It may seem like YouTube TV is always increasing the price but the live TV service has only encountered four price increases in the six years it has been operating. The most recent of which arrived in March 2023 and marked the first price increase in almost three years. In this article, we are taking a look back at every one of those YouTube TV price increases.
When YouTube TV first launched, it offered incredible value to subscribers. The channel lineup was good, subscribers were gifted with a free and unlimited cloud DVR, and the experience was pretty reliable in general. Best of all, a subscription only cost $35 per month. During this initial period, however, YouTube TV wasn’t available everywhere, with the service gradually rolling out to new locations over time.
In spite of originally launching in 2017, YouTube TV didn’t officially claim to offer live TV nationwide until 2019.
Even before the service had officially gone nationwide, the price had already started to creep up. Other changes, including adjustments to the channel lineup, also started to become a regular occurrence as well. Over the years since, YouTube TV has continually refined the channel lineup as well as the cost of its base live TV plan.
YouTube TV price increase summary
Since launching in 2017, the cost of a YouTube TV subscription has more than doubled. Below is a summary of every YouTube TV price increase so far.
| Date | Increase p/m | Price p/m |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 2017 | Service launch | $34.99 |
| March 2018 | $5 | $39.99 |
| April 2019 | $10 | $49.99 |
| June 2020 | $15 | $64.99 |
| March 2023 | $8 | $72.99 |
YouTube TV increases to $40/month
As mentioned, YouTube TV first launched in the United States in February 2017 with a standard subscription priced at $34.99 per month. The first proper price hike arrived in March 2018 when the cost of a YouTube TV subscription increased by $5 to $39.99 per month.
The 2018 price increase was actually announced on February 14 but didn’t take effect until March 13, providing consumers with a one-month warning. Furthermore, this price increase was only for those signing up to the service after that date. All existing subscribers, as well as those that signed up to the service between Feb. 14 and March 13, were guaranteed to be locked in at the $35 per month rate once the price increase took effect.
The company attempted to soften the blow of the price rise by also announcing that it was adding a number of new channels to the lineup. In fact, the change in channel lineup took effect before the price increased did, resulting in subscribers gaining access to Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, among others, in February 2018.
YouTube TV increases to $50/month
The second major price increase for YouTube TV arrived in April of 2019 and this one was different for a number of reasons. Firstly, the amount that a subscription increased by was $10 per month, double the previous price increase and taking the total to $49.99 per month. Secondly, the 2019 change also affected existing subscribers, resulting in the first YouTube TV price increase to universally impact all subscribers.
As this price increase also affected existing subscribers, those that had stayed with the service since the very early days were the worst hit. Any subscriber who had signed up before the 2018 price increase took affect were locked in at $34.99 per month. However, as they were also subjected to the same increase to $49.99 per month, this resulted in a price increase of $15 per month for those legacy subscribers. While the price increase took affect from April 10 (2019) for new subscribers, existing subscribers didn’t see their prices increase until on or after May 13 (2019), depending on their individual billing cycle.
Similar to the previous 2018 situation, YouTube TV once again tried to soften the blow of the 2019 price increase by adding new channels. At the time of announcing the price increase, YouTube TV confirmed that the Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, and MotorTrend were all being added to the channel lineup.
Even though the price increase took effect the same day, the various Discovery-related channels didn’t arrive until later in the year.
YouTube TV increases to $65/month
The next YouTube TV price increase arrived in June of 2020 and took the cost of a subscription up to $64.99 per month. This change took effect on June 30 (2020) for anyone signing up through the YouTube TV website, while existing subscribers didn’t see their price change until on or after July 30 (2020), depending on their individual billing cycle.
Similar to the 2019 price increase, this was also one which affected both new and existing subscribers. Not only did this result in a $15 price increase per month for all subscribers, it also meant the cost of YouTube TV had increased by as much as $30 between March 2019 and July 2020 for those that had signed up to the service before March 2018.
As had been the case with the previous price increases, YouTube TV again announced the availability of new channels while announcing the price increase. This time it was the turn of various ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global) channels, with YouTube TV subscribers gaining access to BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land and VH1.
Technically, these channels had previously been confirmed as coming soon, but it was only when the 2020 price increase was announced that they were added to the base YouTube TV subscription.
YouTube TV increases to $73/month
After almost three years without a price increase, YouTube TV announced it was increasing the cost of its base plan to $72.99 per month. The confirmation came on March 16, 2023, and the price increase took immediate effect for new subscribers. For existing subscribers, the change takes place on or after April 18, depending on their individual billing cycle.
Compared to previous price increases, the March 2023 felt a little different. YouTube TV usually announces price increases along with new channels, presumably in a bid to soften the blow, but that wasn’t the case this time. Instead, YouTube TV used this opportunity to announce a price cut for its 4K Plus add-on. Up until now, and excluding any promotional pricing, the cost of 4K Plus was $19.99 per month. Following the base plan price increase, the cost of the 4K upgrade decreased to $9.99 per month.
It is also worth noting that the March 2020 price increase arrived just days after YouTube TV announced early access to its long-awaited Multiview feature, making it possible to watch multiple feeds on the one screen.
YouTube TV still offers good value overall
YouTube TV has encountered four major price increases since the service launched. The greatest increase was $15 per month which took the cost of a YouTube TV subscription up to $64.99 per month price. The most recent price increase arrived in March of 2023, added $8 and increasing the price of the base plan to $72.99 per month.
In spite of four price increases that have resulted in the base cost more than doubling over the years, YouTube TV continues to offer good value overall. The combination of a decent selection of channels, an unlimited DVR, and additional premium features, makes YouTube TV a good option.
This is even more true when considering all of the other live TV streaming services have gone through their own price increases over the past few years, with many of them now either the same price or more expensive than YouTube TV.
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