YouTube TV Review: Who’s it Best for in 2024?

If you still haven’t jumped ship from cable or satellite TV, deciding which live TV streaming service to go with can feel like a daunting task. Especially if you’re looking for a seamless cable TV replacement. And with streaming services constantly raising their fees, it can feel like they’re actively trying to reach cable prices.

Before you switch services it pays to do a bit of research—and we try to make that easier. Our in-depth YouTube TV review takes a hard look at the features and price plans of Google’s live TV streaming service to help you decide whether it’s the right choice for you.

What is YouTube TV?

YouTube TV is not to be confused with YouTube or YouTube Premium.

You can’t upload anything to it and it doesn’t rely on user-generated content. It’s essentially Google’s answer to live TV streaming services like Sling TV, Hulu + Live TV, and DirecTV Stream. (Granted, it was launched in February 2017, 2 months before Hulu launched its own live TV service.)

Launched as a simple single-plan service, it has grown slowly but surely in channel offerings and plans. And price. That means it’s no longer the low-cost option it once was. It’s still cheaper than the average American cable bill, but not by as much.

How much does YouTube TV cost in 2024?

Like nearly all streaming services, YouTube TV raised the price of its subscription. The $8 price hike in April 2023 to its English-language plan represented a 12% increase from $64.99 to $72.99/month. That cost more than double than the #35/month it cost when it launched in 2017.

The “good” news was that its ridiculously overpriced 4K Plus add-on was cut in half to “only” $9.99/month. But 4K streaming shouldn’t be paywalled, so that didn’t wow us in the least.

YouTube TV now offers 3 separate plans, one of which is NFL Sunday Ticket as a standalone plan.

Base Plan: $72.99/month

• Essential channels for local TV, sports, and news
• Wide range of premium channels can be added à la carte
• Number of TV channels: 100+
• Local TV: Big 4 networks, PBS, Telemundo, and more
• Ads (on-demand library): Yes 
• User profiles: 6
• Cloud DVR: Unlimited
• Simultaneous screens: 3
• Quality: Up to 1080p 
• Annual Plan: None

Spanish Plan: $34.99/month

• One of the few lower-priced Spanish-only options around
• Wide selection of soccer, telenovelas, movies, and more
• Number of TV channels: 30+
• Local TV: Telemundo, UniMás, Univision
• Ads (on-demand library): Yes
• User profiles: 6
• Cloud DVR: Unlimited
• Simultaneous screens: 3
• Quality: Up to 1080p
• Annual Plan: None

NFL Sunday Ticket Bundled or Standalone: $349/year

• Every out-of-market Sunday afternoon NFL game
• Can be bundled with NFL RedZone, YouTube TV, or both
• Number of TV channels: Depends on bundle
• Local TV: Depends on bundle
• Ads (on-demand library): Yes
• User profiles: Depends on bundle
• Cloud DVR: Unlimited
• Simultaneous screens: Unlimited games at home plus 2 on the go
• Quality: 1080i and 720p
• Annual Plan: Only available annually

YouTube TV vs. the alternatives

YouTube TV certainly isn’t the only live TV streaming service out there. Here’s how YouTube TV’s features and fees stack up against the other live TV streaming services on the market. The table shows the key features and prices for the cheapest plan available with each service. So just because something isn’t listed doesn’t mean it’s not available. It may just be in a more expensive plan.

For more details about any of the other services, check our in-depth reviews for each.

What channels does YouTube TV have?

Local channels on YouTube TV

By local channels we mean the local affiliates of national broadcast television networks. (Not to be confused with local, independent TV stations.)

The Big 4 Networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX) are what people are looking for when it comes to TV, although PBS, The CW, and Spanish-language networks are included in this category—and have plenty of viewers as well.

YouTube TV almost has the full slate of local TV channels belonging to broadcast networks.

