YouTube continues to release statistics about its subscriber base. The company has announced that YouTube TV, their cable subscription plan, now has 8 million subscribers.
Premium costs only $12. YouTube TV, at $73 per month, is one of most expensive streaming subscriptions. Cable-like prices come from the fact that this is a service like cable. It’s a bundle of over 100 channels, including cable TV favorites like CNN, ESPN, and local NBC, CBS, and ABC channels. The base price is $73. There are also add-ons for HBO, Showtime and 4K, as well as sports and language packages. Don’t forget NFL Sunday Ticket. This year, it became a YouTube TV exclusive. It costs $350-as-an-add-on-to-the $73sa-month-service. There’s a $ 450 standalone package.
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan provided the subscriber figures in a blog post entitled “ A Letter from the YouTube Chief Executive“. The numbers are for 2024. Mohan claims that the living room is YouTube’s “next frontier.” He also says subscriptions are the only ways it can grow as the Internet video host. Mohan wants people to “watch YouTube like we used to sit together in front of traditional TV with family and friends. “It should be on the largest screen at home,” he says. “Viewers around the world now watch more than one billion hours per day, on average, of YouTube content on their televisions.””
YouTube TV has 8 million subscribers, making it one of cable TV’s biggest providers. Leichtman Research Group reported the Q3 2023 subscriber numbers for “Major pay-TV providers.” This group includes cable companies and their rivals. Comcast was No. Comcast was No. Charter and DirectTV are both at 14 million users, while Dish is fourth with 6.7 millions customers. Leichtman had YouTube TV in fifth, with 6.5 million users. The No. YouTube TV has risen to fourth place, despite losing subscribers every quarter. It could be No. 3 soon. Leichtman’s figures showed that YouTube TV was the fastest growing of the group. It added 600,000. DirecTV, so, lost the most customers, losing half a million. In Q3, NFL Sunday Ticket moved from DirecTV over to YouTube TV.
YouTube TV is a national service, which puts it on an equal footing with satellite providers. This gives YouTube TV a huge advantage over regional cable TV providers. YouTube TV’s ambitions are not limited to the US. During its January earnings call, Google stated that it “looks at” expanding the service into more countries. YouTube TV will need to negotiate with each channel on the service to expand.