by Jason Snell
YouTube TV raises its rates 30 percent
YouTube TV is raising its price to $65/month, up 30 percent from its previous $50/month level. In a blog post, YouTube TV’s Christian Oestlien wrote:
We don’t take these decisions lightly, and realize how hard this is for our members. That said, this new price reflects the rising cost of content and we also believe it reflects the complete value of YouTube TV, from our breadth of content to the features that are changing how we watch live TV.
It’s probably not coincidental that today YouTube TV is also adding 14 new CBSViacom channels to its base service. That’s the “rising cost of content” right there. (Hulu + Live TV and AT&T TV Now are currently $55, and Sling is $45.)
I think what I said to cord cutters years ago was, “They will always get their money.” Whether it’s over-the-top services like YouTube TV, or pure streaming plays like Netflix and Hulu and Disney+ and the rest, in the end the TV industry is going to work very hard to make sure that people still pay about the same for streaming entertainment as they used to do for cable.