(Reuters) -TelevisaUnivision said on Wednesday it signed a multi-year distribution deal with YouTube TV, restoring the Spanish-language media company’s networks on the pay-TV service after a nearly two-month blackout.
The channels went dark on one of the largest pay-TV services in the U.S. on September 30. Univision, owned by TelevisaUnivision, had said that YouTube TV plans to shift its networks to a higher-priced tier that would impose what it calls a “Hispanic tax” of 18%.
The growing popularity of YouTube TV, along with Alphabet’s financial muscle, has given the service an edge in recent carriage talks with media firms such as Comcast-owned NBCUniversal, Paramount and Fox.
Under the new deal, YouTube TV will carry Univision, UniMás, Galavisión and sports network TUDN on its Base Plan and Spanish Plan.
The deal also brings ViX, the company’s streaming service, to YouTube’s Primetime Channels.
TelevisaUnivision and Google did not immediately respond to a request for details on the financial terms of the deal.
Earlier this month, YouTube TV reached a deal to restore Disney-owned networks after a fee dispute that cut off millions of subscribers from U.S. Election Day coverage and major live sports.
TelevisaUnivision is a joint venture between Mexico’s largest broadcaster Grupo Televisa and the U.S. Spanish-language network Univision.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
