YouTube TV is still on track to bring a much-anticipated feature to subscribers of its live-streaming cable replacement service.
The feature, which YouTube TV once called “Mosaic Mode,” will allow streamers to watch multiple channels or events at once, with the live feeds appearing as individual boxes laid out across their screen.
In an open letter published this week, new YouTube CEO Neal Mohan referred to the feature as “multi-view,” affirming it was still in development and on track to launch to users later this year.
YouTube is hoping to bring the feature to streamers in time for the start of the National Football League’s (NFL) new season, which is scheduled for early September. YouTube’s parent company, Alphabet, secured multi-year rights to the NFL’s out-of-market Sunday morning and afternoon package, NFL Sunday Ticket, grabbing them away from satellite broadcaster DirecTV.
NFL Sunday Ticket will be available as a standalone subscription within the YouTube streaming app, executives confirmed late last year. The subscription will be sold through the YouTube Primetime Channels marketplace, and won’t require a separate cable, satellite or streaming TV package.
Cord-cutters who pay for YouTube TV will also have access to NFL Sunday Ticket, with games integrated natively into that app. YouTube TV starts at $65 a month. It remains unknown if YouTube TV subscribers will get a discount on NFL Sunday Ticket or if the service will offer other promotions.
Streamers who pay for NFL Sunday Ticket through YouTube will see some new features that customers of YouTube TV have become accustom to, including the ability to watch key plays, Mohan confirmed.
“Sunday Ticket will also come with ways to engage with other fans, including comments, chats, and polls,” Mohan said.
