
YouTube TV has become one of the priciest virtual pay TV providers-- rising 12% to $72.99 starting next month. Beginning in 2020, it had risen to a
$64.99 price level -- and was $50 before that.
No surprise there. Those seemingly inexpensive vMVPDs (virtual multichannel video program distributors) -- relative to the traditional pay TV
distributors (cable, satellite, and telco) -- are not so cheap.
YouTube TV now tops Hulu + Live TV ($69.99); Sling TV (Orange and Blue), $60; and Philo, at $25 per month. In a different
category, sports-focused FuboTV is the most expensive overall, with its lowest cost package now at $74.99 a month.
This compares to the average cable TV plan that costs around $83, according
to analysis by CableTV.com.
That said, many might argue -- depending on the package, of course --- that virtuals can be cheaper than the old-school stuff.
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They can also be more
expensive, depending on the specific channels. CableTV.com says the range can be broad for legacy cable packages -- anywhere from $55 to $250 a month.
This comes as all pay TV providers
continue to look for ways to continue as profitable businesses -- amid an overall industry that continues to endure non-stop cord-cutting.
Sports networks -- specifically regional sports
networks -- have been in the headlines as being major targets for pay TV distributors to consider cutting back on.
YouTube TV, in my area, has a modest number of choices for sports
programming, and no regional sports networks. It has ESPN and Fox Sports as well as NBA TV, Golf, FS1 and the NFL Network. You can also add some niche sports networks including MavTV, Outside TV,
Fight Network, and Fox Soccer Plus. And that is about it.
Still, its related, free sister streaming platform YouTube now has secured a major expensive sports property -- NFL
“Sunday Ticket” package -- where consumers can buy this package of out-of -market games without buying a broad pay TV service.
But now, of course, we have broader issues for
all pay TV providers -- legacy services and virtual. Pay TV operators are now looking to slow down/make cuts to what was seeming no-brainers when it came to channel carriage -- local TV stations.
This has affected -- for a short period of time -- CBS affiliate stations, Sinclair-owned ABC affiliates -- and other groups. Almost all have been resolved.
But as virtual pay TV providers
look for future growth -- and efforts to trim costs back down let up -- we wonder about more permanent future moves by pay TV platforms, specifically virtual pay TV platforms, that may just drop some
local TV stations entirely.
This might not come in wholesale moves, but rather could erode slowly -- affecting fringe and perhaps lower-rated outlets in specific markets.
Maybe YouTube
/ YouTube TV will finally need to do the obvious thing -- and eliminate its misnomer brand once and for all. (Oh, YouStreamer, you!)