Google has announced a price hike for its YouTube TV streaming service, following its distribution agreement with ViacomCBS.
YouTube TV has garnered mostly positive reviews as one of the premier TV streaming services available. One glaring omission was the lack of some ViacomCBS channels. In May, Google announced it had struck a deal to bring 14 additional ViacomCBS channels to the service.
While many users expected there might be a slight increase in price, thanks to the new channels, it’s probably a safe bet that few were expecting a $15 price increase. Whereas YouTube TV did cost $49.99, effective June 30, the price increases to $64.99.
“We don’t take these decisions lightly, and realize how hard this is for our members,” says the official blog post. “That said, this new price reflects the rising cost of content and we also believe it reflects the complete value of YouTube TV, from our breadth of content to the features that are changing how we watch live TV. YouTube TV is the only streaming service that includes a DVR with unlimited storage space, plus 6 accounts per household each with its own unique recommendations, and 3 concurrent streams. It’s all included in the base cost of YouTube TV, with no contract and no hidden fees.”
One of YouTube TV’s best selling points was the features and channels it provided at an exceptionally good price. With this recent price hike, however, Google may have a hard time distinguishing its service from fuboTV and Hulu.
