YouTube TV’s price soars to $83; subscription cost doubles in 6 years

NEW YORK (AP) — Are you a YouTube TV subscriber? Your monthly bills are about to get more expensive again.

On Thursday, YouTube announced that it’s upping the price of its streaming service’s base plan by $10 — citing “the rising cost of content” and other investments.

The new $82.99 a month price tag will go into effect starting Jan. 13 for existing subscribers, and immediately for new customers who sign up going forward.

“We don’t make these decisions lightly, and we realize this impacts our members,” YouTube wrote on X.

Google’s video giant also directed customers to an online FAQ for more information. Those who currently pay discounted prices, for example, won’t see the change until their trial or promotional has elapsed.

YouTube TV has rolled out a series of price hikes over the years. When launched back in 2017, the going price of its streaming package was $35 a month.

By 2019, that fee rose to $50 — and has climbed higher and higher since. The last time YouTube TV raised its base price, then to $72.99, was in March 2023.

Ultimately, the increases show the cost of its service has more than doubled from $40 in March 2018 to more than $80 today, according to Variety.

Earlier increases arrived as YouTube TV added more and more channels for subscribers to stream live. But licensing disputes have also added pressures — and YouTube has instead attributed its more recent hikes, like those announced both Thursday and last year, to rising operational costs.

In light of this latest increase, some on social media have compared the cost of various subscription services and that of traditional cable TV.

YouTube TV currently advertises more than 100 channels from broadcast, cable and regional sports networks, a DVR with unlimited storage and up to six accounts per household with three concurrent streams.

The platform says its latest price increase won’t change any of that.

While YouTube TV’s live offerings are much different than individual online libraries seen from other popular streamers today, it’s no secret that streaming is getting more expensive overall — particularly as consumers juggle multiple subscriptions to access all the content they want.

In recent years, big names like Netflix, Apple TV+ and Disney+ have all either hikes their prices or added things like ad-supported tiers and password limits.

And more and more streamers have also tapped into bundles to get in on the live action.

YouTube TV’s new $82.99 price is the same as that advertised for Disney’s Hulu + Live TV bundle.

As of February, YouTube said it had more than eight million YouTube TV subscribers.

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