What Channels Can You Watch on YouTube TV?
YouTube TV features a collection of more than 90 channels, which stacks up well against the competition. In fact, it offers one of the most complete channel lineups of all the video streaming services we've reviewed. Starting with the locals, you get all the major networks such as ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC. YouTube TV is the only live streaming services we've reviewed that offers local PBS channels. Some of the news channels on YouTube TV include BBC America, CNBC, CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC. That lineup compares favorably to competing services.
Apart from the broadcast affiliates, sports channels on YouTube TV include CBS Sports, ESPN, ESPN 2, NFL Network, NBC Sports, and NBA TV. However, YouTube TV's RSN coverage is spotty. It includes all NBC Sports RSNs, but it lacks every AT&T-owned RSN (except SportsNet NY) and every Bally Sports RSN (previously, these were FOX Sports RSNs). The limited RSN coverage has significant implications for your ability to watch regular-season MLB, NBA, and NHL games, so make sure to check which channel airs your local team's games before committing to any sports streaming service. AT&T TV is currently the only service we've reviewed that offers Bally Sports, NBC Sports, and SportsNet RSNs, though it is missing some of the NBC Sports ones.
Out of market Sunday afternoon NFL games will also be coming to YouTube in September 2023 through NFL Sunday Ticket. For more NFL coverage specifically, take a look at our roundup of the best NFL streaming services. We also have roundups of the best MLB streaming services, the best NBA streaming services, and the best NHL streaming services.
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YouTube TV also serves an industry-leading variety of entertainment and lifestyle content. Channels include AMC, Cartoon Network, The CW, FX, National Geographic, TNT, and USA. Additions from the Discovery network include Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, Food Network, HGTV, TLC, and Travel Channel. A content deal with ViaconCBS added 14 channels including, BET, BET Her, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, MTV2, MTV Classic, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land, VH1, Nick Jr., NickToons, and TeenNick.
YouTube TV's content mix is most similar to that of Hulu + Live TV, especially since you get access to some on-demand shows and movies from YouTube TV's channels. However, Hulu's on-demand library is much more extensive. Check out our head-to-head comparison between YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV for a full rundown of the differences. AT&T TV's channel lineup is also comparable, though it splits popular channels across multiple tiers of service.
Other live TV services may offer a better range of content for specific areas. For example, fuboTV matches YouTube TV's sports lineup and differentiates itself with international sports content. Philo is specifically focused on lifestyle and entertainment channels; if that is all you want to watch, you can save money by subscribing to it instead of YouTube TV.
How Much Does YouTube TV Cost?
Priced at $72.99 per month, YouTube is one of the most expensive video streaming services (though Hulu + Live TV charges nearly the same price). Sling's Orange and Blue plans only cost $40 per month ($60 per month combined), but their channel lineups are limited. If you really want to keep costs down, Philo charges $25 per month for about 60 live channels, though most are of the entertainment genre.
DirecTV Stream starts at $74.99 per month, and offers more complete channel packages (including those with RSNs) that cost significantly more than YouTube TV. FuboTV starts at $74.99 per month, but it too offers pricier plans. On-demand services are much cheaper, but appeal to a different subset of subscribers. Netflix, for example, starts at $6.99 per month, while Disney+ is $7.99 per month. Peacock has a robust $4.99 plan, while Tubi is free.
YouTube TV's additional subscription options include Acorn TV ($6 per month), AMC Premiere ($5 per month), CuriosityStream ($2.99 per month), and NBA League Pass ($39.99 per month). You can also subscribe to YouTube TV's $10.99-per-month Sports Plus package, which includes NFL RedZone, FOX College Sports, FOX Soccer Plus, GOLTV, MAVTV Motorsports Network, Stadium, and TVG. YouTube TV's Entertainment Plus add-on bundles HBO Max, Showtime, and Starz for $29.99 per month.
Further blurring the line between cable and online streaming, YouTube TV now lets you subscribe to individual channels in a-la-carte fashion. The a la carte channels include Cinemax, CuriosityStream, and Shudder (don't expect giants like ESPN or Fox Sports 1), and you can add or drop channels whenever you want. Amazon Prime Video offers similar functionality. YouTube viewers can bypass YouTube TV by subscribing directly to Primetime Channels. Still, a la carte channels are an appreciated and affordable added online flexibility in an otherwise expensive and rigid live TV framework.
YouTube TV is available on the web, mobile platforms (Android and iOS), media streaming devices (Apple TV, Chromecast, and Fire TV), and select smart TVs (such as those from LG, Samsung, and Sony). You can download the YouTube TV app for the newest game consoles, including the Xbox One Series X|S and the PlayStation 5, too. The YouTube TV app has even returned to the Roku store. YouTube TV has also made the live TV experience accessible from the main YouTube app.
