The cord-cutting future of cable now costs as much as actual cable. YouTube TV, which streams many of the most popular broadcast and cable channels, required a fee of $35 per month as recently as 2018; it’s now up to $72.99.
“An update for our members. As content costs have risen and we continue to invest in our quality of service, we’ll be adjusting our monthly cost, after 3 years, from $64.99/mo to $72.99/mo, in order to bring you the best possible TV service,” the YouTube TV account tweeted. The price hike applies to new members beginning today, while “existing members will see this pricing change beginning 4/18.” To soften the financial blow, the price a 4K Plus add-on is decreasing from $19.99 a month to $9.99/ a month.
Often, the changes come with new content — in 2019, it added channels from Discovery like HGTV, Food Network, and Animal Planet, and 2020 brought content from ViacomCBS, like Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central. YouTube TV hasn’t announced any new channels today, but the company has undoubtedly been spending money to add content. Last year, it announced that it had nabbed the rights to get the NFL Sunday Ticket.
The company denies the NFL deal — which reportedly costs $2 billion/year — has anything to do with the price hike (no sweaty pun intended), however. “This price increase is because of the broader rise of content costs & not specifically due to our new football offerings,” the Twitter account wrote. If you want to blame Aaron Rodgers and his messy drama, though, that’s fine.
As long as you blame YouTube TV, too.
Just for some perspective. YouTube TV launched in 2017 for $35 a month. That is a 108% increase over 6 years. https://t.co/hxjL4ZEWud
— Rich DeMuro (@richontech) March 16, 2023
https://twitter.com/parkerfish/status/1636415530717564928
And that about wraps us up for YouTube TV. Almost $900 a year now. I think we can safely say the Golden Age of cord cutting is now over. pic.twitter.com/twaIU79DFe
— Juan Carlos Bagnell (@SomeGadgetGuy) March 16, 2023
YouTube TV, the last robust cord-cutting option is now MORE expensive than a basic 125+ Cable channel plan from Spectrum.
Thanks YouTube TV! #CordCuttingIsDead pic.twitter.com/HOC8XJu0iT
— Brian Tong (@briantong) March 16, 2023
YouTube tv raising their price by almost $10 pic.twitter.com/JU9c7Dsijd
— twirl on them haters (@rhoasuperfan) March 16, 2023
YouTube TV is raising its price from $64.99 to $72.99
At first, it was a good alternative to cable, but as the price of streaming rises, it begins to no longer be the case.
— Anthony (@Anthony) March 16, 2023
(Via the Verge)