YouTube TV is a streaming live TV service created by Google. It gives you access to more than 100 live channels. This product is designed for people who want to watch cable channels without being tied to a cable box. You can watch it from anywhere, at any time.
Despite regular price increases, YouTube TV is considered one of the best streaming live TV services available today. It now costs $72.99 per month, up from $35 a few years ago. However, it’s the only streaming service that has PBS, and it has the only unlimited cloud DVR service. This makes it an excellent choice for those looking to cut the cord from cable operators like Comcast, Cox, AT&T, Verizon, and others.
If you’re wondering what YouTube TV is and whether you should switch from cable to Google’s TV service, we’ll help you decide. We’ll answer questions about the cost, cloud DVR limitations, multiple screen limitations, and more. Here’s everything you need to know about YouTube TV.
Table of contents
What is YouTube TV?
YouTube TV is Google’s attempt at capturing the cord-cutting audience. It’s a streaming Live TV service that offers 100+ channels and continues to add more every few months. It also has YouTube Originals available.
YouTube TV initially launched in 2017 and was restricted to a handful of markets in the US. The reason for the slow rollout was gathering all local channels. Google did not want to launch in a market that did not have all of the locals. That includes ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. Initially, Google was offering around 60 channels for $35 per month. In 2018, before its nationwide launch, it increased prices from $35 to $40, but those who got in on the $35 price were grandfathered in.
In 2019, Google made YouTube TV available in all 210 markets in the US. It also added nine networks from Discovery and raised the price from $40 to $50 per month. This also ended the grandfathered-in pricing for those who were paying $35. Google forced everyone to start paying $50.
In 2020, YouTube TV was able to strike a deal with ViacomCBS to bring over their channels to the service. Bringing over all of their channels meant another price increase. Going from $50 to $65 per month and bringing the total number of channels to 85+. On March 17, 2021, YouTube TV added the rest of the ViacomCBS Channels to the service. These include BETher, Dabl, Nicktoons, Nick Jr, TeenNick, MTV2, and MTV Classic.
YouTube TV is pretty unique for a couple of features that it offers, and most of its competitors do not. The biggest one is an unlimited Cloud DVR that allows you to record just about everything. The other significant feature is its availability. It’s available on almost any platform.
How much does YouTube TV cost?
YouTube TV costs $72.99 per month for the base package. That includes 100+ channels and all of its features.
There are some premium networks you can add on, as well as the Sports Plus package. Sports Plus is priced at $10.99 per month and gives you an additional eight networks. The premium networks that are available include MAX for $15.99. Showtime for $11/month, STARZ for $9.99/month, Cinemax for $10, Curiosity Stream for $3, AMC Premiere for $5, Shudder for $6, Sundance Now for $7, Urban Movie Channel for $5 and AcornTV for $6. These all come with a free trial, anywhere from five days to 14 days. So, it’s pretty easy to check out these premium channels before paying for them.
YouTube TV has launched a referral program, and you can get $15 off your first month.
Spanish Plus package
YouTube TV announced its new Spanish Plus package on May 10, 2022. It’s actually a package that can be an add-on, or purchased by itself without the base plan.
Spanish Plus includes 29 Spanish channels, including FOX Deportes, ESPN Deportes, Discovery en Español, beIN SPORTS en Español, CNN en Español, and more.
Currently, Spanish Plus is available for $9.99 per month for the first six months and $14.99 per month after for the add-on. Or you can get the package by itself for $24.99 per month for the first six months, and $34.99 per month after.
Sports Plus Package
Google added the Sports Plus package in September 2019. This is a new add-on for YouTube TV that will allow you to add even more sports networks. Included in this package is NFL RedZone, beIN SPORTS, FOX Soccer Plus, VSiN, Outside TV+, PokerGO+, MAVTV, TVG, Stadium, GOLTV, Billiard TV, SportsGrid, PlayersTV, Fight Network, IMPACT Wrestling. It’s available for $10.99 per month.
Update : On April 8, 2021, YouTube TV added FightNet and Impact Wrestling for the same $10.99 per month.
Entertainment Plus Package
YouTube TV announced the Entertainment Plus package in February 2021. This package bundles HBO MAX, SHOWTIME and STARZ for $30 per month. Individually, these would cost you $35 per month, so you’re saving $5 here. Not a big savings, but a great way to bundle them with YouTube TV.
4K Plus
On June 28, 2021, Google debuted another new add-on for YouTube TV – 4K Plus. This is an add-on that adds three main features. Of course, the ability to stream in 4K. However, that will be limited, at least at first, since most content is not available in 4K. But you can rest assured that the Olympics will be available in 4K.
It also brings offline downloads with almost no restrictions. Google says anything that you can record to your cloud DVR, you can download for offline viewing.
