YouTube TV Review: Everything You Need to Know

In Brief

After many years of daily testing, our experience found YouTube TV to be a reliable, easy-to-use live TV streaming solution with a very strong array of channels. We love the unlimited cloud DVR and the smooth user interface, especially on mobile devices. YouTube TV may not be right for you if you want specific sports channels, if you want on-demand originals, or if you are trying to save money.

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In-Depth Review

YouTube TV is one of several live TV streaming services. These services allow you to watch most popular TV channels without a cable subscription and without a contract. The service launched in 2017 and is one of the most popular live TV streaming services available today. It features a strong lineup of channels including news, sports, and local options. There are no cancellation fees.

The channel lineup on YouTube TV ranks among the best in streaming. While it does lack A&E, History, and Lifetime, we loved the overall channel selection. It has all the top news, sports, and entertainment channels, with enough great TV for the whole family. One feature that especially impressed us was the ability to set a custom channel guide. This is a great feature that allows you to rearrange the lineup and eliminate channels you never watch.

But where YouTube TV falls short is the lack of on-demand originals. If you get Hulu Live TV, for example, you’ll get free access to the Hulu library with titles like “Only Murders in the Building” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.” That’s not a dealbreaker for us, but we wish YouTube TV offered something more for its upper-tier price.

We found the unlimited cloud DVR very easy to use. We were able to add titles to the record queue with just a few clicks, but it’s especially easy to add recordings with your mobile device. Some users might be put off by the fact that YouTube TV records every episode of a show; there’s no way to designate just one episode for recording. But in our tests, this was only a minor annoyance unless you’re trying to locate one episode of a Monday-Friday show.

One problem that plagues lots of streaming services is the lack of variety in commercials. When we tested YouTube TV, we encountered this problem over and over. In one 20-minute span, we were subjected to the same commercial five times.

Although we were frustrated by the lack of variety in commercials, YouTube TV does have a unique feature that helps with ad fatigue. During select commercial breaks, you may see a relaxing nature scene with the message, “Enjoy the zen.” That treat is one of YouTube TV’s best features.

The YouTube TV’s Interface

While The Streamable staff has tested hundreds of streaming platforms, YouTube TV is among the best for its user interface. Whether on an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or a Sony OLED TV, we found the menus and navigation to be straightforward. One exception is the DVR library. When we went to find specific titles in our YouTube TV library, the menus were a bit counterintuitive, and it can be frustrating to find a specific recording.

When we tested the YouTube TV image quality, we found that almost every channel came through in 720p resolution. Picture quality is a frequent complaint among YouTube TV users, and TV fans who demand the best image will likely be disappointed.

While YouTube TV offers a multiview feature to provide as many as four channels at once, we were disappointed that you can’t choose the channels you want in each of the four boxes. Your options are preset by YouTube TV. In our tests, we liked the feature, but it was frustrating to see channels we didn’t want.

YouTube TV for Sunday Ticket & Sports

If you love a specific NFL team outside your home market, we found NFL Sunday Ticket to be the most straightforward way to follow your favorite franchise. You’ll be able to watch every Sunday afternoon out-of-market game. We think the price is far too high for the value, however. Unless you need to see every play of your chosen team, we believe the widely available NFL RedZone channel is a more entertaining option. That channel shows every big play from every Sunday afternoon game. It’s seven hours of commercial-free real-time football highlights, and the channel becomes positively electric when several games come down to the wire. It’s indispensable, and our preferred football solution. You can get RedZone on YouTube TV, but we found it’s less expensive with a provider like Sling TV. If you must get NFL Sunday Ticket, you can pay to watch it on your TV’s YouTube app without a YouTube TV subscription.

If you are a sports fan, YouTube TV may not be your best choice. In our tests, YouTube TV was limited to a handful of regional sports networks. Our tests show DIRECTV STREAM and Fubo have the best lineups of RSNs, though you will pay a premium to access them. We understand that YouTube TV may not want to pay the required carriage fees for those RSNs, but it would be nice if they offered it as an option for subscribers willing to pay up.

How Much Does YouTube TV Cost?

One major knock on YouTube TV is its lack of flexible pricing. Our favorite live TV providers (DIRECTV STREAM and Sling TV) offer different tiers of channels at different price points. To use YouTube TV, you have to enter at $82.99. That’s disappointing since most of us only want to watch a handful of channels. It is also a large jump from the $35 per month subscription price that we paid YouTube TV in 2017 when they introduced the service.

YouTube TV does have a 4K package, but it costs $9.99/month after a 30-day free trial. Although not every program is available in 4K, you will see it on select shows on Discovery, ESPN, FOX Sports, FX, Nat Geo, NBC Sports, Tastemade, and NBA TV.

