Three more late-night TV shows are at risk of going off the air, potentially leaving millions of fans unable to watch their favorite hosts. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and Saturday Night Live may go dark for YouTube TV subscribers if an agreement can't be reached.
NBCUniversal and Google are in a stalemate over a new contract agreement to keep NBCU content on the service. If a deal can't be reached regarding financial terms and rates by Tuesday, September 30, then YouTube TV will no longer carry NBCU networks.
If that happens, then the approximately 9.4. million users who watch YouTube TV will be without NBC. That means no Late Night with Seth Meyers or The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and no Saturday Night Live just days before the sketch show gets ready to premiere season 51.
The timing is especially unfortunate given the current state of late-night TV. CBS is months away from abandoning the genre after cancelling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. On ABC, the network suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live! and broadcast companies Sinclair and Nexstar took the late-night show off the air for dozens of major markets around the country.
YouTube TV dropping NBC networks would force subscribers to turn to Peacock or find another service if they want to watch three of the biggest late-night TV shows. Google and NBCU have blamed the other for the failed negotiations, providing little optimism that a deal will be reached prior to the September 30 deadline.
According to USAToday, Google will provide its customers with a $10 credit if a new contract isn't signed. That could be little consolation for fans eager to see the revamped cast lineup at Saturday Night Live or follow how Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon respond to the president calling for their jobs.
This isn't the first time a late-night show was at risk of going off the air this year. During the summer, things got heated between Google and Fox over their contract negotiations. A compromise was made in time to prevent Gutfeld! from losing out on millions of viewers.