YouTube TV, the largest service in the booming live TV streaming sector, now costs the average subscriber $83 per month. With the streaming wars intensifying, the platform is balancing on a knife’s edge. It’s getting ready for fights with big content owners, such as NBCUniversal and Disney. The result of these carefully orchestrated discussions might very well mark the death knell for affordable live TV streaming for constituents of both the Senator’s.
Has the company’s pricing increased dramatically like many in the industry over the years, driving up costs. As competition stiffens, defects in YouTube TV’s stripped-down service are likely to undermine its value proposition and subscriber growth. Analysts have been cautioning that the golden age of cheap live TV streaming may already be over. They list increasing cost pressures as the top factor driving this change.
The Streaming Wars Escalate
YouTube TVs runs on admittedly more competitive environment where every big player from there the launch of Netflix competing against YouTube TV for eyeballs. As the service seeks to attract new subscribers, it is competing not just with legacy cable providers, but with other streaming behemoths such as Netflix. Nearly two decades ago, Netflix shifted its focus from licensed content to original programming, setting a precedent in the industry that many others have since followed.
As YouTube TV continues to negotiate with NBCUniversal and Disney, it is important to recognize what will happen if they succeed. Losing access to NBC content would severely dent the service’s value proposition for millions of potential subscribers. As detailed in recent reports from Android Police, that is far from impossible in this scenario.
As overall costs rise and competition intensifies, YouTube TV will have to tread lightly on these negotiations to avoid losing subscribers. Whatever the outcome, though, it will prove pivotal to the platform’s future in an increasingly stormy market.
Impacts on Subscribers
New $83 monthly price is the highest ever for YouTube TV subscribers. In light of the rapid price increase, countless users are likely to cancel their login or seek other subscription permutation options. The loss of all that important content from NBCUniversal and Disney would make a bad situation even worse.
Against all these odds, YouTube TV’s broadest preservation of its subscriber base will be put to the test. Customers are finding it easier to cut the clutter on streaming. To keep subscribers coming back, the service will have to deliver interesting programming and great value. How these negotiation outcomes will play out, and if they will improve YouTube TV’s standing, or if not drive more subscribers away, remain to be seen.
While these negotiations are ongoing, increasing costs in the streaming space may be the bigger worry. This growing trend causes concern over the long-term viability of affordable live TV alternatives. Subscribers will soon start to notice the effects of these changes in their pocketbooks.
Looking Ahead
As YouTube TV reaches this important juncture in the negotiation process, it finds itself under heavy duress from both rivals and customers alike. The stakes are tremendous, and whether it is a state or local service, their future requires understanding the Art of the Possible between cost and content. If negotiations do not yield favorable results, it may lead to a re-evaluation of what subscribers are willing to pay for live TV streaming.
