Streaming Prices Are Going Up Again For The Most Popular Video Platform
YouTube TV is raising the monthly subscription charge from $64.99 to $72.99.
YouTube is the world’s largest video platform, but it seems like some big shifts are happening when it comes to the pricing of its YouTube TV services. According to a recent Tweet from YouTube TV’s official account, the platform will be increasing its monthly cost. With large social media companies like Hive recently shutting down and TikTok facing more bans, this could be a sign of struggle for the company.
YouTube TV tweeted the above on Thursday, March 16, which states that the service will increase its Base Plan cost from $64.99/month to $72.99/month. The tweet cites the rising “content costs” as a primary reason for the increase. They note that this is an effort to “continue to invest in our quality of service” and bring the “best possible TV service.”
A follow-up tweet stresses that the company is “committed to offering a premium way” for users to stream television and reminds users that they have “the flexibility to cancel at any time.”
YouTube TV sites the rising cost of content for the price change, and it could be that the cost of creating original content like movies and television may be part of the underlying push to increase the price. It is also quite possible that as people have eventually started spending less time online since the initial onset of the Covid-19 epidemic, fewer people have been using YouTube TV services than predicted.
The Silicon Valley Bank collapse has had a significant impact on companies in Silicon Valley and beyond, with many, like tech company Roku feeling the ramifications. This could be another move from YouTube to mitigate any losses.
The change went into effect for new subscribers starting March 16th, 2023. Existing YouTube TV subscribers who have already purchased a Base Plan will be bumped up to the new price by April 18th, 2023. This coincides with the platform lowering the price for their 4K Plus add-on package from $19.99/month to $9.99/month.
Although price changes are expected, users have reason to gripe. The suddenness of a price change such as this one is unusual, and companies will usually give at least some warning before dropping a significant change in price to their services.
YouTube began providing its YouTube TV streaming service on February 28, 2017. The service offers access to 100+ channels, including CNBC, MSNBC, BBC World News, Smithsonian Channel, Sundance TV, Disney Channel, and BBC America. It also offers subscribers a DVR with unlimited storage and no additional fees for broadcast, HD, set-top box, or DVR.
In addition to coverage of local and national channels, YouTube TV members also gain access to the host of YouTube Premium’s features, including original movies, series, additional app features, and ad-free content. YouTube TV is a service provided by the online video-sharing and social media platform YouTube, which is in turn owned by Google.
Since 2005, YouTube has had over 2.5 billion monthly users who watch over one billion hours of video each day and is second only to Google Search as the most visited website.
Many saw YouTube TV as a lower-cost alternative to satellite and cable, but this new price could change that. Some current and prospective users may turn to competitor services like Sling, Philo, and Hulu that offer similar services at a lower cost.
