Law & Order fans who also happen to be cord cutters, you can rest easy — tonight you will have access to your beloved Dick Wolf legal-procedural universe.

On Thursday, NBCUniversal and YouTube TV reached terms on a new carriage deal, meaning NBC, Bravo and the cable channels splitting off into Versant — USA, Syfy, E!, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen and Golf Channel — will remain available for YouTube TV customers.

NBCUniversal is still handling Versant’s ad sales and distribution. Following the split, Versant will take over its own distribution but yield to NBC on ad sales.

The deal is wide-ranging, including carriage for all of the NBCU and Versant channels, as well as a new cable channel that NBCU will launch later this year: NBC Sports Network. In addition, Peacock will become available on YouTube Primetime Channels and through Google TV devices. YouTube TV did not get the direct ingestion of Peacock content into its own ecosystem, which had been one of the deal’s sticking points.

It also includes a deal for short and long-form content on the main YouTube platform, as well as continued ability to buy and rent films and TV shows through the platform.

“Our new agreement with Google is a clear win for both our business and our viewers – underscoring the enduring value of our must-see shows, films, sports, and live events while expanding our reach to even more audiences,” said Matt Schnaars, president of platform distribution & partnerships at NBCUniversal. “We’ve secured long-term access to our full portfolio of broadcast and cable networks on YouTube TV, and we’re advancing our Peacock strategy with an upcoming launch on YouTube Primetime Channels and ongoing presence on Google TV. This agreement positions us for continued growth and reflects our commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment to fans across platforms.”

“This deal builds on our long-standing partnership with NBCU while addressing the evolving media landscape and recognizing the importance of making content available where and how viewers want to watch it,” said Justin Connolly, vice and global head of media & sports at YouTube. “We are pleased to have reached this agreement and look forward to continuing our partnership to serve billions of viewers around the world.”

As the clock struck midnight signifying Wednesday morning — for the East Coast, or 9 p.m. PT on Tuesday — NBCU and Google agreed to a short-term extension of their ongoing negotiations. Without the extension and the new agreement, NBCU and Versant channels would have gone black on YouTube TV, which serves about 10 million subscribers.

“We’ve reached a short-term extension with Google to avoid YouTube TV customers losing access to NBCUniversal programming as we continue negotiations,” an NBCUniversal spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter at the time.

A YouTube spokesperson told THR, “We’ve reached a short-term extension to avoid disruption to our service while we work toward a new agreement with NBCUniversal. We appreciate our subscribers’ patience while we negotiate on their behalf.” 

One interesting subplot point here is how the averted NBCUniversal blackout could have disproportionately impacted Spanish-speaking households. Univision has already gone dark on YouTube TV after the virtual MVPD (Multichannel Video Programming Distributor) and TelevisaUnivision could not come to carriage terms of their own. The other major Spanish-language network for Spanish-speaking Americans, NBCU’s Telemundo, could have suffered the same fate. Fortunately, it did not; Telemundo service remains uninterrupted on YouTube TV.

The concurrent carriage deadlines for NBCUniversal and TelevisaUnivision are coincidence.

TelevisaUnivsion issued a stern statement of displeasure at the situation.

“Google’s actions are especially tone-deaf and egregious on the eve of a potential government shutdown, disregarding the appeals of government officials and Hispanic organizations who urged them to keep Univision on the main bundle,” the company said. “To add insult to injury, YouTube TV chose to take this step during Hispanic Heritage Month — an act that is deeply insensitive and offensive.”

“TelevisaUnivision has over 160 million subscribers and billions of views across YouTube, where they generate ad revenue from their content,” the YouTube spokesperson responded via a statement shared with THR. “On our paid live TV subscription service, YouTube TV, however, TelevisaUnivision only represents a tiny fraction of overall consumption. Since we have not reached a new agreement with them, their content is no longer available on YouTube TV. We encourage viewers to continue watching TelevisaUnivision’s content on their YouTube channels or on their streaming platform, ViX.”

Alex Weprin contributed reporting.