YouTube TV Review

Genres and channels

As mentioned, there are over 70 channels on offer with a subscription to YouTube TV, which is highly competitive compared to other contenders in the streaming services market. If you want to watch the news, there’s CBS, CNN, NBC, ABC, CNBC and BBC America. Sports fans can get stuck into a variety of choices, such as NBC Sports, CBS Sports, ESPN, MLB Network, NBA TV and FN1.

If entertainment and lifestyle channels are more your thing, there are options for you. There’s USA, TNT, National Geographic, The CW, FX, AMC and Cartoon Network. Thanks to additions from the Discovery Network, YouTube TV subscribers can also enjoy Food Network, Travel Channel, TLC, HGTV, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.

Top YouTube TV shows and movies

The Masked Singer – You’ll find Nicole Scherzinger, Robin Thicke, Ken Jeong and Jenny McCarthy on the panel of this show, which sees celebrities face off against each other while wearing elaborate costumes.

The Voice – A singing reality competition series which airs on NBC, focused on finding unsigned singing talent and beginning with the famous Blind Auditions.

Young Sheldon – Focuses on Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory, who has skipped four grades aged 9 in 1989 to begin high school.

Slow Burn – A podcast which focuses on big issues such as the Watergate scandal and Bill Clinton’s impeachment. Season three moves on to Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. ‘s murders.

Brain Games – A series which shows people how the brain processes information such as stress, food, trust, addiction and competition. The series, hosted by Jason Silva, has been nominated for an Emmy.

Party of Five – A drama with six seasons which focuses on the lives of five siblings who must live on their own after their parents die in a car crash.

The Walking Dead – A post-apocalyptic horror show which shows how people survive after a zombie apocalypse.

Grey’s Anatomy – A group of young doctors at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital live their lives while working at the medical location they began at as interns.

Rick and Morty – Rick returns to his daughter and her kids after being missing for a long time, but he takes Morty and Summer on intergalactic adventures on a regular basis.

Chopped – With over 45 seasons, this cooking series focuses on four chefs who go up against each other to create a fantastic three course meal using whatever they are given.

Streaming library

Users will find the interface of YouTube TV easy to navigate, as it’s very similar to the one which features on the original YouTube website. The design is minimalistic, with a color scheme of white and light gray. It’s possible to enable a dark mode within the settings, which is better for night time viewing or enhancing the overall experience. In the top right hand corner, there is a search tool for finding the exact genre or channel you need. Going into the settings panel enables you to manage the details of your subscription, edit your billing information and customise your subscriptions to any add-on channels. Furthermore, you can set up family accounts, change what shows up in the channel guide and control your watch and search history.

There are three main tabs in the interface – Home, Live and Library. In the Home section, you can find new content to watch. The top of the page shows content YouTube TV thinks you’ll enjoy based on your watch history and viewing preferences. Moving down the page will unveil further content categories, which you can scroll across horizontally. With the Live section, there is a list of available channels to browse and explore what’s currently playing. If there are channels you don’t want to see in this menu, you can exclude them within the settings menu. Watching something from this view is simple, as all you have to do is click on the live preview. Finally, the Library section shows all the content you’ve recorded. This is organized into sections such as new content, scheduled recordings and all recordings. Filters are available to sort the final section according to alphabetical order, popularity, date and content type – in other words, whether the content is movies, sports, shows or events.

When you’re watching content with YouTube TV, you’ll find there’s plenty to explore with the Now Playing screen. There will, of course, be the usual set of tools for playback, and you can fast forward fifteen seconds or reverse. The left hand side shows options for toggling closed captioning, changing the streaming quality, adjusting the playback speed and picking an audio track. If you want more information on what you’re watching, clicking on the information button will provide you with further details.

Streaming quality

YouTube TV supports HD resolution, with 1080p at 30fps and 720p at 60fps. Not all channels provide this quality, and it has been a common objection for subscribers to this service. However, many have commented online from March 2020 that picture quality has improved overall with 4K devices, so it looks like the resolution is being worked on.

