The cost of a subscription to YouTube TV is about to get even more expensive.
On Thursday, the Google-owned streaming television service provider said it will adjust the price of its base subscription from $73 per month to $83 per month, with the price kicking in for new customers this week. Existing YouTube TV subscribers will be given a one-month reprieve, and won’t see the price adjustment until on or after January 13, the company said.
Like other pay TV providers, Google and YouTube are required to pay the programmers that operate the channels they carry, including the Walt Disney Company (ABC, ESPN, FX, National Geographic), Warner Bros Discovery (CNN, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel), AMC Networks (AMC, IFC, BBC America, We TV), Fox Corporation (Fox, Fox News, Fox Sports 1), Comcast’s NBC Universal (NBC, USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo), Paramount Global (CBS, MTV, VH1, BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon) and others.
Over time, programmers have raised the per-subscriber fee they charge to cable, satellite and streaming cable-like services, provoking price increases that affect customers of those products.
“We don’t make these decisions lightly, and we realize this impacts our members,” a YouTube TV spokesperson said in a note to customers on Thursday. “With many exciting shows and live events coming up in 2025, we remain committed to bringing you the best of TV, all in one place. Thank you for being a loyal member.”
While the price increase has made customers grumble, YouTube TV is still one of the cheapest, all-inclusive live TV services on the market. Hulu with Live TV is slightly cheaper at $82 per month, and includes ad-supported access to the content libraries of Hulu, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus. Fubo costs $80 per month, but taxes and fees bring the price closer to $100 per month in most areas, and DirecTV Stream starts at $87 per month for its base programming package of news, sports and local TV channels.
Sling TV, owned by Dish Network’s parent company Echostar, costs between $45 and $50 per month, depending on the base programming package a customer picks (one, called Orange, includes ESPN, while the other, called Blue, has Fox Sports and the NFL Network).
Another options is a TV antenna, which receives over-the-air signals like local ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS affiliates, but not national sports networks like ESPN, Fox Sports 1 and CBS Sports Network. Still, for locally-televised football, baseball and basketball, along with college sports and local news, an antenna is a decent option, and it comes with no monthly fees.
