Google’s planned Unplugged live streaming service appears to be homing in on carriage deals with all of the major broadcast network owners following the agreement with CBS that surfaced yesterday. That includes Comcast’s NBCUniversal which is in advanced conversations to include NBC, Telemundo and many if not all of its cable networks on the Google service, according to sources.
Google has reached an agreement with CBS to carry the broadcast network on its soon-to-be-launched web TV service, people familiar with the matter said. The new service, Unplugged, which will be housed on Google’s YouTube platform, is likely to debut in early 2017. Google is also near an accord to distribute channels owned by 21st Century Fox and is in advanced talks with Walt Disney Co. as well, the people said.
YouTube is working on a paid subscription service called Unplugged that would offer customers a bundle of cable TV channels streamed over the internet, people familiar with the plan say. The project, for which YouTube has already overhauled its technical architecture, is one of the online video giant’s biggest priorities and is slated to debut as soon as 2017, one of the people said.
