YouTube TV removes Universo. Makes it a Spanish plan add-on.

YouTube TV launched a new Spanish-only base plan and Spanish TV add-on back in May, which unbundled Spanish content from the regular base plan. This new plan was hailed as a lower-cost option for Spanish speakers who did not need the English TV lineup. Additionally, for those who wanted both language options, there was also a Spanish Plus add-on which was supplemental to the YouTube TV base plan.

However, when the lineup of channels was unveiled, “Universo” was missing from the base plan and only available through the add-on plan. This was strange considering that the channel was available via the base English plan, which defeated the purpose of having the add-on Spanish plan to supplement the English channels.

This is now changing as per an email YouTube TV sent to its subscribers; Universo will no longer be available as part of the English base plan starting on August 4th. Instead, those who wish to have this channel will need to sign up for the Spanish Plus add-on, which is the only place where it will be available. However, no explanation was given as to why the change is taking place, which is rare as YouTube TV has always made it a point to explain the reasoning behind channels being removed from the lineup, such as when disputes and negotiations fall through.

So, this leaves us with one less channel on the English YouTube TV base plan with no explanation and no other channel substituting it. Fortunately, if Universo is a channel you watched often and had shows recorded from it, you would still be able to access your recordings for up to 9 months. Other than that, it’s time to re-evaluate once again the value we are getting from YouTube TV and whether it is still worth the $65 a month.