Streaming services became a popular alternative to cable and satellite television because they were available for far cheaper with consumer-friendly options. At least they used to be. Right now, YouTube TV is looking and acting very much like the cable bundles of old.
On Thursday morning, YouTube TV sent a stunning message to subscribers, informing them that they were raising the monthly price of their base plan. But this wasn’t just an incremental price hike, mind you. This was a whopping $10 monthly price increase.
The monthly price of $72.99 for the YouTube TV base plan is now all the way up to $82.99. And it starts next month on January 13, 2025.
Here is the e-mail from YouTube TV, in which they cite “the rising cost of content and the investments we make in the quality of our service” for jacking up the price so substantially.
YouTube TV has always worked hard to offer you the content you love, delivered the way you want, with features that make it easy to enjoy the best of live TV.
To keep up with the rising cost of content and the investments we make in the quality of our service, we’re updating our monthly price from $72.99/month to $82.99/month starting January 13, 2025.
We don’t make these decisions lightly, and we realize this has an impact on our members. We are committed to bringing you features that are changing the way we watch live TV, like unlimited DVR storage and multiview*, and supporting YouTube TV’s breadth of content and vast on-demand library of movies and shows.
The price of your YouTube TV Base Plan membership will change in your first billing cycle on or after January 13, 2025, and will be charged to your payment method on file going forward. To view your current plan, go to Settings > Membership for updated information. If you are currently on a trial or promotional price for the Base Plan, that promotion is still honored and unchanged.
We hope YouTube TV continues to be your service of choice, but we understand that some of our members may want to cancel their subscriptions. As always, family managers have the ability to pause or cancel anytime. You can find more information in our Help Center.
With lots of exciting shows and live events ahead in the new year, we’ll continue to strive to deliver the best of TV, all in one place. Thank you for being a loyal YouTube TV member.
It was a little over a year and a half ago that YouTube TV raised its price from $64.99 to $72.99 in March of 2023. That means in less than two years, YouTube TV subscribers will have seen their yearly cost increase by an outrageous $216 over twelve months.
Some of that cost is surely tied to YouTube TV forking over $2 billion per year to the NFL for the exclusive rights to Sunday Ticket. Google is being more aggressive with live sports rights and we know that nothing is more expensive in television than live sports. And having exclusive, premium programming is a great way to demand that your customers pay more for what you have to offer. Yes, the addition of such a valuable property has brought many new subscribers to the platform, but now everyone is going to have to help YouTube TV foot the bill.
Predictably, YouTube TV is getting slammed on social media for the decision. Is this one push too far, though? Will subscribers see how much the service has gone up in such a short span and look for a cheaper option? And as the price of streaming services continues to go up, will it leave many people nationwide probably wondering why they cut the cord in the first place?
