YouTube TV is working on a fix for an issue that seems to block family members from using their account to watch live TV. While annoying, YouTube is aware of the problem and has suggested a workaround in the meantime.
One of the benefits of a YouTube TV subscription is that it can be shared with other people. While most services offer the ability to share with others, YouTube TV’s sharing works at the account level. Basically, additional members use their own email address to access the service just like it was their own subscription.
While this does lead to additional benefits, like more of a personalized experience, it can also lead to authentication issues, which is exactly what some people are now experiencing. According to subscriber reports, family members are suddenly unable to use their own accounts to access the service.
As the main accounts seem to work fine, the issue seems to be specifically affecting family member accounts. As an example of the issue, family members see a message advising them that their preview has ended and asking them to sign up to continue watching.
Reports of this issue have been circulating for more than a week now, and in reply to one of them, Team YouTube yesterday confirmed that it is aware of the problem and that the team is currently working on a fix.
In addition, the updated Team YouTube reply suggested removing and re-adding affected family members should work as a temporary fix.
Here’s the updated response in full:
“Just wanted to give an update — engineering is aware of this & is currently looking into how to fix it. In the meantime, there is a workaround. If you remove the family member & re-add them then they should be able to login again. I’ll let you know when I hear more info on this, though!”
While it remains unclear whether the workaround will work for every account affected by the issue, it is worth trying while YouTube continues to work on more of a long-term fix.
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