YouTubeTV raises prices again
How much is too much for modern cord cutters?
I've been a fairly happy subscriber to YouTube TV for the past few years.
As someone who loathed the old cable TV model, I was pleased that there was a viable alternative that offered no longterm contracts, all the channels I needed, and well-designed app that played on all of my devices.
But now YouTube TV has announced yet another price hike from $72.99 to $82.99 per month. That's a fairly large jump in price with no planned additional features or channels announced.
Obviously, no one likes to see subscription prices go up, but ten dollars is more than the average price hike. While we've seen pretty much every streaming service raise their price in the last year, they typically only go up a dollar or two. What gives with YouTube TV then?
In the short email sent to current subscribers, they cited the rising costs of content, etc. It wasn't the most sympathetic or compassionate price increase email that I've ever read but oh well.
The bigger issue is that YouTube TV is starting to feel more like the old cable experience. The price seems to be a little inflated for what it is. It used to feel like it was a new guard that emerged from the old world of cable tv. Now it basically feels like the same overpriced racket the cable companies were selling us for years.
So am I willing to cancel my subscription with the new price? Probably not. I still think that YouTube TV offers an amazing service. And they know that too. Hence the price increase. Even a price increase announcement during the holiday season. That’s the sign of a company that is pretty confident in its product.
Honestly, I hardly watch any of the channels that YouTube TV offers. I would certainly opt for a lower cost subscription that allowed me to choose my channels. But alas, we know that model has never worked for cable TV. It takes a subscription for all of the channels to essentially subsidize the lesser channels that people would typically not opt to pay for a la carte.
What is the best thing about YouTube TV in my opinion? It’s the fact that I can use my voice to play anything on any one of the screens in my house. It truly feels like magic and it’s worth the cost of subscription to me. I love that I can ask my Nest Hub Max to play the Warriors game for me hands-free while washing the dishes. That’s something that competing cable services can’t do. Or at least they can’t do it as elegantly.
Is there a point in which YouTube TV subscribers will say “enough is enough”? If you read the comments on Reddit or the comments section of any article on the subject, it seems like people are upset. But upset enough to cancel their monthly subscriptions? I doubt it.
While I’m happy with the service right now, check back in with me in a few months. At some point, just paying for the individual streaming services may be the cheaper option than a monthly subscription to YouTube TV.
Any other YouTube TV subscribers out there considering canceling?
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