YouTube TV is official and relatively cheap at $35 a month

After ages of rumours about Google offering traditional TV networks, it is finally officially happening and it is called YouTube TV. It is exactly as it sounds, TV on YouTube. You've already seen a lot of News Networks and other TV shows with official YouTube channels where they post short clips of the show. It was obvious there was a potential market for TV on YouTube.

For $35 a month, you buy into a TV service package that bundles popular TV networks such as Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as their affiliated cable networks, including Fox News, ESPN, and Bravo. Showtime and Fox Soccer Plus are available for an additional charge. Obviously, the number of TV networks in this library will decide the fate of YouTube TV. The more the networks the merrier the customers. For a new product though YouTube TV seems to have a good enough start, one can only expect more TV networks are to join in later.

The base package includes over three dozens of TV channels. Operators such as Viacom, and Time Warner will likely not broadcast on the service since they already have their own online platforms. Above is a list of all the TV networks currently available on YouTube TV. With this new service, Google aims to make watching TV more like watching YouTube. It certainly won't be the first company to try that but this is different approach than say Netflix.

One of the big selling points for YouTube TV is Cloud DVR. Hulu has previously talked about including it via a paid add-on but YouTube TV includes this in your base package, so you won't be spending extra for it. It lets you keep recordings of your shows online for easier access across a number of devices. There is no storage limit, however, the recordings will automatically be deleted once they're older than 9 months.

Unlike conventional TV, YouTube TV will follow the mobile first strategy as Google believes users will be spending more time consuming content on smartphones even though YouTube TV will allow you to watch it on any device you prefer, including of course your chromecast compatible TV as well as Android and iOS devices. YouTube TV features a recommendation engine powered by Google's AI and also includes YouTube Red Originals. You don't however get a YouTube Red or Google Play Music membership with YouTube TV.

According to Google, YouTube TV will "be available soon in the largest U.S. markets and will quickly expand to cover more cities across the country." If you're interested, you can sign up at tv.youtube.com to find out when the service will become available in your area. If you live outside the US, well, let's just hope the service expands more like YouTube Red and less like Google Fiber.

Source : YouTube Blog