YouTube TV Hits Viewers With a Price Hike

A subscription to YouTube TV will now cost $82.99 per month, a $10 increase. The streaming service announced a price hike effective immediately for new subscribers, but current customers won’t see a bill increase until next month.

In March of last year, YouTube TV raised its rate from $64.99 to $72.99. Raising the monthly amount to nearly $83 brings it in line with other streaming services like the Hulu + Live TV bundle offered at the same rate.

“We don’t make these decisions lightly, and we realize this has an impact on our members,” YouTube told subscribers, per The Hill. 

The price hike decision was purportedly necessary due to increasing content costs as well as further investments to enhance its existing features. Other than the monthly cost, YouTube TV will continue to include over 100 channels, unlimited DVR storage, and three concurrent streams. Subscribers on a promotional rate or in an existing trial plan will remain unaffected.

YouTube TV Price Hike Controversy

Predictably, subscribers are not happy about the price hike. Many on social media said they were looking for alternatives as the increased price was not justified.

“I stayed through 72.99 but I’m done at 82.99. Time to find something else,” wrote one user on Reddit.

It seems Verizon accidentally leaked YouTube’s price increase a few days ago. An advertisement for Verizon posted via Facebook on Dec. 6 offered customers a $10 per month discount on YouTube TV. However, the ad noted the subscription price would go back to the regular price of $82.99 per month after one year. While YouTube initially claimed Verizon published an inaccurate price, it seems some watchful users rightly guessed the price hike was happening before it became official.

While streaming services have been upping prices across the board, these services must also continue to add value and options for consumers. If not, they risk losing subscribers to lower-cost or free streaming services such as DirecTV’s new MyFree DirectTV, which launched in November.