Customer support

The support page for YouTube TV is found via its parent company, Google. Navigating to the Google Support page under YouTube TV will provide users with a searchable database of the most commonly asked questions.

Topics available underneath the search bar include YouTube TV sign-up and basics, Using YouTube TV, Watch on your TV, Billing, Manage your account and Fix a problem.

The next step for users is to directly contact YouTube TV, and this is an option at the bottom of the page. The process is to describe what you need help with in the text box provided, then confirm the issue based on the categories available. After providing issue details, the most relevant chat options are highlighted. These could be a call, online chat or email, which opens up a web form to fill in. The opening hours for live customer support are 12am-11:59pm.

Free trial

There is often a free trial available with YouTube TV. It has typically been for seven days, although sometimes you can take advantage of a promotion which lets you browse the full content library for 14 days free of charge.

Cancelling before the expiry of the free trial means you won’t have to pay a dime. However, not taking any action means the next billing cycle will begin and you will be charged for a standard monthly subscription.

Plans and pricing

YouTube TV is available for a standard price of $49.99 a month. This means over 70 channels are included for this regular price, and the service comes without any hidden fees, cable box or contracts.

Users can enjoy content from ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC News, ACCN, AMC, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, BBC, BBC World News, BTN, Bravo, CBS Sports, CNBC, CNBC World, CNN, Cartoon Network, Cheddar Business, Cheddar News, Comet TV, Court TV, Cozi TV, Discovery, Disney, Disney Junior, Disney XD, E!, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN U, ESPNEWS, Fox Business, Fox News Channel, FS1, FS2, FX, FXM, FXX, Food Network, Fox Sports, Freeform, Golf Channel, HGTV, HLN, IFC, Investigation Discovery, LAFC, MLB Game of the Week, MLB Network, MSNBC, Motortrend, MyNetworkTV, NBA TV, NBC Sports, NBC Universe, NBCSN, NECN, NESN, NatGeo Wild, National Geographic, Olympics Channel, Newsy, OWN, Oxygen, PBS, PBS Kids, POP, SEC ESPN Network, SNY, Smithsonian Channel, StartTV, SundanceTV, SyFy, TBS, TCM, TLC, TNT, TYT, Tastemade, Telemundo, Tennis Channel, The CW, Travel Channel, TruTV, USA, Universal Kids, WE TV and YouTube Originals.

Additional networks are Acorn TV, AMC Premiere, Cinemax, CuriosityStream, EPIX, Fox Soccer Plus, HBO, HBO Max, NBA League Pass, Showtime, Shudder, Starz, Sundance Now and UMC.

Competitors

When comparing the variety of content available with YouTube TV, the service is most comparable with Sling’s combined plan and Hulu with Live TV. While it’s also similar to DirecTV Now and PlayStation Vue, these providers split their channels across different plans, while YouTube TV offers an all-inclusive and comprehensive plan to meet a range of needs.

Critics state that, when it comes to live channel services, other providers could offer better content for specialist areas. For example, Philo offers additional entertainment channels such as Comedy Central, Hallmark and BET, while fuboTV offers the same sports channels as YouTube TV, with the addition of international sports content.

When it comes to pricing, the increase since the original cost of $40 to $49.99 may put off some users, and this is more than you’d pay for several competitors. Sling TV’s most similar plan is $40 a month, and Philo is only $16 a month for 43 live channels. Likewise, Hulu with Live TV and PlayStation Vue cost $44.99 per month. That being said, some other competitors either cost the same as YouTube TV or require users to pay more. For example, DirecTV Now is an identical cost with subscriptions costing $50 a month, and fuboTV is slightly more expensive at $54.99 per month.

Is YouTube TV worth it?

YouTube TV is a service provided by a well-known brand, meaning that people will already trust the content delivery and recognise the household name. The service does not disappoint, with a huge range of channels at competitive prices. A smooth and sleek interface eases navigation, and the highly customisable settings make for a more enjoyable experience. Two big bonuses with YouTube TV are the unlimited DVR capacity and the availability of 60 fps streaming for the majority of channels within the plan. Overall, YouTube has come up with a strong and competitive TV package for the streaming services market.