YouTube TV will be huge. Apple must respond
It is the world’s largest online vid-slinger, after all
theregister.co.uk
When the world’s largest online silo of video content decides to come out and launch its own TV subscription service, including sought after live sports content, it’s not just the traditional pay TV industry which should be concerned, but the streaming giants too. YouTube TV is here and Apple has to return fire.
YouTube’s much anticipated TV service will roll out to the major markets in the US later this spring, and at a premium price point of $35 a month, the new service is a direct threat to AT&T’s Di-recTV Now, Dish Network’s Sling TV, and Sony’s Vue. At present, it will first launch in the US, but Google will be angling to get rights to take this international.
YouTube TV will launch with a skinny bundle of 40 channels combining networks from broadcast and cable, including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, Bravo, Disney Channel, Fox News, FX, MSNBC, Sprout and USA Network. It will roll out as a standalone app with six accounts available per subscription, and includes unlimited cloud DVR storage with no fixed term contract, allowing subscribers to cancel at any time.
Even at a monthly fee of $35, YouTube TV’s profit will be minimal given the carriage costs of these major networks, but converting just a fraction of its 1 billion viewers to paying members will chip away at the market share of cable and satellite TV. In fact, YouTube also announced this week that it now receives over 1 billion hours of video views on a daily basis. In comparison, Nielsen data suggests the entirety of US TV has a daily viewership of around 1.25 billion hours, a figure steadily dropping in recent years.
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