YouTube TV has arrived for $35 a month in select cities, allowing consumers in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, LA, and Philadelphia to try out the new service, with more locations planned for the future. YouTube hasn’t yet mentioned when they plan to roll out the service when it comes to additional cities beyond these first five, but those who live outside of the areas where YouTube TV is currently available will still be able to sign up to show their interest in giving it a shot, which will consist of sharing their email address so that they can be contacted when the service goes live in their city.
YouTube TV works over the internet much like you get with streaming TV shows and movies through services like Hulu, but YouTube TV offers live TV so you can watch all your favorite shows just as you would with a service from your traditional cable provider. The $35 a month is the only membership package and YouTube is giving users a test run with a 1-month free trial to see how they like it before deciding to commit to monthly payments for access to all the channels that are included.
Speaking of which, YouTube TV includes a wide range of different channels with live access like abc, FOX, The CW, ESPN, ESPN2, syfy, USA, and FX, while networks like amc, IFC and others will be added in the near future. There are also add-on networks like SHOWTIME for an additional $11 a month and the service also includes all of the YouTube Red original content that you get with the YouTube Red subscription so consumers will have another way to watch those particular shows. YouTube TV supports Chromecast which means you can watch live TV on the go and when you get home you can continue watching on the big screen by casting it. As part of a limited time promotion YouTube is giving away free Chromecasts to subscribers after they make their first monthly payment, though they do note that supplies are limited on these so not everyone will get one. The service also includes a Cloud-based DVR so subscribers can record all of their favorite live TV shows to playback later when they actually have the time to watch them, and there’s no limit to how much you can store in the DVR, though there is a time limit. That being said recordings are kept for up to nine months, which should be plenty of time for most people. One last perk – multi-user access. Not everyone watches the same shows or has the same TV interests, and YouTube knows this which is why they’ve made it so YouTube TV will support up to six unique Google accounts, which can be shared with other members in the home or you can share the service with friends, and each account gets their own personalized content so everyone will only be accessing what they want to watch. If you live in a supported city and want to try YouTube TV for the first month, their site is now live so you can get started.