YouTube TV has hiked its monthly prices from $50 to $65 effective for new members from today and current subscribers will have the change reflect from July 30th. The hike follows the addition of eight new ViacomCBS channels
The subscription price increase is also due to the rising costs of programming for the streaming TV service as the pay-TV industry collapses amid a rise in cord-cutting a trend now accelerating at even a faster pace due to the pandemic.
“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,” wrote YouTube TV VP of Product Management Christian Oestlien.
YouTube has made prior announcements to add 14 additional channels to the existing ones. The channels which bring youtube’s channel base to 85 include ViacomCBS properties BET, MTV, CMT, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Nickelodeon, TV Land and VH1. YouTube TV said that BET Her, MTV2, MTV Classic, Nick Jr, NickToons, and TeenNick will also be added at a later date to make them 14.
Initially, the live streaming services were smaller lineups for lower monthly rates but with time they’ve slowly closed the gap with cable by adding more and more channels to base packages and raising prices.
“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,” the company said.
“YouTube TV is the only streaming service that includes a DVR with unlimited storage space, plus six accounts per household each with its own unique recommendations, and three concurrent streams. It’s all included in the base cost, with no contract and no hidden fees,” said Oestlien.
