YouTube TV has announced that it will increase its monthly price from $ 50 per month to $ 64.99 as the company begins offering eight of the ViacomCBS channels, which are available today: BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network. , TV Tierra and VH1.
The new price is effective today for any new subscriber, while existing customers should see it in their next billing cycle (starting July 30).
The $ 15 price increase marks the latest price increase for YouTube TV, which was $ 35 per month when it originally launched. The price was first increased to $ 40 per month in early 2018 as it added Turner’s networks (including TBS, TNT, CNN, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, truTV, and Turner Classic Movies). Costs rose again in 2019 to $ 50 per month when YouTube TV added Discovery’s line of networks. And now, with the addition of the ViacomCBS channels mentioned above, you’re getting your biggest price jump yet, up to $ 64.99 per month.
According to the original announcement of the new channels, YouTube TV is also slated to get BET Her, MTV2, Nick Jr., NickToons, TeenNick, and MTV Classic in the future, though they are not part of today’s launch.
In a blog post announcing the new price and channels, YouTube VP of Product Management Christian Oestlien sympathizes that the cost increase is difficult for some of its members, but that the “new price reflects the increase of the cost of content and we also believe it reflects the full value of YouTube TV, from our breadth of content to the features that are changing the way we watch live television. ”
At YouTube TV, we license content from our content providers and then provide it to you. When content prices rise, the overall cost of streaming increases for everyone.
– YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) June 30, 2020
In comparison, Hulu’s Live TV plan costs $ 54.99 (a price that includes access to Hulu’s content library, but lacks the unlimited DVR storage offered by YouTube TV), AT&T TV starts at $ 55 per month ( with sharp increases after 12 months), and The full Sling TV plan costs $ 45 per month. While there may be some concerns that YouTube TV is approaching the cost of actual cable, there are some advantages to Google’s over-the-top service, including easy access from almost any device with an Internet connection, a barrier to entry. Lower when it comes to additional hardware and a much better user interface than almost any cable box.
