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YouTube Is Launching Their Own Cable-Killing TV Service For $35 A Month
(Graphic by Julia Wick/LAist)
On Tuesday afternoon, YouTube announced plans to lure cord-cutters with their own $35-a-month TV service, which will package about 40 channels for live and on-demand viewing. The service, creatively named YouTube TV, will launch this spring with a new, standalone app.
Variety reports that YouTube's "skinny" bundle of channels will include ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, MSNBC, E!, and National Geographic, along with 10 sports networks, covering 80% of live sports. According to Recode, the service will be "mobile first," meaning "YouTube expects that subscribers will spend most of their time watching on phones, though they’ll also be able to watch on devices like laptops and traditional TVs, via Google’s Chromecast devices."
At the YouTube event awaiting the reveal of the network TV skinny bundle pic.twitter.com/mmIoEaPPpa
— Jefferson Graham (@jeffersongraham) February 28, 2017
Those $35-a-month fees will get users access to six accounts per subscription, and each of those six profiles will allow for personalized recommendations and settings, according to Variety.
"There's no question that millennials love great TV content, but what we've seen is they don't want to watch it in the traditional setting," YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said at the launch. According to CNBC, a quarter of Americans homes don't subscribe to a pay TV service, "with 6 percent only using the internet to watch their favorite shows on a TV using a device like Apple TV or Roku."
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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