The YouTube TV Price Increase Basically Means the End of Inexpensive Streaming
We thought we were so smart to get rid of cable, but we don’t look so smart now
YouTube TV users got a shock this month: The streaming service that offers 100+ channels of live TV, sports and other streaming shows just increased its price. Again.
Starting on Jan. 13, 2025, YouTube TV’s 8 million subscribers will pay $82.99 a month instead of $72.99 a month. That’s not just a 14% price increase — it’s also a 137% increase on the original price point of $35 a month when YouTube TV debuted back in 2017.
The price hike naturally caused a lot of consternation and threats of cancellation from customers on social media. And honestly, who can blame them? They sold streaming TV to us as the cheaper alternative to cable, a way to chart our own course, a la carte. Now it’s more akin to paying steak dinner prices for what’s quickly becoming Hamburger Helper.
I’m so glad that I made the right financial decision in 2018 and ditched my $89/mo cable package so that I can now pay $83/mo for YouTube TV, $23/mo for Netflix, $16/mo for Disney+, $13/mo for Paramount, $15/mo for Prime, $10/mo for AppleTV, and $21/mo for HBO
— Chris Bakke (@ChrisJBakke) December 12, 2024
Just subscribing to YouTube TV is almost as expensive as most cable packages. If you’re subscribing to other sites like Netflix and Hulu, that’s easily hundreds of dollars per month that you spend on renting a streaming library.
Money, money, money
This isn’t new, obviously, but YouTube TV is the most egregious example. The Apple TV+ basic plan went from $4.99 a month in 2019 to $9.99 a month today. Netflix started out at just $7.99 a month for its streaming-only plan in 2011. Now it has tiers; the most basic plan Netflix now offers, at $6.99 a month, is cheaper than its initial launch price, but it comes with ads. Same with Hulu.
Sure, you could bundle your subscriptions with Amazon Prime, but that’s still $139 a year for Amazon Prime — or, $8.99 a month for the Prime Video only plan.
If you subscribe to every streaming service we cover in our “Everything That’s Streaming” series, here’s a monthly price breakdown for base subscriptions:
Netflix: $6.99
Hulu: $9.99
Disney+: $9.99
Max: $9.99
Apple TV+: $9.99
Peacock: $7.99
Paramount+: $7.99
AMC+: $6.99
Starz: $10.99
Shudder: $5.99
That’s $79.91 a month. On top of the $82.99 a month you’ll soon pay if you are a YouTube TV subscriber.
Playing games
Compare that to the basic cable plan from DISH, Spectrum or Charter: $91.99/month, $95/month, and $89.99 a month, respectively, for where I live in Dallas. Those basic plans often include sports packages, but channels may vary. That’s why many people subscribed to YouTube TV in the first place, especially during football season.
And make no mistake, this is a sports bid for YouTube TV. The price hike goes into effect right before the NFL playoffs, ahead of the Super Bowl in February, the biggest TV event of the year. This week, YouTube TV also started offering a “deal” to get an NFL Sunday Ticket add-on for $49 extra.
Youtube TV even seems to think this may be too much for customers. After YouTube announced the price hike, it posted a message on X with instructions on how to pause or cancel subscriptions. Some users who tried to cancel their subscriptions via a web browser reported getting an offer to keep their current subscription price for six more months.
Currently, Sling TV looks to be the best bet for customers who just want to watch sports, with a starting plan that it regularly prices at $45.99 a month and has now put on sale for $23 for the first month.
YouTube TV’s price points are just going to keep increasing. Every streaming service’s prices will. It’s never been about providing great entertainment; it’s always been about scaling products and collecting data. All of these streaming services launched with cheap monthly prices and full libraries in an effort to drive subscription volume, but when prices keep going up and services keep canceling or removing shows, why should those subscribers stay?
The bubble’s gotta burst at some point.
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That $49 Sunday Ticket deal is for literally just the Week 17 and 18 games. Just wanted to pick that out, as the way it is phrased in the article is ambiguous and unclear.
With YouTube TV owned by Google, I get tired of the corporate greed. How much money is enough??? I’m sure the CEOs are making millions in salary as are the head honchos of each division and department. When is ANYONE ever going to give us, the working people, a BREAK!!! Everyone keeps asking for more and more and our pockets are literally being turned inside out with nothing left
Besides this extreme expense, you can’t get anybody to help you with a problem. I’m 87 years old and working it out online by myself is not easy easy it’s impossible.
Youtube tv should make different plan packages.. It’s not like I watch every channel..let people choose the plan with the channels they like and still leave the full lineup for whoever wants to pay it.
I’ve been streaming YouTube TV for about 2 years now. Before I started I checked out the other streaming services. I found YouTube TV to be the best for the prices. It has channels others didn’t. It enables me to record almost everything. I have over a thousand hours of TV programs and over two hundred movies. I understand the increase maybe difficult for some people, you just have to decide what you want.
Yes I though ybtv were the best way to go but now it’s not it works the cable it shows the same thing I will not be keeping uttv I am going to try sling
I am leaving YouTube TV we can’t afford it now that’s to much to watch the same thing as cable TV I am done
We should all leave streaming tv. The rich gets richer while the poor remains poor.lt will never end!
I agree with most comments. Costs continue to rise therefore I’ll no doubt look into other venues to get what I have yet save money. Youtube, and others, will continue to raise costs as customers leave to offset the loss. Instead of offering a reasonable cost, i.e. $72.99, and keeping current customers.
Cox which is the local channels and wifi has gone up to 240 a month so I am still better to get the newly laid fiber optic co for wifi and have just dicovered UTube tv which carries local channels for less than 100 a month. Hope it works out
I am tried of paying for sports contracts. I do not watch sports, but all of these make non sports people pay for those bid deals!
This price increase is just ridiculous, i am about ready to end my subscription.
I’ve been a You Tube subscriber for years .. Spectrum cable had went to 283 per mth so I cut that cord .. I tried sling and Pluto and paramount and Netflix and all … I’m not happy I just had to pay 82 dollars . but we have a company called coast connect and it’s wifi and high speed at that .. It’s 50 per mth … So I’m still saving regardless… And I have alot of channels yes … But I definitely get it .. They all start cheap .. Spectrum was 80 per mth when I got the bundle then after 5 are 6 yrs the bill Balloned to 283 and l called and called trying to get a better package and was told I had the best and cheapest one so I said bye 👋🏻
These prices are ridiculous! Everyone is trying to come up on us. What happen to all channels being on one? Now you have to pay for everything separate. THESE $9.99 and up prices adds up, then YouTube TV is $96.18 now!! Groceries up, bills up but our pay check is still the same!!