YouTube TV: The Ultimate Streaming Service for Cord-Cutters?

March 20, 2020 Topic: Technology Blog Brand: The Buzz Tags: Cord CutterCable TVPay TVYouTube TVTechnology

YouTube TV: The Ultimate Streaming Service for Cord-Cutters?

If you’re tired of traditional cable TV’s constant runaround, then YouTube TV will surely be a refreshing change.

If you’re tired of traditional cable TV’s constant runaround, then YouTube TV will surely be a refreshing change.

Priced at just $50 a month, you’ll have access to 70-plus channels, all on an easy-to-use interface. Other than Sling TV Blue ($30), the price point is quite competitive when compared to other similar players like AT&T TV Now, Sony PlayStation Vue, Hulu with Live TV and FuboTV.

As for the hardware, there is none to speak of. All you need is a strong internet service and then download the app or just use your web browser. It’s simple as that.

What YouTube TV can give you as a customer is peace of mind. If you don’t like the service, you can cancel any time and move on with your life. There aren’t any ridiculous early-termination or equipment rental fees. Rest easy knowing that you as a cable TV subscriber finally have the power to change whenever you feel like it.

So is YouTube TV really worth it? Just from a financial perspective, it’s an adamant yes. Many DirecTV subscribers today are paying well over $150 per month. With YouTube TV, that’s a cost savings of $100 per month, or $1,200 per year! Just ask yourself: Is having access to 100 more channels that you rarely ever watch worth $1,200 a year?

Moreover, YouTube TV’s channel lineup is nothing to sneeze at. You will have full access to all sorts of sports, news and entertainment channels (just not HBO, MTV, NFL RedZone and Sunday Ticket). Local stations are available as well, so you don’t have to toggle back and forth between YouTube TV and your antenna.

Best of all, the service comes with unlimited DVR, eliminating all of those annoying DVR storage restrictions and fees that come with other popular services. YouTube TV’s DVR won’t erase your recordings until nine months have passed. And the device’s capabilities are on par with the best of the hardware DVRs currently available.

If flexibility is what you’re looking for, then YouTube TV definitely shines. You can have five users per account and it works without hiccups with Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV, along with dozens of smart TVs, phones and tablets.

The key takeaway is that you really can’t go wrong with YouTube TV. Sure, there may be some key channels that are missing, but if you can live without that (or subscribe individually to those channels) you’ll enjoy a wonderful TV-viewing experience without those cumbersome contracts and bills from traditional cable TV providers.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek and Arirang TV.

Image: A 3D-printed YouTube icon is seen in front of a displayed YouTube logo in this illustration taken October 25, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Ilustration/File Photo.