Specs

Our tests for streaming reviews include device compatibility, on-demand access, resolution, frames per second, sound quality, latency, and pricing. Here’s where YouTube TV lands in these categories:

Device Compatibility: YouTube TV works on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku, Android TV, iPhone/iPad, Android Phone/Tablet, Mac, Windows, PlayStation, Xbox, LG Smart TV, Samsung Smart TV, Sony Smart TV, and VIZIO Smart TV. See the full list of YouTube TV compatible devices here.

DVR: YouTube TV includes an unlimited cloud DVR. Recordings are saved for nine months. The DVR will record all episodes of a show - you cannot designate a single-episode recording.

Resolution: Most YouTube TV channels are broadcast in 720p. A 4K add-on is available for $9.99/month.

FPS: Most YouTube TV video is available in 60 frames per second, though very few movies or TV shows record in this format, so there’s no real advantage here.

Sound: 5.1 surround sound is available on select programs, but you will need a compatible device to receive the signal and send it to a receiver. You also won’t notice any difference without a 5.1 speaker setup.

Latency: We tested the broadcast delay with a stopwatch and found that YouTube TV’s signal lagged about 25 seconds behind an antenna, which is slightly better than average.

Price and Feature Add-Ons: YouTube TV costs $82.99 per month. If you choose to add the 4K package, that costs an additional $9.99/month after a 30-day free trial.

Channels

What Channels Can You Watch on YouTube TV?

As we mentioned in our in-depth review above, YouTube TV channels are what makes YouTube TV such a popular service for live sports, shows, and events. They carry most of what you would want in a full streaming service but do lack in some areas. All plans include local networks (CBS, NBC, FOX, and ABC), top sports networks like ESPN, FS1, USA, and NFL Network, live news like CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, and entertainment channels like Bravo and HGTV.

To see if YouTube TV is the best choice for your favorite channels, consult our Service Matchmaker.

We’ve broken down the different types of channels below.

Professional Sports Programming: YouTube TV carries nearly all the national pro sports channels. You’ll see events that air on CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, ESPN, FS1, TNT, TBS, and more. And when it comes to the league-affiliated channels, you have the option to add NBA TV, NFL Network, and NFL RedZone. However, you cannot use YouTube TV to watch MLB Network or NHL Network, nor will you find any soccer games that are on MLS Season Pass. Additionally, you may not know when a professional sports channel may disappear from the service, as we reported in 2020 when YouTube TV dropped the Tennis Channel without notice. (It has since brought back the channel, however, as of June 2023 within the Sports Pack Add-On which costs $10.99 per month.)

College Sports Programming: If you’re a college sports fan, YouTube TV offers plenty to enjoy. You’ll get ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPNU, and SEC Network included in your base plan. Most live TV streamers charge significantly more to get these in your lineup, which is why a lot of people (including ourselves) have splurged on YouTube TV during the college football season. However, if you are a Texas fan, YouTube TV doesn’t carry the Longhorn Network.

Regional Sports Networks: While YouTube TV is a great choice for most cord-cutters, we do not recommend it if you need to see a regional sports network. The only RSNs available on YouTube TV are Monumental Sports Network, NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports Boston, NBC Sports Chicago, NBC Sports Philadelphia, and SportsNet NY. You’ll notice that Bally Sports Networks, which are the biggest RSNs in the U.S., are not part of YouTube TV’s lineup. However, you can supplement with the Bally Sports+ App, which will cost you $19.99 per month.

Local Programming: YouTube TV has live local channels, including CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, CW, PBS, Univision, and Telemundo. This means that even if you can’t get a good signal with your OTA antenna, you can watch your favorite network TV shows. Live local channels are available only in certain markets, but this includes most cities including my local Chicago channels such as ABC Channel 7 (WLS), CBS Channel 2 (WBBM), NBC Channel 5 (WMAQ), Fox Channel 32 (WFLD), and THE CW Channel 50 (WPWR) and Univision (Channel 66).

Top Cable Channels: Outside of the major local and sports channels, YouTube TV has 32 of the top 35 cable channels. You will get most of your favorite cable channels like ESPN, CNN, Fox News, Bravo, HGTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Hallmark, Discovery, and more. The only major channels YouTube TV is missing are A&E, History, and Lifetime.

YouTube TV Packages & Add-Ons

Add-Ons: If you want additional channels, they have a Sports Add-on, which includes NFL RedZone, as well as an Entertainment Add-on, which bundles premium channels, and Español Add-on, which has Spanish-language cable channels. YouTube TV also has a 4K Plus Add-on that offers unlimited at-home streams, offline downloads, and some live content in 4K. Each add-on ranges in price, from around $10 per month up to $30 per month for the Entertainment Add-on.

