Fox and YouTube Reach ‘Short Term Extension’ Just Before Service Disruption Was Set to Begin

Fox and Youtube agree to a short-term extension. (Photograph by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Alphabet’s YouTubeTV will still host Fox channels—for now—as the entertainment companies agreed to a temporary extension of their negotiations just ahead of some important football games.

An account on X named “TeamYoutube,” wrote on Wednesday night that the company owned by Alphabet’s Google has reached a short-term extension with Fox to avoid service disruption for YouTube TV subscribers while the companies work on a new agreement.

“We’re committed to advocating on behalf of our members and will keep you posted on our progress,” the post said.

Barron’s has reached out to Fox and Google for clarity on how long the extension is for.

The short-term extension came at a crucial time. YouTube said on Monday that if the companies were unable to reach a new agreement by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, Fox channels including Fox Sports , Business, and News would become unavailable on YouTube TV.

Sports fans that are subscribers to YouTubeTV were at risk of not being able to watch this weekends college football game between Ohio State and Texas. The NFL season then kicks off on Sept. 4.

The potential removal of Fox channels from YouTubeTV caught the attention of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr earlier this week.

“Google removing Fox channels from YouTube TV would be a terrible outcome,” Carr wrote in an X post on Wednesday. “Millions of Americans are relying on YouTube to resolve this dispute so they can keep watching the news and sports they want—including this week’s Big Game: Texas @ Ohio State.”

Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com