Fox News, Fox Business and the Fox Sports channels will stay on YouTube TV after the streaming platform and Fox agreed to extend their deal in the short term.

If the two sides hadn’t extended their pact, which is expiring, YouTube TV customers would have lost access to the Fox channels after 5 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday.

If that had happened, YouTube said it planned to give customers a $10 credit, and Fox fans would have been able to find the channels on the Fox One platform.

YouTube said it and Fox are still working to finalize a longer-term deal to keep Fox Sports channels, Fox News, Fox Weather and Fox Business on YouTube TV.

YouTube TV has lost major content providers before. In 2021, the platform lost access to all Disney content, including from ESPN, ABC and local ABC affiliates, for less than two days before Disney and YouTube reached an agreement, according to The Associated Press.

Previously, YouTube said, “Fox is asking for payments that are far higher than what partners with comparable content offerings receive. Our priority is to reach a deal that reflects the value of their content and is fair for both sides without passing on additional costs to our subscribers.”

Fox in turn contended on a Keep Fox website that “Google continually exploits its outsized influence by proposing terms that are out of step with the marketplace.”

Federal officials weighed in, noting that loss of Fox content would mean that college football fans couldn’t watch the Big Ten Network or Fox Sports on YouTube TV, which is owned by Google.

“Google removing Fox channels from YouTube TV would be a terrible outcome. 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. Get a deal done Google!” Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr wrote on X.

The Texas-Ohio State showdown kicks off at noon Saturday.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.