The third feature is that you can watch unlimited streams with this package, instead of the three concurrent streams that YouTube TV normally has.
This package is going to cost an additional $9.99 per month and is available now.
Standalone channels
Announced on September 30, 2022, YouTube TV is allowing you to subscribe to some standalone channels without paying for the base plan on YouTube TV. Meaning you can subscribe to just these channels without having to pay $65 per month on top of it. Those channels include:
- HBO MAX
- Showtime
- STARZ
- NBA League Pass
- Cinemax
- Epix
- Hallmark Movies Now
- Acorn
- CuriosityStream
- Outside TV Features
- ALLBLK
- Shudder
- Sundance Now
- IFC Films Unlimited
- Dove
- CONtv
- Docurama
- Law & Crime
- VSiN
Update: In February 2023, YouTube TV announced MLB Network and MLB.TV won’t be returning for the 2023 season. So you can’t buy the standalone MLB.TV package through YouTube TV any longer.
What devices are supported?
YouTube TV is available on a large variety of devices right now, and it is still adding more to its list.
As of today, YouTube TV is available on Android, iOS, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku OS, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. As far as smart TVs go, they are available on many smart TVs from LG, Samsung, Hisense, Sharp, TCL, and VIZIO that are 2016 and newer, not to mention the fact that any TV that has Android TV, Roku, or Fire TV built-in will also work – which includes almost every Hisense and TCL Smart TV from recent years.
On September 30, Google announced that the new Chromecast with Google TV will have a pretty tight integration with YouTube TV. With a new “Live” tab on the home screen that shows the current TV listings for what is live. At launch, only YouTube TV worked with this tab, but Google plans to add more to that tab in the future, like Sling TV, FuboTV, and others.
What channels are offered?
YouTube TV has steadily added new channels to its service since its inception in 2017. Currently, it has over 100 channels and covers the majority of the top 100 most popular cable channels.
Recent changes
- ViacomCBS channels added: BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land, VH1, BET Her, MTV2, Nick Jr, Nicktoons, TeenNick and MTV Classic.
- YouTube TV lost all Fox regional sports networks on October 1: After trying to renegotiate with Sinclair following its extension, YouTube TV lost access to all Fox regional sports networks. These include: Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports Carolinas, Fox Sports Detroit, Fox Sports Florida, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Kansas City, Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports New Orleans, Fox Sports North, Fox Sports Ohio, Fox Sports Oklahoma, Fox Sports Prime Ticket, Fox Sports San Diego, Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Southeast, Fox Sports Southwest, Fox Sports Sun, Fox Sports Tennessee, Fox Sports West, Fox Sports Wisconsin, SportsTime Ohio, and the YES Network. It’s worth noting that Fox, FS1, and FS2 will remain on YouTube TV, though.
- NFL Network came to YouTube TV in September 2020: Without any sort of price increase.
- YouTube TV debuted the new Sports Plus package in September 2020: YouTube TV debuted its first add-on package with Sports Plus in September. For $10.99 per month, you can add NFL RedZone, Fox College Sports, GolTV, TVG, MAV, Stadium, and Fox Soccer Plus.
- MLB.TV comes to YouTube TV: In February 2021, YouTube TV announced that it was bringing MLB.TV to its service (as an added cost). It is available as of March 2021. Subscribers will get a free preview throughout March. MLB.TV costs $24.99 per month or $129.99 for the season.
- Scripps Networks come to YouTube TV: In January 2023, YouTube TV announced that Scripps networks were coming to the service. That includes Ion, Bounce TV, and Scripps News. That’s in addition to Newsy, which has been on YouTube TV for a few years already.
