YouTube TV will soon offer cheaper bundles, including a new sports plan
Streaming services were once viewed as a cheaper alternative to paying for cable. However, over the years, as cord-cutting became more popular, streaming subscriptions have gotten just as expensive, and YouTube TV is known as a particularly pricey cable alternative.
YouTube TV, YouTube's live TV streaming subscription service, for example, once cost as low as $35 per month. YouTube TV is now priced at $82.99 per month — a $48 increase.
In the coming weeks, YouTube aims to change that as it rolls out more affordable YouTube TV plans.
In an announcement, the company said it will introduce more than 10 new YouTube TV subscription plans. All will be cheaper than the main $82.99 per month option, which will continue to be available and include more than 100 TV channels. These new subscription plans will allow users to pick from content groupings of channels that they actually.
While YouTube hasn't yet shared details on all 10 of these new channel offerings, they did reveal some details.
The Entertainment Plan is the most affordable subscription option shared so far. Priced at $54.99 per month, YouTube describes this option as being "for the cinephiles and comedy buffs." The plan includes the major broadcast networks as well as FX, Hallmark, Comedy Central, Bravo, Paramount, Food Network, HGTV, and more. This plan is priced $28 below YouTube TV's main plan.
YouTube TV will also offer a $64.99 per month Sports Plan, which will include all of the major broadcast networks as well as sports channels like FS1, NBC Sports Network, all of the ESPN networks, and the upcoming ESPN Unlimited. This plan is priced $18 cheaper than the YouTube TV main plan.
For $71.99 per month, or $11 less than the main plan, viewers can access the Sports + News plan, which includes all of the Sports Plan offerings in addition to national news networks like CNN, Fox News, MS NOW, CNBC, CSPAN, Bloomberg, and Fox Business.
TV viewers who have kids but aren't into sports can check out the News + Entertainment + Family Plan, which includes all Entertainment and News channels, as well as kids and family channels like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, PBS Kids, National Geographic, Disney Channel, and more. This package costs $69.99 per month, or $13 lower than the YouTube TV main plan.
Each subscription plan comes with an introductory rate that will temporarily save subscribers between $10 and $15 off the above prices.
All of YouTube TV's features, including unlimited DVR and the ability to create a 6 member family group, are available on all plans. The only differences between the plans are which channels are accessible.