• ABC
• CBS
• FOX
• NBC
• The CW
• PBS
• MyNetworkTV
• Telemundo
• UniMás

News channels on YouTube TV

Some of the most popular news channels currently available on YouTube TV are:

• ABC News Live, CNBC, NBC News Now
• CNN, MSNBC
• FOX News Channel, FOX Business, LiveNow FOX
• BBC News, Cheddar News, Local Now, News Nation

Sports channels on YouTube TV

Some of the most popular sports channels currently available on YouTube TV are:

• ESPN 4K, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU
• Fox Sports 4K, FS1, FS2
• NBC Sports (in select markets), CBS Sports Network, TUDN
• ACCN, BTN, SECN
• Golf Channel, NBA TV, NFL Network, Tennis Channel

Specialty channels on YouTube TV

Specialty channels are those you commonly see on cable TV. They specialize in a certain type of programming or cater to a specific audience, such as music, movies, or education. They’re grouped together below depending on their specialty:

Here are some of the most popular specialty channels on YouTube TV:

• Specialty: A&E, BET, Bravo, Discovery, Food Network, History, Magnolia
• Music channels: CMT, MTV, VH1
• Entertainment channels: AMC, Comedy Central, Hallmark, Paramount Network, Sundance TV, SyFy
• Education: Animal Planet, National Geographic, Smithsonian Channel, TLC
• Kids: Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, PBS Kids, Universal Kids

Generalist channels on YouTube TV

Generalist cable channels offer a wide range of shows, including live sports, TV series, movies, and news. Unlike broadcast networks, they don’t have local affiliates so they broadcast the same content nationwide. Here are some of the most popular cable channels on YouTube TV:

• FreeForm
• TBS
• TNT
• USA

YouTube TV’s on-demand library

The on-demand library is one of YouTube TV’s most frustrating and poorest features. There’s no clear way to browse the on-demand library like you can with Hulu + Live TV. Even DirecTV Stream has a better on-demand library—and that’s not saying much.

Most of YouTube TV’s on-demand content is provided by the channels in your subscription, such as the major broadcast networks, AMC, ESPN, or TLC. So while there are thousands of hours of on-demand content on YouTube TV—you need to hunt for it. And with YouTube TV’s sub-par on-demand navigation, that gets annoying rather quickly. 

When searching for a movie, the momentary elation at finding it is often quickly usurped by discovering that you need to [A] rent it, [B] wait for it to air, or [C] subscribe to a paid add-on to watch it. None of these 3 outcomes is considered part of an on-demand library.

Movies on demand

Some of the most popular movies on YouTube TV right now are:

• The Amazing Spider-Man
• Avengers: Infinity War
• The Bourne Identity
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

TV shows on demand

Some of the most popular movies on YouTube TV right now are:

• Chicago P.D.
• Family Guy
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• The Rookie
• Young Sheldon

Add-on channels and packages

Premium Channels

YouTube TV offers a few premium channels to add à la carte on top of your base plan.

• AMC+: $7.99/month
• Max: $15.99/month
• Starz + MGM+: $11.99/month

What’s more interesting is that you can subscribe to a much longer list of channels without the need for the base plan. You can see the full list here, but some of the most popular channels are priced as follows:

• Cinemax: $9.99/month
• CuriousityStream: $2.99/month
• Discovery+: $4.99/month
• Fox Nation: $5.99/month
• Hallmark Movies Now: $5.99/month
• MGM+: $5.99/month
• NBA League Pass: $14.99/month
• Shudder: $5.99/month
• Starz: $9.99/month
• WNBA League Pass: $7.99/month or $24.99/season

Entertainment Plus: $29.99/month

This is a nice little 3-pack that saves you about $7/month. 

• Max
• Showtime
• Starz

Sports Plus: $10.99/month

A 15-channel add-on that mostly caters to specific interests, but includes a few popular premium sports channels that appeal to larger audiences.

• NFL RedZone
• Tennis Channel
• beIN SPORTS
• Stadium
• FOX Soccer Plus
• Billiard TV
• FanDuel TV
• Fight Network
• IMPACT Wrestling
• MAVTV
• Outside TV+
• PlayersTV
• PokerGO+
• SportsGrid
• VSiN

Spanish Plus: $14.99/month

This is for people who don’t sign up for the Spanish-language base plan and requires the English-language YouTube TV Base Plan. It gets you 25+ Spanish channels, including:

• Antena 3, EstrellaTV
• beIN Sports Español, ESPN Deportes, Fox Deportes
• Cine Latino, Cine Mexicano, SonyCine
• CNNe
• De Película, De Película Clásico
• Discovery en Español, Nat Geo Mundo
• Pasiones, Tlvnovelas
• Tr3s

4K Plus Add-on: $9.99/month

When it raised the price of its base plan, YouTube TV also cut the price of its 4K Plus add-on in half. But seeing as it was previously an eye-watering $19.99/month, the new price is still cause for pause. Especially seeing as other streaming services, such as Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV Stream, and Amazon Prime Video, include 4K content at no extra cost. Charging extra for 4K is so… Netflix.

