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YouTube-Fox standoff has high stakes as college football, NFL seasons kick off

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A news ticker outside Fox News headquarters reads: Grand jury votes to indict former President Donald Trump, at the News Corporation building in New York City, U.S., March 31, 2023.

In less than three days, college football will be showcasing one of its most-highly anticipated week one matchups ever, with top-ranked Texas heading on the road to play reigning national champion and third-ranked Ohio State.

Fox is airing the much-hyped game. YouTube TV subscribers may be out of luck.

Google's YouTube said on Monday it may remove channels like Fox Broadcast Network, Fox News and Fox Sports if the company is unable to reach a new agreement with Fox Corp. by 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The two sides are still in a standoff, putting YouTube TV customers at risk of missing out on major sporting events and hefty ad dollars in limbo.

For Google, the issue is how much Fox is charging for its content.

"Fox is asking for payments that are far higher than what partners with comparable content offerings receive," YouTube wrote in its Monday blog post.

YouTube TV has roughly 9.4 million subscribers. Most notably for sports fans, Fox is the home for many upcoming football games, both college and pro. The NFL season begins next week, with Fox set to air games starting on Sunday, Sept. 7

YouTube pays broadcasters like Fox to carry their channels.

In addition to football, Fox shows Major League Baseball games, and the MLB regular season is entering its final stretch. Fox will be airing some playoff games that follow, as well as the World Series, which is scheduled to start in late October.

Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, weighed in on Tuesday.

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