Support our independent tech coverage. Chrome Unboxed is written by real people, for real people—not search algorithms. Join Chrome Unboxed Plus for just $2 a month to get an ad-free experience, access to our private Discord, and more. Learn more about membership here.
START FREE TRIAL (MONTHLY)START FREE TRIAL (ANNUAL)
While YouTube TV recently added a new “standalone” pricing option, it’s also losing content partners and dropping channels left and right. Now, it’s starting to resemble traditional cable TV plans and slowly creeping its way up to their base costs it originally aimed to compete against for cord-cutters with the new price increase it just announced on its support forum.
According to Google, this is to keep bringing you the best possible TV experience as content costs keep rising and as it continues to invest in the quality of the service – which translates to “our content partners need more cash so they stop ditching us, so we’re pushing that cost on you, dangit!”
The Base Plan, which used to cost $64.99 per month, has just jumped up to $72.99 per month for new subscribers as of yesterday, March 16, 2023. That’s an entire $8 more than before. This means that YouTube TV now costs twice as much as it did when it launched, as noted by Android Police. Google tried its best to highlight the benefits subscribers get for the increased cost.
If you are currently on a Base Plan promotional price or a trial, that promotion is still honored and unchanged. After that, you will pay the new standard base price of $72.99.
YouTube TV Help
Basically, it’s still the same 100+ channels, unlimited cloud DVR, up to 6 household members in your Family Group, and 3 concurrent streams you got before. A bit of good news, however, is that the price of its recently announced 4K Plus add-on package just dropped from $19.99 USD to $9.99 USD, so there’s that, I guess.
YouTube TV’s new pricing will be reflected on existing Base Plan users’ billing statements as of April 18, 2023, and anyone with paused memberships will automatically be charged the new price the moment they unpause their account – something I personally won’t be doing ever again.
This is likely going to cause some others like me to consider canceling their memberships outright, but you’ll have to tell me what you think in the comments! While YouTube TV was once an attractive alternative to traditional cable TV for some, its steadily increasing prices and loss of popular channels are making it less and less appealing in my opinion.
SUBSCRIBE TO UPSTREAM
Get Chrome Unboxed delivered straight to your inbox
Upstream is our flagship, curated newsletter with the top stories, most click-worthy deals, giveaways, and trending articles from Chrome Unboxed sent directly to your inbox a few times a week. Join 31,000+ subscribers.
