 PM,” along with broadcasting all London and Europe games live.
- Desmond Howard has agreed to a multiyear contract extension with ESPN as he prepares to begin his 21st season on “College GameDay.” Howard, who has been a member of ESPN since 2005, will continue on the weekly on-site show in addition to studio programming for the College Football Playoff, ABC coverage of the NFL Draft and the presentation of the Heisman Trophy.
- Dan Weiss has been named the new radio voice of the San Antonio Spurs, moving over from his studio hosting role of television pregame and postgame coverage. Weiss has worked for the franchise since 2009, and he becomes the sixth radio play-by-play announcer in team history amid the recent retirement of Bill Schoening.
- Chris Low has joined On3 as a senior national college football reporter, the company announced on Friday. Low arrives at On3 after he had worked at ESPN for the last 22 years where he broke seminal stories in the sport, including head coach Nick Saban retiring from Alabama in 2023.
