YouTube TV keeps gaining value, but it’s just adding to my worries

If you’re subscribed to a service, it makes sense that you’d feel good if the company keeps pumping value into it. This has happened to many streaming services, but it usually comes with the unwanted caveat of a price increase. This happens across all services, whether it’s Xbox Game Pass, Netflix, or even AMC’s A-List — nothing’s immune. Nobody likes to see it coming, but even as it does, Netflix continues to add subscribers, so it’s not like price hikes are deterring people from signing up.

The latest example of a service getting more value is YouTube and its sister service, YouTube TV. Ahead of the upcoming NFL season, it was revealed that the service was getting an exclusive game that would only air on YouTube. This is obviously bad news for other streamers, and it’s a sign of a bigger problem. While YouTube getting a game free of charge is fine for consumers, it’s not a great sign of things to come overall from where I’m sitting.

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It’s nice to get things on a service when you’ll actually use them, but it’s not as good when it’s something you’re not interested in. Take Prime Video and Netflix adding live sports and programming into the equation. These additions have been passed on to the consumer through price increases, and there’s no way to opt out of it if you’re a subscriber. If you’re signed up to Netflix to keep up with shows like Cobra Kai or Stranger Things and have no interest in watching weekly episodes of WWE’s Monday Night RAW, it doesn’t matter because the price is the same no matter what. YouTube isn’t doing that with this exclusive NFL game, but there’s no telling what the future holds if this becomes the norm.

Something that’s become increasingly common is the introduction of sports on streaming services as it’s just the latest way to continue growing subscribers. Again, that’s great news for anybody who watches sports, but it’s tough for people who aren’t interested because they have to pay for it regardless. If streamers keep doing things like this, it’ll only grow into a bigger problem over time.

Netflix might’ve already stretched its wings a tad too far with the introduction of not only live programming but video games too. The streamer never even released a game from one of its studio before shuttering its doors, so there’s no telling what the price hike would’ve been, if any.

Another thing you have to look out for is a service starting with a low price before finally creeping up to something so high that you can’t even remember how it got there. YouTube TV and Xbox Game Pass are perfect examples of this. It might be hard to remember, but YouTube TV once cost $45 a month, and now it’s nearly double that price. Xbox Game Pass now costs $20 a month for the highest tier, and while that’s still good value, it’s nothing like what it used to be, especially if you could take advantage of some underrated tricks. In many cases, the features added don’t justify the price change, but you don’t exactly have many alternatives to Xbox Game Pass, do you?

The main thing I’m worried about is what it means for the rest of the services. If YouTube TV is the exclusive home to NFL Sunday Ticket, which it is, and it gets free games streaming on its platform, what reason is there to stay subscribed to another service? Fubo and Hulu + Live TV can’t offer anything that competes with this, so it leaves sports fans with no choice.

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When YouTube TV went up in price to close out 2024, I started shopping around for different services. One service I stumbled upon was Fubo, and I came away with a lot of positive impressions. A big thing Fubo offered was a lower price for just about the same amount of content. It even had some extra features like multi-view, so I thought it was quite competitive with YouTube TV, and that it even came ahead in some areas.

Fast forward to today, YouTube TV is getting the same multi-view functionality, getting exclusive NFL games, and the kicker of it all is that Fubo now costs more than YouTube TV. A company like Google can afford to throw around money to acquire exclusive games and services, but Fubo can’t exactly compete in that area. It’s difficult for any company without the backing of a major corporation to compete with one that does. I know Fubo was bought by Disney, so at least there’s a safety net there, but other companies can’t say the same.

Competition is very important for the growth of an industry. If there’s not another service that comes in and disrupts the status quo, there’s no reason to change. This is what made YouTube TV so appealing in the first place, and I can’t really see another competitor on the horizon. YouTube TV’s low price made it so easy to leave cable behind and not think about it any longer, but now there are other factors to be aware of. With other services now hovering around the same price, it comes down to what’s being offered.

Hulu + Live TV includes a Disney+ and Hulu subscription, which is nice and helps save money on streaming services. That’s one of the biggest benefits of going with that service, but it means you’d miss out on NFL Sunday Ticket and an exclusive NFL game. It really is a pick-your-poison scenario, and I wish things weren’t moving in that direction. There’s no reason for live TV services to be competing like this, and I hate to see people punished for picking the “wrong” service. Luckily, you can just swap whenever you please as you’re not locked into a contract complete with a box like you are with cable. That’s about the only thing that lets me justify it, but in all honestly, I’m worried about where this all ends up going. I certainly don’t want to see a world where YouTube TV is the only justifiable live TV service due to how much exclusive content it pays for. I also don’t want to see YouTube TV’s price continue to increase, but I don’t see how it can be avoided at this point.

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