There’s a new No. 1 in the world of live TV streaming in the United States. The leader, apparently, is YouTube TV.
In a blog post penned by Christian Oestlien, VP of Product Management for YouTube TV and Connected TV, the company says “today, we’re humbled that 5 million of you are currently on this journey with us.” That’s some 2 million more subscribers since the last time we got an update in October 2020, when YouTube TV crowed about having “more than 3 million” subscribers. The new 5 million number also includes those who are in the trial period, YouTube TV said.
Phil Nickinson/Digital Trends
Unlike most of its competitors, YouTube TV doesn’t give a precise breakdown of its subscriber numbers. Hulu With Live TV does, however, reporting 4.1 million subscribers as of April 2022. Sling TV reported 2.252 million subscribers, and FuboTV had 1.056 million subscribers as of March 31, 2022.
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The blog post also laid out a few fun facts. The current five most DVR’d shows? Yellowstone, SaturdayNight Live, This is Us, 60 Minutes, and Grey’s Anatomy.
YouTube TV has one main plan with more than 100 channels. It costs $65 and includes support for up to a half-dozen connected profiles and unlimited recording. There’s also a pricey 4K option, which gets you some live sports and a fair number of on-demand shows in the higher resolution, all for an extra $20 a month.
YouTube TV also has a fair number of optional add-ons, including a “Spanish Plus” extra with more than 25 Spanish-language channels, NBA League Pass, MLB.TV, Showtime, Starz, and more. There’s also a separate “Spanish Plan” that’s available separately for $25 a month.
YouTube TV is available on all major streaming platforms, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, Android TV, and Apple TV. It’s also available on phones and tablets and in web browsers.
Yes, there are a million ways to watch streaming video. And that's the way it should be. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends
There's a tremendous amount of gnashing of teeth anytime a streaming service increases its prices. There's a scramble by media outlets to update SEO-friendly posts and quickly offer alternatives, as if this was all a zero-sum game and you're able to watch the same things on all the services. Or maybe it's time to go back to cable altogether because streaming video is just too darn expensive and it's too hard to find what you want to watch. We're in one of those times in which it feels like all the services are increasing all the prices, to the extent that Engadget has plainly asked "Is streaming even still worth it?"
YouTube TV is still growing on the back of NFL Sunday Ticket
Not being able to pick your own games means YouTube TV's multiview could get you two NFL games (one twice) ... and bowling. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends
One of our favorite (and more annoying) games to play is “Which streaming service is the biggest?” And for the most part, we tend to have pretty strong answers. YouTube TV is the biggest, probably. It’s followed by Hulu With Live TV, then Sling TV, and then FuboTV. And DirecTV Stream is way at the back of the pack. Again, probably.
YouTube rolling out some three-dozen new features this fall
The tweaks keep coming to the world's largest video provide. Today YouTube is taking the wraps off some three-dozen (more or less) new features. It's a cross-platform announcement, with the goods hitting phones and tablets, as well as televisions and wherever else you do your YouTube viewing.
