YouTube is venturing into streaming live TV with the newly unveiled YouTube TV, which will be available for $35 per month.
The virtual MVPD service, dubbed YouTube TV will feature live TV streaming from ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, regional sports networks and dozens of popular cable networks. This means live offerings of broadcast shows like Empire, The Voice, The Big Bang Theory and Scandal. YouTube TV includes major sports networks like ESPN and regional sports networks like Fox Sports Networks and Comcast SportsNet.
YouTube has also partnered with local TV stations, so users can get sports and local news based on where they live. YouTube TV will offer dozens of additional cable channels, among them USA, FX, Disney Channel, Sprout, E!, Bravo and more. Customers can also add Showtime or Fox Soccer Plus for an additional charge. In total, YouTube TV provides access to more than 40 networks.
With a YouTube TV membership, viewers can watch all YouTube Red Original series and movies on the new YouTube TV app. Every YouTube TV membership comes with six accounts, each with its own unique recommendations and personal DVR with no storage limits. Users can watch up to three concurrent streams at a time.
With this launch, Now, YouTube TV will compete against both established pay-TV distributors and a group of new virtual multichannel video programming distributors that have sprung up in the past year. Those include Dish Network’s Sling TV, Sony’s PlayStation Vue and AT&T’s DirecTV Now.
YouTube TV will be available soon in the largest U.S. markets and plans quickly expand to cover more cities across the country. The lower-priced offerings are designed to primarily attract young consumers who have either cut the cord or are cord never, who have never had a pay-TV subscription.
