As you may have heard, YouTube TV’s higher price means that subscribers will spend an extra $8 starting in April. Personally, this is a bitter pill to swallow Just Switched from Sling TV to YouTube TV – due to higher prices for the former.
In particular, I left because of a $5 price hike announced with the arrival of ABC in my area, which moved Sling down to $60. And I always spent $5 more than Sling on YouTube TV. I explain why in the confrontation between YouTube TV and Sling TV.
But now that YouTube TV is more affordable, I thought I’d share my recent findings with the service that help explain the calculus I’m going to do. Luckily, I have some time – I got a $10 discount for the first three months.
Even though I have until mid-June to figure out what to do with my YouTube TV subscription, I’ve already learned enough about what I like (and don’t actually like) about YouTube TV (as well as which of the best YouTube TV alternatives I want to consider alongside along with Sling TV).
YouTube TV fixes the recordings for you
That’s the big advantage for me — the kind of feature that made me consider staying with YouTube TV now that the discounted price is gone. Yes, I’ll pay an extra $13 a month for the service, which is 22% of the $60 I’ll spend on Sling TV.
But this past weekend, one of YouTube TV’s best hidden features (one I haven’t seen on another service) saved my bacon. The varying range of end times for Friday Night’s NCAA March Madness live broadcast meant that only the first 28 minutes of the week’s edition of All Elite Wrestling: Rampage were recorded. I caught this online, and got this response:
The YouTube Twitter account noted that partial DVR recordings can be substituted for full versions of episodes. But this is only for shows that are being replayed. Clicking on the “More Information” link they provided, I learned that there is a way to report bad recordings.
I chose the “incorrect end time” and went to bed shortly thereafter. When I woke up, I found that YouTube TV had somehow fixed my recording. This is the kind of customer service I would love to see.
YouTube TV has the best user experience
Of the three best cable TV alternatives I’m considering, YouTube TV is my favorite when it comes to actually using the app itself. Fast forwarding and rewinding is easy and responsive, which is something I can’t say about Sling.
Admittedly, YouTube TV benefits from being built on the same technology that YouTube was, but the simple episode navigation isn’t the only win. YouTube TV also has neat little hidden options, such as disabling autoplay for a TV channel on startup (Profile icon > Settings > Autoplay on startup). I will always keep this feature disabled, as I’d rather opt in to get rid of the volume, than opt out.
One of the biggest reasons I prefer YouTube TV over the now cheaper Hulu + Live TV ($69 a month) is that the latter is crammed inside the main Hulu app. And this may be picky, but live TV should be in its entire app, not just a tab in a larger app.
I say this primarily because it’s so easy to accidentally open an on-demand version of a TV show instead of registering. What is the difference? Well, the former will not allow you to quickly submit previous ads. And without that option, why would I even pay for a live TV service in the first place?
Multiview on YouTube TV is now available (kinda)
Using the Fubo feature that is only available on Apple TV and bringing it to the masses, YouTube TV (Opens in a new tab) announced that it was adding “an option to watch up to four different pre-selected streams simultaneously.” This feature was introduced at the beginning of the March Madness live stream, which makes sense.
YouTube TV started out slow with multiple views, and German Cheung, engineering lead for the YouTube TV core experience team, was quoted as saying that the plan is to “improve and add more functionality to multiviews, including the option to customize your multiview streams.” The company is looking forward to the upcoming NFL live stream for the feature’s next big use case.
This is a huge feature, and I don’t think it’s just for sports fans. News watchers, especially on days when huge stories happen, will want a broad view of how CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, and other channels (including local affiliates) handle a huge story. I probably use the multi-view feature for news more than anything else, but I can only imagine how valuable I would find this feature.
However, some channels are missing
Sure, YouTube TV’s “100+ channels” are sweeping the floor with less than the 50 you get on Sling TV Orange & Blue (although Sling Orange offers no more than 31). But the question “what channels do you get?” It becomes important if you have non-negotiable networks on your wish list.
Personally, at the moment YouTube TV offers almost enough. Later this year or next, though, I’m going to kind of wish I had Vice TV for Dark Side of the Ring docuseries. Hulu and Sling have it, YouTube TV doesn’t.
While I can rationalize spending $13 to get a better experience, I’m not sure I can proudly announce that I spend nearly $20 more for services that I can get for free.
Hulu + Live TV also promotes History, A&E, ACC ESPN, and Lifetime via YouTube TV. That said, I might still want YouTube TV over Hulu, because Hulu’s missing AMC (which has prestige TV shows) and BBC World News.
A full breakdown of the top 25 most watched channels on these services can be found in the showdowns between YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and Sling TV.
And yes, YouTube TV is not so affordable anymore.
If I kept YouTube TV, I’d spend $13 a month on Sling TV, and basically get a better DVR and more features. If I choose YouTube TV over Hulu + Live TV, that will see me spend an extra $18 — because $70 Hulu + Live TV isn’t only $3 cheaper per month, but it comes in a $13 Disney bundle (ad-supported) Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus) for free.
This math may not make sense to you, but I’m currently spending $14.99 on the ad-free version of that bundle with Disney Plus.
And while I can rationalize spending $13 to get a better experience, I’m not sure I can proudly announce that I spend nearly $20 more for services that I could get for free.
Outlook: How will I choose my next cord cutter
In June, when my YouTube TV discount ends, I’ll be watching Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV. If Bob Odenkirk’s Lucky Hank series on AMC is a winner, I might consider returning to Sling TV or sticking with YouTube TV. I’d choose the latter if I still really like all the bells and whistles of YouTube TV.
But if I feel like I can do without AMC, I’ll probably spend at least a month on Hulu + Live TV. I don’t like applying it, but I’m willing to see if I can live with it—especially with all those savings combined.
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