Google has bumped up the price of its YouTube TV live television streaming service by 25% after completing the nationwide roll-out of the platform in the US.
New customers will now pay $50 per month for the cord-cutting service, which is up from the previous monthly tariff of $40. Existing customers will see that price increase from May 13. If you purchase YouTube TV through iTunes, the price will be $55 to account for the levy Apple places on Google.
However, while a $10 price increase seems pretty egregious on the surface, with more buck comes plenty more bang. Today sees the introduction of Discovery network channels like the Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Travel Channel and MotorTrend.
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The Oprah network (OWN) is coming later this year while, for an additional fee, Google is adding Epix. All that brings the total number of channels above 70, way up from the original 40 that YouTube TV debuted with two years ago.
While it seems like the honeymoon period of cheap live TV streaming services may be coming to an end, it’s hard to argue with price increases when they come alongside more and more content. YouTube still does better than many of its rivals by offering six accounts per household, three concurrent streams and local programming from broadcast networks and sports channels.
However, it’d be interesting to see whether most current YouTube TV subscribers would stick with $40 a month and say no to the addition of Discovery networks, given the opportunity.
“Two years ago, we launched YouTube TV to bring the best of live TV, delivered the way you want,” said Christian Oestlien, YouTube TV vice president of product management.
“We expanded nationwide, added 10+ new channels, improved our DVR and launched new features to take your viewing experience to the next level … Since then, we’ve been working to build a package that fits your needs.”
Will you be looking to move on from YouTube TV after this price bump? Let us know @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