- NFL Sunday Ticket: For the 2023-24 NFL Season, YouTube TV picked up the NFL Sunday Ticket. Marking the first time that it has been available anywhere other than DIRECTV. NFL Sunday Ticket isn’t cheap, it costs $299 for the entire season. However, you can get it as a standalone product, without streaming TV, for $399 for the season. NFL Sunday Ticket will be part of YouTube and YouTube TV for the next seven years – or until the 203
YouTube TV Channels
| A&E | ABC | ✓ | |
| ABC News | ✓ | ACCN | ✓ |
| Adult Swim | ✓ | AMC | ✓ |
| Animal Planet | ✓ | BBC America | ✓ |
| BBC World News | ✓ | Bravo | ✓ |
| BET | ✓ | Big Ten Network | ✓ |
| Bravo | ✓ | Cartoon Network | ✓ |
| CBS | ✓ | CBS News | |
| CBS Sports Network | ✓ | Cheddar | ✓ |
| CMT | ✓ | CNBC | ✓ |
| CNBC World | ✓ | CNN | ✓ |
| Comedy Central | ✓ | Comet | ✓ |
| Court TV | ✓ | Cozi | ✓ |
| CW | ✓ | Discovery | ✓ |
| Disney Channel | ✓ | Disney Junior | ✓ |
| Disney XD | ✓ | E! | ✓ |
| ESPN | ✓ | ESPN 2 | ✓ |
| ESPN U | ✓ | ESPNews | ✓ |
| Food Network | ✓ | Fox | ✓ |
| Fox Business | ✓ | Fox News | ✓ |
| Freeform | ✓ | FS1 | ✓ |
| FS2 | ✓ | FX | ✓ |
| FXM | ✓ | FXX | ✓ |
| getTV | ✓ | Univision | ✓ |
| Golf Channel | ✓ | The Hallmark Channel | |
| Hallmark Drama | Hallmark Movies & Mysteries | ||
| HGTV | ✓ | History | |
| HLN | ✓ | IFC | ✓ |
| Investigation Discovery | ✓ | LAFC | ✓ |
| Lifetime | Lifetime Movies | ||
| Local Now | LX | ||
| MLB Network | MLB Game of the Week | ✓ | |
| Motortrend | ✓ | MSNBC | ✓ |
| MTV | ✓ | MyNetwork TV | ✓ |
| National Geographic | ✓ | Nat Geo Wild | ✓ |
| NBA TV | ✓ | NBC | ✓ |
| NBC Sports Network | ✓ | NBC Universo | ✓ |
| NESN | ✓ | NewsmaxTV | |
| Newsy | ✓ | Nickelodeon | ✓ |
| Nick Jr. | NFL Network | ✓ | |
| Olympic Channel | ✓ | Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) | ✓ |
| Oxygen | ✓ | PAC12 Networks | |
| Paramount Network | ✓ | PBS | ✓ |
| PBS Kids | ✓ | Pop | ✓ |
| SEC | ✓ | Smithsonian Channel | ✓ |
| SNY | ✓ | Sundance TV | ✓ |
| StartTV | ✓ | Syfy | ✓ |
| Tastemade | ✓ | TBS | ✓ |
| TCM | ✓ | Telemundo | ✓ |
| Tennis Channel | ✓ | TLC | ✓ |
| The Game Show Network | ✓ | TNT | ✓ |
| Travel Channel | ✓ | TruTV | ✓ |
| TUDN | ✓ | TUDN Extra 1-11 | |
| TVG | TV Land | ✓ | |
| TYT | ✓ | Universo | ✓ |
| Univision | ✓ | Unimás | |
| Universal Kids | ✓ | Univision | ✓ |
| USA | ✓ | VH1 | ✓ |
| Vice | The Weather Channel | ||
| WE tv | ✓ | YouTube Originals | ✓ |
What features does YouTube TV have?
YouTube TV has a number of great features, some of which none of its competitors even have. As a result, it helps make it stand out among the competition. Here are some of the bigger features of YouTube TV.
Cloud DVR
By far the most popular feature for YouTube TV is its unlimited Cloud DVR, which is included in the $72.99 price.
Because it is unlimited, you can record virtually anything and everything on YouTube TV and watch it later. You can also record as many shows at the same time as you want. Something that is not possible with traditional TV.
Finally, with YouTube TV, you can also opt to start from the beginning or join live if it is a show that you are recording. So if you come home late to watch The Masked Singer, which starts at 8 PM, you can start from the beginning and fast-forward through commercials until you catch up to the live recording. It is a really useful feature to have.
Last Channel Shortcut
After years of begging by users, YouTube TV has finally added a shortcut to go to the last channel you watched. This makes it more like traditional cable TV as you can hope between two channels pretty quickly. Especially useful for watching sports.
Multiview
YouTube debuted Multiview for the NCAA Tournament in March 2023. This is a way that you can watch up to four games at the same time. This feature then rolled out for most sports content on the platform, and was a big feature for NFL Sunday Ticket.
On your home screen, you will see different multiview options for games that are available. These are based on the teams you watch and follow on YouTube TV. Unfortunately, you can’t pick and choose each of the four games that are being broadcast in multiview. That is a feature that YouTube is hoping to roll out very soon, however.
Dolby Digital 5.1
On August 27, 2021, YouTube TV announced that it had rolled out Dolby Digital 5.1 to all users.
Currently, the list of compatible devices is still pretty short. But it will be available on all devices that work with Dolby Digital 5.1 and YouTube TV in the very near future.
This feature is going to improve the audio quality of both live and on-demand content on YouTube TV. This also makes YouTube TV only the second streaming service to offer it for live content, along with DIRECTV Stream.
Google has started rolling out Dolby Digital 5.1 to more Roku and Android TV devices in June 2022.
Multiple Users
Another feature that sets YouTube TV apart from the competition is multiple users. Most streaming services do have multiple users support, but not quite in the same way.
