YouTube TV Hikes Price By $15, Adds Viacom Channels

• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, July 1, 2020

YouTube TV, blaming rising programming costs, has announced a monthly price hike of $15, to $64.99.

The new price is effective immediately for new subscribers, and will kick in for existing subscribers starting with their next billing cycles, on or after July 30.

At the same time, as was announced in May as part of an expanded agreement, the SVOD is adding eight ViacomCBS channels: BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land and VH1.

Under the agreement, six more ViacomCBS channels will launch on YouTube TV later this year: BET Her, MTV2, Nick Jr., NickToons, TeenNick and MTV Classic.

YouTube TV also recently made HBO Max and Cinemax subscriptions accessible through its platform.

The SVOD, which now has more than 85 channels, says it has more than 2 million subscribers.

“We don’t take these decisions lightly, and realize how hard this is for our members,” said YouTube TV’s post about the news. “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. YouTube TV is the only streaming service that includes a DVR with unlimited storage space, plus 6 accounts per household each with its own unique recommendations, and 3 concurrent streams. It's all included in the base cost of YouTube TV, with no contract and no hidden fees.”

It added: “While we would love every member to continue to stay with our service, we understand that some of you may choose to pause or cancel your membership. We want to make YouTube TV flexible for you, so members can pause or cancel anytime here.”

The Google-owned streamer last raised its price in April 2019, from $40 to $50 per month.