YouTube TV

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Although some video streaming services primarily feature on-demand or original content, others are designed to completely replace your cable subscription. YouTube TV takes the latter approach, offering more than 100 channels of news, sports, and entertainment in one package. It also has excellent DVR features, 4K streaming, the ability to download DVR recordings for offline viewing, and support for unlimited simultaneous streams on your home network. The service offers the best combination of channels and streaming specs, and its a la carte channel options give you cheaper alternatives to the high monthly base cost. For all this and more, YouTube TV is an Editors' Choice winner for live TV streaming services.

How Much Does YouTube TV Cost?

At $82.99 per month, YouTube is one of the most expensive video streaming services (though Hulu + Live TV charges the same price). Sling's Orange and Blue plans only cost $40 or $45 per month ($60 per month combined), but their live channel lineups are limited. If you want to keep costs down, Philo charges $28 per month for about 60 channels, though most fall in the entertainment genre, hence the abnormally low price for a live TV streaming service.

As for other live TV streaming services, Fubo starts at $79.99 per month, but it has pricier plans. The most expensive is DirecTV Stream starting at $101.98 per month, and it offers more complete channel packages (including those with RSNs).

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 $9.99 per month. Peacock has a robust $7.99 plan, while Tubi is free.

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 Max, Showtime, and Starz for $29.99 per month.

Further blurring the line between cable and online streaming, YouTube TV lets you subscribe to individual channels. The a la carte channels include Cinemax, Curiosity Stream, 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 PlayStation and Xbox.

YouTube TV lets you create six user accounts but limits you to three simultaneous users (which is about average). Google's 4K Plus add-on costs $9.99 per month. It unlocks support for unlimited 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.

What Channels Can You Watch on YouTube TV?

YouTube TV features a collection of more than 100 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 service 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 with 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 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.

Out-of-market Sunday afternoon NFL games are also on YouTube through NFL Sunday Ticket. For more NFL coverage, 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.

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. Other live TV services may offer a better range of content for specific areas. For example, Fubo 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.

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 gray. 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 on (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 is based 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.

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 Fubo as the only other live TV streaming service that offers any 4K live streams. As with Fubo, 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 Fubo'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 Fubo also offer on-demand 4K content.

To test YouTube TV's performance, we streamed a Thursday Night Football game on a Windows 10 desktop. We didn't encounter any performance lag or stuttering, 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 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.

Multiview and Stats

YouTube TV's multiview feature lets sports fans watch up to four streams at once on the same screen. A recent update lets you build your own multiview experience by picking custom games. 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.

When you have sports fired up, YouTube TV displays cool sports data such as key plays, scores, and stats. While watching a Knicks game, we enjoyed seeing the top scorers at a glance, and clips of monster dunks and dagger threes. You can even connect your fantasy football account (NFL Fantasy or Yahoo Fantasy) and track stats via YouTube TV's Fantasy View.

DVR Features and Accessibility

YouTube TV's DVR features compare favorably with the competition. 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, Fubo and Hulu both let you record unlimited hours of content. Sling TV lets you record up to 50 hours of content for no extra charge. 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 plus 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 allowed us 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 closed-captioning options, which is standard for most services. It lagged slightly behind the video stream in testing, but the subtitles seemed mostly accurate. YouTube TV includes a few 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 won't find anything like you get with Amazon Prime Video or Netflix. When this option is enabled on those services, scenes and actions 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, and TV-G shows and G and PG films. However, you must 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 and lock those settings with a PIN.

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. The Best YouTube Channels is worth exploring for no-cost entertainment.

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 good. The interface has clean lines, attractive colors, and clear tabs to separate content. A dark mode is now available on mobile, too. 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 monitor 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.

Can You Watch YouTube TV With a VPN?

A VPN can help you secure your privacy online and spoof your location. However, many video streaming services may block you from using a VPN since some content is subject to licensing rules or other geographic restrictions. YouTube TV's 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 TunnelBear and encountered 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 you subscribe to. 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.

Verdict: YouTube TV Is a Top Choice for Cord-Cutters

If you're looking to leave behind your cable subscription, 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 that is worthy of our Editors' Choice award alongside Hulu.