More than 8 million customers have signed up for Google’s streaming pay television service YouTube TV, a company executive confirmed in an open letter published Tuesday morning.
The letter, written by YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, provided the first update on the number of customers paying for YouTube TV in nearly two years, reflecting growth of nearly 3 million customers since Google last disclosed YouTube TV’s subscriber count in 2022.
The figure surpasses that of Disney-owned Hulu with Live TV, which has around 4.6 million subscribers, and is significantly larger than the customer base of other streaming cable alternatives like DirecTV Stream, Fubo and Sling TV, according to information released by those companies. (The Hulu count could change, though, as Disney is expected to reveal updated subscriber figures on Tuesday).
Like its competitors, YouTube TV offers streaming access to live television networks, including some of cable’s most-watched channels like Fox News, ESPN, Comedy Central and Paramount Network. Local broadcast stations and affiliates of networks like ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC are also available through YouTube TV, and the service is widely supported on streaming TV platforms, phones, tablets, game consoles and computers.
Mohan said YouTube is continuing to focus on improving the experience of streaming content from both YouTube TV and the flagship YouTube app on smart television sets. The affirmation comes as research shows more streamers are increasingly watching content from YouTube on the biggest screen in the house.
While smartphones continue to dominate as the YouTube platform of choice, Mohan said over 1 billion hours of YouTube content is streamed on TV sets around the world every day. It wasn’t clear if that figure also included content from YouTube TV.
Specific to YouTube, Mohan revealed the company has more than 100 million subscribers of YouTube Premium and YouTube Music. Streamers with a YouTube Premium subscription get access to YouTube Music as part of their plan, though YouTube Music can also be purchased separately.
