Univision fears it will be kicked off YouTube TV. Is it reprisal for Trump’s 2024 Hispanic townhall?

YouTube TV is threatening to kick Univision off its base subscription package in the next few weeks, raising concerns among top executives at America’s leading Hispanic television network that they are being punished for hosting President Donald Trump and other Republicans for high-profile interviews during the 2024 election, according to an internal memo obtained by Just the News.

The memo from the TelevisaUnivision negotiating team to corporate leadership made clear on Tuesday that the network is locked in a fierce battle with YouTube TV over renewal of its carriage agreement and is in danger of being kicked off the popular streaming platform’s most popular base package at the end of the month.

The negotiating team wrote that if YouTube TV bounces Univision from the base package, Hispanic viewers would have to pay an additional $14.99 a month to access one of the most watched Latino networks in the country and it would amount to discrimination. The team pointedly noted that liberals have criticized Univision for hosting Trump for a highly watched townhall at the end of last year’s presidential election.

 “We have concerns that Google’s proposal will limit access of the Hispanic community to diverse voices. As you know, Univision is proud of its award-winning news division and its commitment to being open to all political voices,” the memo stated. “That approach was criticized by some on the left particularly in connection with the emergence of Hispanic voters as a swing vote that shifted to the right in 2024 – a major factor in President Trump’s win and Republican control of Congress.

“We have heard concerns from some state attorneys general, policy makers, and regulators that Google is involved in content moderation affecting voting segments, like Hispanics, that are increasingly supporting more conservative politicians,” it added. “Univision will not give up its commitment to being open to all voices by accepting relegation to second-tier distribution or agreements that don’t fairly value its content.”

Univision also unleashed an advertising campaign nationwide this week raising concerns with consumers it was being victimized by political bias in its negotiations with the Google-owned streaming TV platform.

YouTube TV confirmed it is considering dropping Univision from its base package at month’s end, but insists the decision is based on financial performance and not politics.

“TelevisaUnivision’s demands aren’t supported by their performance on YouTube TV over the last four years,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement to the media on Tuesday. “If we cannot reach a fair deal by September 30th, their programming will no longer be available on YouTube TV. Our carriage renewal decisions are based on viewer consumption and pricing, and any suggestion to the contrary is false.”

YouTube TV has had difficult negotiations in recent weeks with other channels, including Fox News, before reaching deals.

The negotiating team memo lays out the financial stakes on both sides of the Univision-YouTube TV battle, estimating that Hispanic viewers generate “$62.4 million per month/$749 million per year in revenue” for YouTube TV just in base subscriptions.

Daniel Alegre, Univision’s CEO, told Just the News in an exclusive interview last year that the Hispanic network was making a strategic commitment to more balance in its news coverage after years of having conservatives claiming it suffered from liberal bias, a move that also reflected changing political alliances among Latinos in the U.S.

Candidates need to show they are “able to talk to this community on a consistent basis about the things that matter, the policy issues that matter,” Alegre said in a wide-ranging interview.

He also correctly predicted that Hispanic voters last November might break for Trump in much larger than expected numbers.

“The world of 15 years ago, where Hispanics were essentially considered a vote for the Democratic Party, that's no longer the case,” he said. “….“I'm not trying to sound overly dramatic, but I fundamentally believe that the Hispanics are going to decide who the next president of the United States is going to be.”

Both Alegre’s negotiating team and the new ads unleashed by Univision suggest YouTube may be punishing the Hispanic network for those shifts with an “18% Hispanic tax” by forcing consumers on Oct. 1 to pay $14.99 more to get the network if it is dropped from the base package.

“Google’s proposal to remove Univision from its core offering on YouTube TV and charge its customers 18% more to access the leader in Spanish-language broadcasting is discriminatory and an abuse of its market power,” the Hispanic network said in a statement. 

“Alongside the major English-language networks, Univision is an essential part of the American mainstream. Univision is of critical importance to millions of Hispanic Americans, something that has been recognized by every single major content distributor – except Google. Univision is not niche – it moves America,” it added.

In its internal memo, the Univision negotiating team also challenged the notion its content doesn’t perform well for YouTube.

“Google continues to justify position on suspect claims about low hours viewed as compared to all viewership. We have no transparency into this assertion which is contrary to our independently verified ratings as a leader in news, sports and entertainment——not to mention just being awarded by YouTube a “Diamond Play Button” award for passing 10 million subscribers on our Univision news channel,” the memo stated.

It also warned it may seek legal action by state attorneys general and possibly the courts. 

“We expect to engage with the media, state attorneys general and regulators. Our legal team is also preparing potential legal claims. Unfortunately, this will make our dispute with Google public and put media attention on TelevisiaUnivision,” the memo warned.