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YouTube and NBC fought over the future of TV bundles

Jared Newman   |   October 3, 2025

Last night, YouTube TV and NBC reached a new carriage agreement after previously telling customers to prepare for a blackout.

Earlier in the week, though, I wrote a column about what I thought the dispute was really about: In addition to carrying NBC’s broadcast and cable channels, Google also reportedly wanted YouTube TV to serve content from Peacock, NBC’s separate streaming service. That would have fundamentally changed how programmers like NBC distribute video in the streaming age.

The new carriage agreement doesn’t call for anything like that, though it lets Google sell Peacock subscriptions through its YouTube video marketplace. That makes my column less relevant than it was yesterday, but you can still read it to understand the longstanding divide between pay TV packages and standalone streaming services.

Read the full column →

Weekly rewind

Amazon’s new streaming dongle: Amazon is releasing a new $40 streamer called the Fire TV Stick 4K Select. While it looks a lot like the existing Fire TV Stick 4K (which costs $50, but often sells for a lot less), it ships with a new operating system called Vega OS instead of Amazon’s usual Android-based software.

Amazon says the software should feel faster, but there are trade-offs. The new Stick doesn’t support sideloading apps that Amazon doesn’t allow in its store (including ones that facilitate piracy), and for now it supports far fewer streaming apps than Amazon’s other streamers. It’s also missing some features included with the regular Fire TV Stick 4K, such as Dolby Vision HDR support. While Amazon may have its business reasons for pushing Vega, I’m not sure it’s made a case for the rest of us yet.

Philo adds HBO, raises prices: Philo is raising the price of its entertainment-focused TV bundle, from $28 to $33 per month. On the upside, it now includes access to HBO Max (with ads), which normally costs $10 per month on its own, along with Discovery+. Philo says it’ll offer ad-free upgrades for both services early next year and will bring their content directly into the Philo app.

ESPN-Fox bundle arrives: As announced in late August, ESPN and Fox are now offering their respective streaming services as an optional $40 per month bundle. That’s $10 per month cheaper than getting ESPN Unlimited ($30/mo.) and Fox One ($20/mo.) separately.

Unfortunately, you can’t combine this bundle with ESPN’s other ones, which include ESPN with Disney+ and Hulu for $36 per month (currently $30 per month for the first year), and ESPN with NFL+ Premium for $40 per month. Check my earlier guide to sports streaming bundles to see how this new option compares.

More catch-up

Save more money

This section of the newsletter has some affiliate links, which earn me a commission if you wind up buying or subscribing to something.

Hulu + Live TV is currently offering three months for $65 per month for new and former subscribers. That saves $18 over the current price, and it becomes a $25 per month savings after Hulu’s price hike takes effect on October 21. (Just make sure to cancel before the three months if you don’t want to get billed $90 per month thereafter.)

Other notable deals:

As always, I keep a full list of up-to-date deals on the Cord Cutter Weekly website.

My 400 favorite apps (and how to use them): Check out this week’s issue of my Advisorator newsletter for details.

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Until next week,
Jared