Three-year-old YouTube TV is getting a price hike amid the addition of eight ViacomCBS channels today: BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land, and VH1.
Accordingly, YouTube TV will now be priced at $65 per month — a 30% increase over its most recent price of $50. (YouTube TV last hiked its price from $40 to $50 — a 25% increase — in April 2019 after striking a carriage deal with Discovery). The latestchange will go into affect for new members beginning today, the company wrote in a blog post. Existing subscribers will see the 30% price increase reflected in their subsequent billing cycles on or after July 30.
“We don’t take these decisions lightly, and realize how hard this is for our members,” the company explained, noting that the ability to pause or cancel YouTube TV memberships is available anytime right here. “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.”
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YouTube TV announced its multi-year deal with ViacomCBS in May. Beyond the first eight channels, more are coming at a later date, including BET Her, MTV2, MTV Classic, Nick Jr., NickToons, and TeenNick. In a series of tweets responding to consumers who expressed interest in purchasing channels a la carte — and thus theoretically avoiding the price hike by opting out of the latest channel additions — the company explained that it’s not an option. That said, YouTube TV is looking “to innovate our service and offer flexible options to members in the future,” the company said.
In addition to the expanded channel lineup, YouTube TV also touted a number of new features in its blog post, including: the ability to jump to various segments within the complete recording of select news programming, a ‘Dark Mode’ on desktop and mobile screens, the ability to mark a show as watched, and a new ‘Live Guide’ on desktops so users can see what’s on for up to seven days in the future.
Most networks require that we include their full portfolio of channels to subscribers, which increases the overall price of the service. We’re committed to continuing to innovate our service and offer flexible options to members in the future.
— YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) June 30, 2020