Many premium channels can be added to YouTube TV, but we recommend standalone streamers because there are sometimes glitches signing into various apps with YouTube TV credentials. (Max kept forcing us to sign in over and over, even though we subscribed to HBO through YouTube TV.)

4K Channels: As mentioned, to get 4K streaming quality, you must have the 4K Add-On. However, there are only 8 channels that support 4K on YouTube TV based on our tests. Those include Discovery, ESPN, FOX Sports, FX, Nat Geo, NBC Sports, Tastemade, and NBA TV.

To compare channels across live TV streaming services, check out our full Live TV Streaming review or use our Streaming TV Channel Lookup tool at the bottom of this article.

Features

In our tests, we found YouTube TV allows users to create up to six individual accounts. That allows you to set up custom channel lineups and have separate DVR libraries for every member of your family. YouTube TV offers three simultaneous streams. If you pay for the 4K Plus add-on, you’ll unlock unlimited streams.

4K Streaming: Speaking of 4K, you will only see 4K content if you have a 4K TV and a 4K-capable streaming device. With YouTube TV, that means a 4K Android TV model like Sony Bravia and others, or Samsung, LG and HiSense 4K smart TVs (2019 or later). 4K-compatible streaming devices include 4K Roku devices, Apple TV 4K (2021), PS4 Pro, Amazon Fire 4K Stick (1st Gen - 2018), and Nvidia Shield. Based on the limitation of the available channels, and the poor image quality from local sources for even 4K-worthy viewing, we found that it was better to use our TV Everywhere credentials gained from our YTTV subscription and log into the Fox Sports app than it was to view through YouTube TV’s platform.

Multiview: YouTube TV offers the ability to watch up to four channels at once, though you can’t choose which channels you’re watching. When we tested the feature, we found it disappointing. (The now-defunct PlayStation Vue allowed a fully customizable version of this feature several years ago.) Multiview is a nice feature to have, but its clumsy implementation left us frustrated.

Out of Home Viewing: Don’t plan on being able to move freely with YouTube TV. When you sign in, you’ll provide your home zip code and YouTube TV will likely ping your IP for location data. You can only change your home area twice per year and you have to be physically in your new home area to update your home area with YouTube TV. We discovered that if you travel outside of your home area, you can view local programs in the location you travel to, but you can’t record anything outside of your home area. Similarly, when you travel outside of your home area, you can’t watch local networks airing in your home area. If you’re a frequent traveler, make sure to use YouTube TV at least once every 3 months in your home area.

NFL Sunday Ticket: If you love football, YouTube TV is home to NFL Sunday Ticket. The package allows you to see every out-of-market NFL game on Sunday afternoons. It’s expensive, however. The Sunday Ticket package alone is $349 per year. You can choose to add RedZone for a total of $389 per year. (You can get NFL Sunday Ticket without the YouTube TV package, but the price is even higher.)

In our experience, the widely available NFL RedZone is a superior way to watch Sunday football since you won’t have commercials or injury time-outs. The team behind the scenes takes you to every big play and scoring drive. Sunday Ticket requires you to flip the channels yourself, though multiview can help somewhat.

If you really, truly want to see every snap of your favorite out-of-town team, Sunday Ticket is still your best option, however.

Devices

YouTube TV is available on almost all internet-capable devices. We tested it across multiple screens and devices and found that the installation and quality didn’t vary. If you are looking for a full list of YouTube TV compatible devices, we’ve got you covered:

Is YouTube TV Worth It?

There’s a lot to love about YouTube TV. It’s one of the most popular live TV streaming options, but it fails in some key areas such as regional sports, commercial breaks, cheaper channel plans, and viewability. Based on our tests with YouTube TV and the other Live TV streaming platforms, this is what we would suggest based on price, selection, and features:

• If you want to save money, Sling TV is the superior option.
• If you want a better channel selection and far more regional sports networks, DIRECTV STREAM is our choice.
• Hulu Live TV offers nearly the same features as YouTube TV, but gives you free Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu on demand.
• If your budget is stretched tight, Philo gives you some top-tier cable channels at the lowest possible price.

I personally used YouTube TV as my go-to TV option for three years and I rarely had problems aside from the clunky multiview option and some navigation frustration in the DVR. But ultimately, I abandoned the service because the cost was too high. After using The Streamable’s Service Matchmaker, I found that Sling TV offered the channels I needed most at a fraction of the cost.