After bolting regional sports network Bally Sports over the spring, the NBA's Phoenix Suns are about to see their new local TV home, KTVK Arizona's Family, pulled off YouTube TV amid a dispute between the vMVPD and station owner Gray Television.
"As of November 18th, 2023, YouTube TV will no longer carry Arizona’s Family 3TV. This means that YouTube TV subscribers will lose access to live sports, our market-leading local news, and your favorite programs like Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune," reads warnings sent to KTVK viewers that started late last week.
"We are disappointed that YouTube TV has come to this decision, as we have done everything in our power to reach a market-based agreement," the station warning added. The good news is that you have options. Arizona’s Family is available on providers like Cox, Fubo, DirecTV, and Dish, as well as free over-the-air with an antenna." (The Gray warning did not mention the Suns' new DTC streaming channel, Suns Live.)
The dispute between Gray and the virtual MVPD involves only Gray-owned independent stations. For example, Gray's KPHO-TV (aka "Arizona’s Family CBS 5") will remain on YouTube TV, with Paramount Global negotiating carriage of the CBS affiliate directly with the vMVPD.
As an independent operating under existing retrans rules that differ or virtual MVPDs vs. linear ones, KTVK has very little leverage in any kind of fee negotiation with YouTube TV.
In April, mortgage mogul Mat Ishbia announced that his pro hoops teams, the Suns and the WBNA's Phoenix Mercury, would not renew their deals with Bally Sports and instead enter deals to air regular season games on Gray's KTVK -- agreements that ostensibly expanded the teams' reach to the entire Arizona region.
YouTube TV added an industry-leading 600,000 subscribers in the third quarter, according to an estimate released by Leichtman Research Group on Tuesday. The virtual service is closing in on Dish satellite TV to become the fourth largest pay TV service in the U.S., with between 6.5 million - 7.3 million subscribers.