YouTube TV lets you set up six different user accounts, but sets a limit of three simultaneous users, which is about average. Google launched a 4K Plus add-on which now costs $9.99 per month. It unlocks supports for an unlimited number of simultaneous streams on your home Wi-Fi network; 4K streams for select live channels and on-demand content; and the ability to watch DVR recordings offline on mobile devices. Hulu + Live TV also offers an add-on that lets subscribers stream on an unlimited number of devices connected to a home network.
YouTube TV's Interface
YouTube TV's interface is, as you might expect, similar to the regular YouTube website. The design looks clean, and most elements are clad in white or light grey. There's even a dark mode you can enable in the settings. In the top-right corner, you'll find a robust search tool for finding content to watch from specific genres or channels, which is helpful given YouTube TV's extensive channel catalog. You can even concatenate searches. For example, our search for "science fiction + 2004" brought up a result for an upcoming airing of iRobot. From the settings panel, you can manage subscription details, billing information, and subscriptions to add-on channels. There are also options for setting up family accounts, customizing what appears in the channel guide, and keeping tabs (or pausing) your watch and search history.
You mainly navigate between three top-level tabs: Library, Home, and Live Guide. The Library section organizes everything you've recorded in sections for new content, scheduled recordings, and all recordings. You can sort the last section by content type (shows, movies, sports, and events), alphabetically, recentness, and popularity. A recent update enhances these tools for better organizing and more specific filtering in a cleaner interface.
The Home section is where you discover content to watch. At the top, YouTube TV shows curated content, which it bases on things you have searched for or already watched. As you move down the page, various categories of content populate horizontally scrolling categories.
In the Live Guide section, you can scroll down the list of available channels to see what's currently playing. As mentioned, you can exclude the channels you don't want to see here via the settings menu. To watch something, simply click on the live preview. The guide now lets you see what's available up to seven days in the future, and the new denser layout provides more custom recommendations and information for channels and content. It lets you quickly keep up with the channels you watch the most.
On the Now Playing screen, you get a standard set of playback tools, including 15-second fast-forward and reverse buttons on the right. On the left, you can toggle closed-captioning, select a streaming quality, pick an audio track, and change the playback speed. You can even click the information button for more details of the playing content. For example, clicking this button on an NBA game brought up info on the starting lineup and standings for the involved teams. Scrolling down from there, you can switch between any of the main three content tabs.
YouTube TV's Multiview Feature
YouTube TV is rolling out a multiview feature that lets sports fans watch up to four streams at once on the same screen. However, you can only watch designated streams in this fashion. In our tests, YouTube TV bundled March Madness games in multiple multiview groups, so we could keep an eye on more than one bracket matchup. Naturally, this picture-in-picture-like feature let us jump to individual games when we wanted a closer look at the action, and did so in a swift fashion.
Watching YouTube TV
YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV notably both stream live channels in 1080p/60fps, as does Paramount+ for many of its local CBS network stations. YouTube TV subscribers now get support for Dolby 5.1 surround sound on select devices, too.
With YouTube TV's 4K Plus add-on, it joins fuboTV as the only other live TV streaming service that offers any 4K live streams. As with fuboTV, not all live streams will be available in this resolution, but YouTube TV's press release about the 4K Plus add-on mentions that major sports events and live content from NBC and ESPN will stream in 4K. We hope YouTube TV follows fuboTV's excellent practice of clearly listing all of the upcoming 4K events. The 4K Plus add-on also brings 4K on-demand content to YouTube TV from sources, such as FX, Discovery Networks, and Tastemade. Both Hulu and fuboTV also offer on-demand 4K content.
When we last tested YouTube TV's performance, we streamed a Thursday Night Football game on a Windows 10 desktop. Its streaming performance was solid on a home network, which averages around 200Mbps download speeds according to the Ookla Speed Test. (Note that Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's publisher.) We did not encounter any performance lags or stutters, and the audio kept up well with the pace of the game. On a mobile device, we launched a stream of an MSNBC news show at 1080p and 60 frames per second (fps), and even over PCMag's standard Wi-Fi network (14Mbps download), its streaming performance was good.
Note, however, that the streaming resolution will vary based on the source. For example, since the football game was broadcast by Fox Sports, it was limited to 720p resolution and 60fps. The picture quality still looked sharp, but on a 1080p monitor, we definitely noticed the resolution downgrade, especially when we compared it to streaming an NBA game in 1080p.
Of course, since YouTube TV is a cable-replacement service, you will see the same (and the same number of) ads that you would with a regular cable service. The benefit of YouTube TV, though, is that its DVR functionality lets you fast-forward over ads in your recordings.