As of April 2024 these are the 4K channels that YouTube TV currently offers: 

• Discovery
• ESPN
• FOX Sports
• FX
• Nat Geo
• NBA TV
• NBC Sports
• Tastemade

​​​​Cloud DVR and offline viewing for YouTube TV

One thing to keep in mind when shopping for a live TV streaming service is how much cloud DVR space it comes with. Unlimited space is almost the standard nowadays and you shouldn’t settle for less. But you should also note how long your recordings last.

YouTube TV Cloud DVR

Fortunately YouTube TV comes with unlimited DVR storage. Your live TV recordings expire automatically after 9 months.

There is no option to record individual episodes of a TV show. You add the show to your library and YouTube TV will record every episode. That means if you want to remove episodes to tidy up your library, you’re out of luck. You need to remove the entire show.

For recording sports, you can follow teams, leagues, or even groups of games—such as all the NFL playoff games. All the games available in your area will be recorded and saved. 

You can usually fast-forward through commercials in your DVR recordings.

YouTube TV downloads and offline viewing

Downloading YouTube TV to watch offline requires the 4K Plus Add-on for an extra $10/month. You can only download select DVR recordings to watch offline and can only watch them on mobile devices.

While we don’t like that it requires the 4K Plus Add-on, it’s still better than Hulu + Live TV and DirecTV Stream, which don’t let you watch your DVR recordings offline at all. 

YouTube TV interface and usability

Main Navigation

There are just 3 icons to choose from in the top-level menu: Library, Home, and Live.

Live is (obviously) the live TV channel guide. Channels can be sorted by Custom, Most Watched, A-Z, or Z-A. There are no channel numbers, which might take recent satellite and cable migrants time to get used to.

The Home screen is a hodgepodge of content, with Top Picks For You at the top, which are neither accurate or helpful. That’s followed by Resume Watching, Shows, then a row of YouTube TV trying to sell you add-ons. Below that there are shows they recommend you record on your DVR, followed by Sports, Upcoming Games, News, Dramas, and finally – Movies.

The Library page contains all of your completed and scheduled recordings.

On-demand Navigation

There’s no tab for on-demand content in the main navigation, even though there is somewhat of an on-demand home page. To get to it, click on the magnifying glass search icon. You then get a Browse menu with Sports, Shows, Movies, News, and Family.

Below that, is a row of links to all your Networks. That’s followed by rows of curated content like Trending, Popular, Leagues, etc.

Clicking on Movies gets you a long row of genre tags to refine your browsing experience further, but the layout and design aren’t conducive to casual browsing. Clicking into a movie brings up a page that tells you whether it’s VOD or you need to wait and record it.

Similarly, Shows offers 20+ tags to filter results, such as Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, and more. Within those tags are new tags to filter even further. But be careful what you click because you might filter out what you’re looking for.

For example, clicking on Shows > Drama listed Blue Bloods in the thumbnails on the resulting page. However, clicking on Shows > Drama > Crime Drama filtered out Blue Bloods (and Law & Order, S.W.A.T, NCIS, and more) and gave us a page with 32 shows we’ve never heard of. And to top things off, the Blue Bloods page on YouTube TV lists it under a single genre – Crime Drama.

This Blue Bloods issue on its own wouldn’t be such a big deal, but it serves as a prime example of how the entire platform operates.  

Playback controls

The playback controls on YouTube TV do the trick. There are icons/buttons to skip forward or backward 15 seconds and a quick link to add or remove the show from your library.

Language settings

Like most live TV streaming services, language options depend on what’s airing. And that means your options are typically limited to English subtitles. In browsers, YouTube TV offers plenty of visual options for your subtitles, including font family, color, and size, as well as background color, window color, and opacity.

There’s also an icon in the main playback overlay to toggle closed captioning on and off.

YouTube TV account sharing and simultaneous screens

Something you must keep in mind if you’re just switching from cable or satellite is the number of screens that you can watch at once. Streaming services aren’t like cable, where you can plug TVs into as many outlets as you can find. The limitations vary, and YouTube TV sits comfortably in the middle of the pack.

