OT: NFL Sunday Ticket moves to YouTube starting next season

[SBbound]

Youtube TV? LOL, why are they getting involved?

They're trying to take market share of streaming TV services from ATTNow, Sling, Hulu +Live, Fubo, and others. It's another gorilla game.

[Formula 21]

Everybody wants a piece of the NFL.

[Boltjolt]

Just remember.... Alphabet, aka Google, owns YouTube.

I know. Still don't know anyone that has YT TV. When I was looking for alternatives for cable I looked to see what it was about.
At that time you didn't get much for the price.

[captaind]

I know. Still don't know anyone that has YT TV. When I was looking for alternatives for cable I looked to see what it was about.
At that time you didn't get much for the price.

I've had it for about 4 years. I pay August - February and typically suspend my subscription until August again. No contracts.

Price has gone up from the $50 it originally was to @ $70. But that said, they've added a ton of channels over the years. I also watch on my phone while at soccer tournaments on the road. Can't really beat it. This was good news for me.

[cmplxgal]

I've had it for about 4 years. I pay August - February and typically suspend my subscription until August again. No contracts.

Do you get the live feed of local channels? So if the Chargers are on my local CBS channel, for example, I'd be able to watch the game?

[jaguarmanftype]

Do you get the live feed of local channels? So if the Chargers are on my local CBS channel, for example, I'd be able to watch the game?

Yes, all local channels are available in the base package which is $65. I haven't had cable since 2012 or so, it's been either Playstation Vue (which is now defunct), FuboTV, Sling TV or YouTube TV the past several years. What's great about YT TV is that you can DVR all the football games available on the channels in the base package (including NFL Network) simply by searching for NFL (and you can get granular therein and choose either certain stations or specific subset of games like the playoffs, or specific teams), and they are stored in the cloud for 9 months (and sometimes more if the games are re-aired on NFL Network) for you to watch anytime and anywhere. I still have a good chunk of the season (as well as RedZone airings) that either aired locally or on NFL Network that I can rewatch.

There's also Hulu Live TV that's similar, but the YT TV interface is a hell of a lot more user friendly, and it learns your viewing habits to provide pretty good recommendations for movie, series or sports-related content.

[FoutsFan]

What is interesting is that with the streaming services people have left cable/sat TV quite a bit. But the streamers have shot themselves in the foot by becoming so niche, that to get their favorite channels that they watched on cable/sat TV they ended up paying more. If you look at the recent subscriber numbers the streaming has flattened and it is now retreating and people are moving back to cable/sat TV.

It will be interesting to see where the next cycle develops.

[jaguarmanftype]

What is interesting is that with the streaming services people have left cable/sat TV quite a bit. But the streamers have shot themselves in the foot by becoming so niche, that to get their favorite channels that they watched on cable/sat TV they ended up paying more. If you look at the recent subscriber numbers the streaming has flattened and it is now retreating and people are moving back to cable/sat TV.

It will be interesting to see where the next cycle develops.

Yeah, I'm not sure what others are doing, but the majority of networks and channels are on YT TV. I get all the ESPN, NFL Network, NBCSports and FoxSports channels plus the mainstays like TNT, TBS, AMC, Fox News, CNBC and all locals so I'm not sure what other niche channels are out there that aren't on YT TV already. Either way, there's nothing that competes with YT TV in terms of not paying rental equipment fees, having an intuitive interface with AI recommendations based on your viewership choices, and/or not having DVR recording restrictions, etc. All my DVR recordings are stored for 9 months, and there are no storage limits. Plus, I can watch anywhere and share my account with family members just by adding their email addresses and utilizing my subscription when I visit them (3 simultaneous streams are allowed, with up to 6 family accounts).

I think that in terms of cost, the increase in cost in YT TV's base package as compared to other cable base packages is mostly due to networks demanding more money for licensing for streaming services, plus YT TV includes sports channels that don't typically get included in base cable packages like regional sports networks, MLB Network, NFL Network, NBA TV, CBSSports, FoxSports, NBCSports, etc. When you add it up, the value for YT TV is greater than buying up tiers in traditional cable packages to have access to a few more channels that you may want to watch which are probably already in YT TV's base package.

[FoutsFan]

Yeah, I'm not sure what others are doing, but the majority of networks and channels are on YT TV. I get all the ESPN, NFL Network, NBCSports and FoxSports channels plus the mainstays like TNT, TBS, AMC, Fox News, CNBC and all locals so I'm not sure what other niche channels are out there that aren't on YT TV already. Either way, there's nothing that competes with YT TV in terms of not paying rental equipment fees, having an intuitive interface with AI recommendations based on your viewership choices, and/or not having DVR recording restrictions, etc. All my DVR recordings are stored for 9 months, and there are no storage limits. Plus, I can watch anywhere and share my account with family members just by adding their email addresses and utilizing my subscription when I visit them (3 simultaneous streams are allowed, with up to 6 family accounts).

I think that in terms of cost, the increase in cost in YT TV's base package as compared to other cable base packages is mostly due to networks demanding more money for licensing for streaming services, plus YT TV includes sports channels that don't typically get included in base cable packages like regional sports networks, MLB Network, NFL Network, NBA TV, CBSSports, FoxSports, NBCSports, etc. When you add it up, the value for YT TV is greater than buying up tiers in traditional cable packages to have access to a few more channels that you may want to watch which are probably already in YT TV's base package.

Those fees are why all the traditional cable/sat TV are so expensive. Disney/ESPN are something like $4 per month just by themselves. When you add up all the individual channels like that you can start to see why it is expensive.

When I say niche channels I am referring to how NBC has their own service and pulled their shows from everywhere else, HBO, A&E, and so on. They all have their own. Each is expensive.

[captaind]

Do you get the live feed of local channels? So if the Chargers are on my local CBS channel, for example, I'd be able to watch the game?

Yes, as others have stated. As a side note, when I would travel out of town, it would automatically switch to their local stations & games, wherever I was. So if you live in San Diego and are on vacation in Phoenix one Sunday, you're not going to get San Diego's local channels and games while you're away. It knows where you are.


Edit: Should state for the record I'm not aware of anywhere local channels aren't available on YouTube TV. But there's usually like a 7-day trial to find out just in case. Think most services have free trial periods.

[richpjr]

I ditched cable and signed up for YouTubeTV when it was very first released. I have had a very good experience with it as far as reliability and streaming quality. The one thing I really do not like is that they are slowly adding a bunch of channels I will never watch and raising the rates to cover their costs. $65 is still less than I paid years ago for cable but I hate paying for stuff I'll never watch. I had hoped that someone would come out with a true a la cart option for cord cutters but it really never happened.

[captaind]

I ditched cable and signed up for YouTubeTV when it was very first released. I have had a very good experience with it as far as reliability and streaming quality. The one thing I really do not like is that they are slowly adding a bunch of channels I will never watch and raising the rates to cover their costs. $65 is still less than I paid years ago for cable but I hate paying for stuff I'll never watch. I had hoped that someone would come out with a true a la cart option for cord cutters but it really never happened.

I don’t think the industry structure will ever allow for it. The only way to save $ is to cancel it when you’re not using it.

I am concerned we’ll lose that with the NFL Sunday Ticket, though.