​​An unusual confluence of expiring television distribution agreements, most of them involving YouTube TV, has left a disparate mix of results.

As four major carriage deals ended Sept. 30, the contracts now stand in different places, reflecting the increasingly complex nature of the TV business. Among the major developing situations:

• YouTube TV–NBCUniversal: Google-owned YouTube TV found itself right back in a large-scale carriage fight, just weeks after settling a similar issue with Fox. Late Tuesday, the sides agreed to a temporary extension that will keep NBC networks on the No. 4 pay-TV distributor while talks continue. That means upcoming sports programming, including a hefty college football slate Saturday and the NFL Sunday Night Football game Oct. 5 between the Patriots and Bills, will remain fully available.
• YouTube TV–TelevisaUnivision: The streamer did not reach an accord with the Spanish-language programmer, and that network’s channels have gone dark on the platform. YouTube TV is offering subscribers a $6 credit if the channels remain unavailable “for an extended period of time.” The dispute arrives in the midst of National Hispanic Heritage Month, further inflaming the situation. 
• YouTube TV–Monumental Sports Network: The sides also failed to reach an agreement, and the regional sports network also went dark on YouTube TV. The Ted Leonsis–led RSN airs his NBA Wizards, NHL Capitals, and WNBA Mystics, and the blackout arrives just weeks before the start of the hockey and men’s basketball seasons. MSN has also gone dark on Disney-controlled Hulu. “Unfortunately, this isn’t just about YouTube TV’s and Hulu’s disregard for D.C. sports fans,” said MSN GM Friday Abernethy. “Their decisions to walk away reflect a troubling reality in the pay-TV industry: independent regional sports networks like Monumental are being squeezed out by large, multinational streaming companies using anticompetitive tactics.”
• Comcast–YES Network: Like the YouTube TV–NBCUniversal situation, the sides reached a short-term agreement to keep the Yankees-controlled RSN on the air while talks continue. Neither Comcast nor the YES Network detailed how long the extension is for, but the network will continue to have full distribution while it continues pre- and post-game coverage of the Yankees, currently playing in MLB’s wild-card playoffs on ESPN. 

Comcast and the YES Network continue to have a broad ideological divide, particularly regarding the carrier’s ongoing push to place RSNs on more expensive tiers. YES Network has fought that effort, and the crosstown SportsNet New York, which is partially owned by Comcast and airs the Mets, has not yet been subject to the tiering—directly influencing the current talks. 

Carriage battles such as these have grown much more common across the media business. Distributors and programmers alike are battling rising cord-cutting among consumers, a growing migration toward streaming, and rising costs for sports rights.

“The danger for legacy media is that YouTube and its parent company, Google, would be unaffected if YouTube TV collapsed and/or disappeared,” wrote LightShed Partners in a research note. “By contrast, NBCUniversal or Disney losing 15% of its video subscriber base … would be quite painful. That being said, it’s not that simple for YouTube either. YouTube is trying to build YouTube TV to drive more and more people to watch YouTube content on television screens, which helps the core YouTube ad business and take share from linear TV.”

The disappointing performance by the U.S. Ryder Cup team also led to subpar TV ratings for the biennial team golf event.

Sunday’s final round on NBC and Peacock averaged 3.22 million viewers, which is down 8% from 2021 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin (3.51 million viewers), the most recent edition played on U.S. soil. It now marks the lowest Sunday audience for a Ryder Cup playing Stateside this century (2025, 2021, 2016, 2012, 2008, and 2004). 

Viewership on Sunday did peak at 5.3 million viewers just after 5 p.m. ET, as the unlikely American comeback attempt was gaining serious momentum at Bethpage Black Golf Course in New York, before Irishman Shane Lowry sank a putt for Europe, helping that team retain the Ryder Cup. 

Across the Pond

U.S. Ryder Cup viewership varies greatly between years it’s played at home and away. In 2023, NBC drew 1.32 million viewers for the final round of the Ryder Cup from Rome, which played out in the morning for most Americans.

Meanwhile, Sky Sports said it recorded 5 million viewers in the U.K. across the three days of this year’s Ryder Cup, which is up 45% from the 2023 edition and set a new record for the network. 

Early Mornings

During the Ryder Cup, Peacock and digital platforms debuted a new alternative pregame show, T-Mobile Breakfast at Bethpage, which broadcast live each morning of the competition from a set just off the first tee. Saturday Night Live personality Colin Jost hosted Breakfast at Bethpage, adding to his sports media portfolio that also includes work for NBC at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The program was created by the PGA of America and Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions, in partnership with Pro Shop Studios (led by the creators of Netflix’s Full Swing PGA Tour docuseries). Viewership metrics for the pregame show have not been released.

Major League Baseball’s Cardinals, traditionally one of the league’s most successful franchises on and off the field, know they’re in a tough spot and are vowing immediate corrections. 

While introducing the new president of baseball operations, Chaim Bloom, Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr. acknowledged the alarming attendance retreat at Busch Stadium and said “message received.” The team this year saw its attendance drop by 628,108, by far MLB’s largest decrease, greater than those seen by the Rays and A’s after moving into minor league stadiums, and counter to leaguewide growth. 

The Cardinals’ 2025 attendance, which also included a record low for a single game at Busch Stadium, followed one of 362,976 last year that also led the league. The figures sharply reverse a trend in which the team was a top-five draw in MLB every year from 2013 to 2019 and in the top 10 in many other pre-pandemic seasons. Fueling the latest declines at the gates is a three-year run out of the postseason for St. Louis, a marked turnaround from when the team made the playoffs nine times between 2011 and 2022.

“I understand [the fans’] frustration,” DeWitt said. “They love their Cardinals. They love their Cardinals winning. We’re going to make every effort to get back to that.”

A key part of that effort is the promotion of Bloom, formerly in the same role with the Red Sox, and working with the Cardinals the last two years as an advisor. Bloom will succeed John Mozeliak, who is voluntarily departing after a 30-year run with the Cardinals that included two World Series titles. 

The Cardinals compete in a particularly tough National League Central division that includes the Brewers (the best team in baseball this year), the playoff-bound Cubs and Reds, and a Pirates team that, while still a losing one, has arguably the game’s best pitcher in Paul Skenes.

There’s also a growing economic divide across MLB, one that will factor directly into labor negotiations next year between the league and the MLB Players Association. In the meantime, DeWitt and Bloom said they have not yet set a 2026 payroll for the Cardinals. The club’s 2025 luxury-tax payroll of $156.6 million ranked 19th in the league.

“We don’t know what our payroll is going to be,” DeWitt said about 2026. “I can’t tell you right now, but we’re going to provide the resources for [Bloom] to build what he’s talking about building, and we can take it from there.”