YouTube TV to offer live TV from four major networks this spring for $35 per month
Google on Tuesday announced YouTube TV, a live TV service launching this spring that will compete with other internet-only providers like Sling TV and PlayStation Vue.
The base package will cost $35 per month and offer channels from ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, among them affiliated ones like Bravo, Syfy, and ESPN, Recode reported. In all the package is expected to include about three dozen options.
People won't, however, have access to channels from companies that only operate on pay TV, some examples being AMC and Time Warner. Those companies could be included at later date, according to Recode, but Time Warner executives told the site that it won't be offering the likes of HBO until YouTube signs a deal for its Turner networks.
While initial content may be limited, Google says it will be offering cloud DVR functions with unlimited space, something so far reserved for PlayStation Vue. It will also include a recommendation system based on Google AI, and the company is promising "reliability and scalability," likely a jab at services like AT&T's DirecTV Now, which launched with serious glitches.
YouTube TV will be separate from YouTube Red and get its own app. Indeed Google is aiming for a "mobile first" strategy, though people will also be able to watch on computers and TVs, for instance using Google's Cast technology.
A live TV service From YouTube has been rumored for some time. It will likely go head-to-head this season with a Hulu alternative, which has been promised but not officially announced.
The base package will cost $35 per month and offer channels from ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, among them affiliated ones like Bravo, Syfy, and ESPN, Recode reported. In all the package is expected to include about three dozen options.
People won't, however, have access to channels from companies that only operate on pay TV, some examples being AMC and Time Warner. Those companies could be included at later date, according to Recode, but Time Warner executives told the site that it won't be offering the likes of HBO until YouTube signs a deal for its Turner networks.
While initial content may be limited, Google says it will be offering cloud DVR functions with unlimited space, something so far reserved for PlayStation Vue. It will also include a recommendation system based on Google AI, and the company is promising "reliability and scalability," likely a jab at services like AT&T's DirecTV Now, which launched with serious glitches.
YouTube TV will be separate from YouTube Red and get its own app. Indeed Google is aiming for a "mobile first" strategy, though people will also be able to watch on computers and TVs, for instance using Google's Cast technology.
A live TV service From YouTube has been rumored for some time. It will likely go head-to-head this season with a Hulu alternative, which has been promised but not officially announced.
Comments
Plex has a DVR, Channels has a DVR...both are far cheaper than $35 a month, and get me all the 40 odd OTA channels & sub-channels within my broadcast area...
stations are the same on Directv Now, Playstation Vue and any other OTT, as a consiumer we are just concerned with how much we are will to pay....
An AppleTV 5 with a coax jack and a couple of OTA tuners would be something I'd buy.
No evidence Apple would provide or is interested in providing live streaming network television. They really should get interested in it. AppleTV remains an entertainment silo without access to live streaming.
Anyone who thinks bundles are going away is just fooling themselves. And by the time you add up all the subscriptions for the different services you have - Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, ESPN, etc. you're close to cable pricing.
EDIT: Ok. I see now it's the big 4 networks plus a bunch of other 'networks'. Still not sure delivering through YouTube is the answer. And why Apple isn't doing this - behave I bet youtube is losing money on the deal. But they want to be there. Apple has never sacrificed profit for just being there with a product or service I don't think. Have they?
CNN, TBS, and TNT. AMC Networks, Discovery Communications, Time Warner and A+E Networks, HBO are all missing.
I will stick with my DirecTV Now thank you.
I wish AT&T would license the rights for DirecTV Now to Apple for the Apple TV so that they can integrate it properly.
Time will tell.