With YouTube TV, you can invite up to five people to your subscription. So, instead of sharing your password with other people, they can sign in with their own Google account. That is much smarter than sharing passwords, especially for something like your Google account, which is used for almost everything on the web.
While you can have up to five accounts on your YouTube TV account, you are still limited to only three simultaneous streams however. So, not everyone can watch at the same time. But three screens is also more than its competitors offer, without paying for an upgraded plan.
Voice Control via Google Assistant
As expected, YouTube TV is integrated with Google Assistant. So, if you have a Google Assistant device like a Nest Mini or Nest Audio, you can use it to start watching TV. If you have a Chromecast or Nest Home Hub, you can tell the Assistant to start playing YouTube TV on that screen.
You also have the ability to control other functions, like selecting a TV channel to watch live, starting a show, recording a show, and even using playback functions like pause, resume, and rewind.
On-Demand
There is an on-demand section of different movies and TV shows. If something you recorded is available as on-demand, you can choose between those two options. For example, if election coverage interrupted your recording of Ellen’s Game of Games, you can opt to watch the on-demand version instead.
The main difference between on-demand and DVR is that you cannot fast-forward through commercials on on-demand content. However, some won’t have commercials – like FOX shows for some reason. On DVR content, you can fast-forward or rewind to your heart’s content.
Picture-in-Picture on Mobile
Surprisingly, most other streaming live TV services do not offer this feature, but YouTube TV allows you to do picture-in-picture on mobile. So you can continue watching your show while you are on Twitter or Facebook or replying to your friend’s text message.
This works on Android smartphones and tablets. However, it doesn’t yet work on iOS. It’ll work on iPads and iPhones, starting with iOS 14.
Dark Mode
As with everything these days, there is a dark mode for the app on both desktop and mobile. This can be very useful when you are watching TV or scrolling through the app at night or in a dark room.
Mark shows as viewed
Since you can’t “delete” shows from your DVR, they will auto-delete after nine months and be replaced with a newer recording if that show is played on TV again. Marking as viewed is really useful.
You can “Mark as Watched” on any movie or TV show on YouTube from the desktop or mobile versions of the service. This means that it won’t show up as “new” in your library any longer. As a result, it makes it easier to view your new shows in your library to catch up on what’s new.
No offline viewing
This is likely no real surprise, but YouTube TV does not allow for offline viewing. Most streaming Live TV services do not allow for this, since it is live. But it would be nice to be able to download your DVR content to watch offline if you are going to be flying somewhere with no internet or taking the subway to work. Hulu with Live TV does it, but there are some serious caveats to it.
Multiple channel sorting options
YouTube TV has always offered the default view for sorting channels and then a Customized view, which was a pain to actually do. Imagine dragging and dropping channels when there are over 100 channels in the list.
But on January 18, 2022, Google started rolling out a few more options. Like the ability to sort by “Most Watched” and then A-Z and Z-A. The Most Watched option takes into effect your DVR-watching habits, too.
1080p Enhanced
On February 5, 2024, YouTube announced that they are rolling out a new viewing option for YouTube TV. That’s 1080p Enhanced. This is an enhanced bitrate for 1080p that is going to provide a better picture quality for your viewing. Since YouTube TV is only showing you channels from other companies like Disney, NBCU, and Fox, it has little control over what those channels broadcast at. Most are capable of 1080p, so you can get this new option available on devices that support 4K streaming for YouTube TV.
How to Cancel YouTube TV
YouTube TV has gone through many price increases over the past couple of years. It’s now to the point where YouTube TV costs more than double what it did when it debuted just six years ago. For some, that might mean it’s time to cancel your subscription. Luckily, Google does make it fairly easy to do this.
- Login to your YouTube TV account on your desktop.
- Now click on your profile picture in the right corner.
- Next, click on Membership.
- Then click on “Pause or cancel membership”.
- From there you’re going to want to click on Cancel.
- As expected, you’ll be asked if you really want to cancel; confirm that you do, and your YouTube TV membership will be canceled.
Is YouTube TV worth it?
When you look at the channels and the pricing, it is a pretty good deal. The only downside here is that there’s no telling when the price may go up again. But if the recent Sports Plus package addition is anything to go by, it looks like Google is planning to add some more premium packages, instead of giving everyone every single channel and just raising the price.
I am a subscriber of YouTube TV and have been since almost the beginning, so my opinion here is a little bit biased, but I feel that this is the best value. There are over 100 channels here, including the majority of the top 100 cable channels available, as well as cloud DVR, where you can save literally everything (and I do) to watch later. Not to mention the fact that it is available on almost every platform you can think of.
If you’re looking to check out YouTube TV, use this free trial to check it out before paying for it. Google is also currently offering a discounted rate for your first three months – $50.99 monthly instead of $72.99. However, that number does tend to change every month or so.
2024-02-20 15:08:03