How many people can watch YouTube TV at once?

You can watch 3 screens at once with YouTube TV. These 3 devices can either be on your home network or on the go. The only caveat is that you need to log in and watch on your home network at least once every 90 days. This is in order to verify and maintain your local channels.

How many profiles can you make on YouTube TV?

Each YouTube TV account can support up to 6 accounts, including the main account. That means 5 other people can have their own DVR library, recommendations, watch history, and customizations.

However, unlike some streaming services, such as Hulu + Live TV, everyone needs to have their own Google account. So they’re not really profiles, they’re sub-accounts. 

This is better than DirecTV Stream, which doesn’t let you add any profiles or sub-accounts, but worse than Hulu + Live TV, which lets you create 6 profiles right in the app, without the need for names, emails, and verification.

YouTube TV supported devices

YouTube TV doesn’t have the most impressive lineup when it comes to device support, but it’s got the most popular platforms. For the most up-to-date list of devices compatible with YouTube TV, confirm your model on the official website’s devices page.

• Media players: Apple TV, Chromecast, FireTV, Roku, NVIDIA Shield
• Cable/Satellite STBs: None
• Phones & tablets: Android, iOS
• Smart TVs: Android TV, Hisense, LG, Samsung, Sharp Sony, Vizio
• Smart home: Google Nest
• Game consoles: Xbox, PlayStation
• Desktops & laptops: Most web browsers

YouTube TV streaming quality

Most live TV is still broadcast at 720p, with more and more becoming available in 1080p. Therefore, most of what you’ll see on YouTube TV (or any live TV streaming service) is 720p or 1080p.

There’s some 4K content, but you need to pay an extra 10 bucks a month for the 4K Plus add-on.

4K content is still not commonplace on live TV, but YouTube TV has some and it’s easy enough to find by simply clicking the 4K filter. When we checked in April 2023, we got 35 results. The shows were mostly sports, lifestyle, and educational shows. But there were more scripted shows than last year, such as Shogun, Yellowstone, and South Park.

Is there a YouTube TV free trial?

Yes. YouTube TV has a free trial. In fact, they have many, so always check to see how long your free trial is. Simply go to Settings > Membership to see how many days are left in your free trial.

YouTube TV free trials range from 7 days to a month, with shorter trials in between. You can only sign up for a free trial once (per account, per credit card), so be sure to choose a time when you’re going to be able to get the most out of it. 

Keep in mind that when you cancel during your free trial, you lose access to YouTube TV immediately. That means you can’t cancel it in advance and keep watching like you can with some services.

You should mark your trial end date down in your calendar to avoid getting charged for a month if you decide you don’t want to subscribe. 

Verdict: Who is YouTube TV good for in 2024?

First and foremost, YouTube TV is good for those people who are fans of network and cable TV. It’s got all of the broadcast networks most people are looking for as well as the most popular cable TV channels out there. It’s also one of the few live TV streaming services with PBS and MyNetworkTV.

It’s also a good choice for people who like to click around and channel surf live TV (or record it to watch on DVR). The channel guide isn’t our favorite on the market, but it’s easy enough to navigate. We also take umbrage with the inability to record single episodes, but the unlimited DVR means that’s not a deal-breaker.

Third, YouTube TV is a good option for sports fans. With a nearly full slate of ESPN and Fox Sports channels, NBC Sports RSNs, and college RSNs, as well as NFL Network, NBA TV, and more, it’s a good thing it comes with an unlimited DVR. And with the 4K Plus Add-on, you can watch college football, professional soccer, and some NFL, NHL, and NBA games in 4K quality.

Fourth, it’s a great choice for Spanish-language TV. There aren’t many live TV streaming services with a Spanish base plan. Most streaming services have Spanish channels in an add-on, meaning you need to pay for an English-language plan first. YouTube TV’s Spanish Plan is less than half the price of DirecTV Stream’s Spanish-language plan and has many of the same popular channels.

YouTube TV used to be one of our favorite options for live TV about 2 price hikes ago. But with continually climbing prices and charging extra for 4K, it risks falling out of favor. It’s still worth a look, especially for sports fans and those looking for only Spanish-language TV.