DVR Features and Accessibility
YouTube TV's DVR features compare favorably to the competition's. For example, there is no DVR storage limit; as long as you are connected to the internet, you can add as many shows and movies to your library as you desire. Furthermore, recordings are saved for nine months. And with the 4K Plus add-on, you can now download recordings for offline viewing. No other live TV service I've reviewed offers this feature. You can pause, rewind, and forward through any recordings, as well as jump to specific segments within a recording too; for example, to a discussion of a particular topic in a news recording.
For comparison, fuboTV's base plan lets you record 250 hours' worth of content and it keeps recordings indefinitely. Sling TV lets you record up to 50 hours of content for no extra charge. Hulu lets you keep 50 hours of recordings by default, too. With all those services, you can keep your recordings for as long as you maintain a subscription.
To initiate a DVR recording, simply hit the + button beneath any playing show or from the channel guide. To remove content from your library, click the Expand button, and then the Remove button. One feature we appreciate is the ability to set up DVR recordings for specific sports teams. For example, when we clicked the Expand button on an NFL game it gave us the option to add both teams to our library. YouTube TV can then record upcoming games of those teams as they air. YouTube TV may soon offer the ability to watch DVR content offline.
All of the channels we watched had options for closed-captioning, which is standard for most services. It lagged slightly behind the video stream in testing, but the subtitles themselves seemed mostly accurate. YouTube TV includes a decent number of options for customizing the subtitle text, including the font, font color, and background opacity, but notably, it's missing an option to change the text position.
You also won't find anything like Amazon Prime Video's or Netflix's Audio Descriptions. When this option is enabled, scenes and actions on-screen are accompanied by descriptions of audible and visual events, such as if the phone rings or a character exits the room.
YouTube TV lets you enable a filter that limits the service to TV-Y, TV-Y7 & TV-G shows and G & PG films. However, you need to set this preference on every device, rather than at a profile level. Sling TV, on the other hand, lets you restrict content based on individual show and movie ratings, as well as lock those settings with a PIN.
YouTube TV on Mobile
We downloaded YouTube TV on an Android device and had no trouble signing into our account. The mobile app looks and works similarly to the desktop interface, which is a good thing. The interface has clean lines, attractive colors, and clear tabs for the separation of content. A dark mode is now available on mobile, too. All of YouTube TV's excellent search and library organization tools are also present.
You navigate via the same three tabs: Library, Home, and Live. On the Now Playing screen, you can enable closed captioning, change the streaming quality, or toggle notifications for the program. You can also view the programming set to air next and other recommended content.
On our device, the YouTube TV app also supports a picture-in-picture (PIP) mode, so you can keep an eye on currently playing content without needing to remain in the app. The minimized window can be dragged to any corner of your device screen and sits on top of the active window.
Using YouTube TV With a VPN
A VPN can help you secure your privacy online, and spoof your location. Note, however, that many video streaming services may block you from using a VPN, since some content is subject to licensing rules or other geographic restrictions. In YouTube TV's case, the service is only available in the US, and the available channels depend on your location.
For reference, we tested YouTube TV with the free version of Editors' Choice-winning VPN TunnelBear, and ran into connection issues. Even if you find a VPN that works with one video streaming service, it is less likely to work with all the ones to which you subscribe. Video streaming compatibility should not be the main reason you use a VPN though. Instead, you should choose the VPN that best protects your presence online.
YouTube TV Is a Top Choice for Cord Cutters
If you are looking to leave behind your cable subscription forever, YouTube TV is an excellent option. With its expanded channel lineup, the service now covers the news, sports, and entertainment genres with aplomb. YouTube TV also features best-in-class DVR functionality, top-notch add-ons, and well-designed interfaces across many platforms. The main downsides are the limited RSN coverage and the high price for people who want the whole lineup, not just a la carte channels. As with any live TV service, you still have to deal with the annoyances of cable television, such as ads during live TV and potential streaming resolution limitations by the broadcast networks. Still, YouTube TV is a seamless experience, one that earns an Editors' Choice distinction along with Hulu for live TV streaming. For on-demand shows and movies, Netflix is our Editors' Choice winner, while Peacock and Tubi take the prize for affordable and free streaming, respectively.
For more on streaming, check out five reasons to ditch your video subscription and keep cable (especially if you're interested in live TV). Learn how to pick streaming services that fit your budget, and enjoy all sorts of reality show trash. Finally, check out our recommended streaming video guides if you don’t know what to watch.
For more on YouTube, check out our picks for the Best YouTube Channels.
YouTube TV's terrific channel variety, top-notch DVR options, and a la carte selections make it a great cable TV replacement, and an excellent option for cord cutters.
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