YouTube TV began streaming in April 2017 in five U.S. markets - New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco, In addition to national U.S. networks, YouTube TV broadcasts channels owned by those networks, their corporate owners and other media companies. Other channels include CNBC, MSNBC, BBC World News, The Smithsonian Channel, Sundance TV, numerous sports channels, Disney Channel, and BBC America. YouTube TV members also have access to YouTube Premium original movies and shows. Also in 2017, YouTube added MLB Network and regional deals with the Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles FC of Major League Soccer. On February 14, 2018, YouTube TV began carrying the Time Warner-owned Turner Broadcasting System's cable networks. In addition, YouTube TV also announced a deal to add NBA TV and MLB Network. The service expanded to cover 98 percent of U.S. households in January 2019. In March 2019, YouTube TV launched in Glendive, Montana, thus becoming available in every TV market in the United States. On April 10, 2019, YouTube TV added nine networks owned by Discovery, Inc.. This brought YouTube TV to more than 70 channels. Google also announced that they would be adding the Oprah Winfrey Network. The monthly price for all customers increased by about 42% compared to the launch price, and 25% compared to the March 2018 price, with no grandfathering available. On July 29, 2019, at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in Pasadena, California, YouTube TV announced it had signed a landmark multi-year deal with PBS to allow carriage of live streams of PBS member stations and PBS Kids Channel beginning as early as the fourth quarter of 2019. The deal – which is PBS’s first distribution agreement with a virtual multichannel video programming distributor – would allow PBS stations the option of providing the direct over-the-air signals of local stations if they are able to clear the rights to at least 90% of their programming, a YouTube TV-exclusive dedicated feed in which shows that local PBS members are not able to clear for digital streaming would be replaced with separate programming or a PBS-provided national feed that would include programs fully cleared by the public broadcaster and localized station ID inserts, and would allow YouTube TV to provide streams of up to three PBS member stations within a given market. Stations that choose to offer their main signal must notify YouTube TV if they plan to air a show without rights clearances, in which the service will replace the program with a blackout notice screen. On December 15, 2019, the first PBS affiliate stations were added to YouTube TV. On February 20, 2020, YouTube TV reached an agreement with WarnerMedia to carry HBO, Cinemax, and HBO Max streaming service as add-ons. On May 7, 2020, YouTube TV reached an expanded, multi-year deal with ViacomCBS, which will allow them to add 14 Viacom channels that were notably absent since the streamer's launch. The deal also entails a continued commitment to distribute ViacomCBS’ premium subscription services, including Showtime, on YouTube TV, and an extended partnership to distribute the media company’s content on the broader YouTube platforms. Eight of the channels were added on June 30, bringing YouTube TV to over 85 channels. The addition was accompanied by a price increase.
Features
YouTube TV offers a cloud-based DVR service with unlimited storage that saves recordings for nine months. Each subscription can be shared among six accounts and allows up to three simultaneous streams.
In February 2020, YouTube TV announced that Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned regional sports networks would likely be pulled from the service on February 28, 2020, citing high carriage fees. On that day, YouTube TV announced that it had reached an interim agreement to continue offering the channels on the platform while negotiations are under way. On March 5, 2020, YouTube TV and Sinclair reached a new deal to continue carrying all the Fox RSNs except three – the YES Network, Fox SportsPrime Ticket and Fox Sports West.
