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YouTube has announced that the price of their YouTube TV service is increasing. The current price of $39.99 will be increasing to $49.99, which is around a 20% increase. This will take effect immediately for anyone who wishes to subscribe to the service now as a new user. Current subscribers will keep their current price until May 13th.
This price increase has coincided with YouTube TV finally becoming available throughout the country, something that only became reality last month. The service was originally billed as a cord cutting cable alternative. But at this new price point, many will wonder why they wouldn’t just keep their cable subscriptions.
YouTube did announce some added content too with the price increase. Ten new channels and some upgrades to the DVR feature. Discovery Channel, TLC, and Animal Planet are among the new additions. People will have to judge for themselves if those justify the increase.
In an odd addendum, users who subscribe through Apple will, in fact, see their prices increase to $54.99. There is the benefit of having up to six accounts per household, and the above-mentioned DVR improvement that sees DVR storage become unlimited. For some, this might be worth the price tag. For others, it’s sure to be too much.
The streaming media market is becoming more crowded all the time. With the current options including the industry standards Netflix and Hulu. These will soon be joined by Disney+ and Apple TV+ and several other upcoming services. Where YouTube TV fits into this landscape is a little different. It provides access to live network TV, which is attractive to a certain demographic for sure. But with competition in this space from things like PlayStation Vue and even the Cable Industry, YouTube TV has to price itself competitively, and this increase could undermine that. Time will tell.
What are your thoughts on YouTube TV becoming more expensive? Let us know in the comments below!
Brian Cowan loves playing video games, football, Magic, and pretty much anything else that he can use as an excuse to waste time. When he is not doing the above or working, he is usually writing or reading.
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