Coachella Music Festival to Stream on YouTube; Audiences Can Watch Multiple Stages Simultaneously with Multiview
Music fans will be able to pick from action on up to six stages, and watch four acts at a time using multiview on smart TVs.
Ever since the launch of YouTube TV’s multiview feature ahead of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, viewers have been clamoring for YouTube to expand the feature’s uses. Now it appears that audiences are going to get their wish; YouTube has announced that it will stream the 2024 Coachella music festival live over both of its weekends, and that audiences will be able to stream multiple acts at the same time. The move will certainly draw eyes to YouTube during Coachella, and it teases even further possibilities for multiview in the future.
- Multiview will allow Coachella watchers to stream up to four live stages at a time.
- YouTube will present six livestream feeds at a time each weekend of the festival.
- Viewers will also be able to use their second screens to buy Coachella-themed merchandise.
Coverage of the Coachella festival begins on the festival’s YouTube channel on Friday, April 12. YouTube will offer both weekends of Coachella at no cost to viewers, streaming the action on April 12-14 and again on April 19-21. Streams begin at 7 p.m. ET on both weekends.
Just like in 2023, YouTube will offer a total of six simultaneous streams of various stages, giving fans the ability to choose exactly which acts they want to see. Worried that two of your favorite performers are going on at the same time on different stages? Worry no longer, because YouTube is deploying multiview on its smart TV app for the festival, letting fans watch up to four stages at once and listen to whichever audio they choose.
YouTube’s Coachella coverage will give audiences plenty of opportunities to walk away with some swag, as well. Custom merchandise from artists like Tyler, The Creator, Doja Cat, Bleachers, Ice Spice and others is available, either through the shopping button in the left corner of the screen on mobile or desktop, or by swiping up on their smart TV and scanning a QR code with their phone.
Will Multiview Become Available for Other Non-Sports Events Soon?
Coachella 2024 will mark the first time YouTube will deploy multiview for a live, non-sports event outside of YouTube TV. Until now, multiview was only available for watching NCAA March Madness basketball, as well as NBA games while using NBA League Pass. During the 2023 NFL season, customers who subscribed to NFL Sunday Ticket were also able to use multiview.
YouTube has made some important upgrades to multiview this year. The platform rolled out the ability to customize multiview feeds in February, and in March it began allowing viewers to watch multiview on iPhone and iPad devices.
The updates could point to YouTube trying to expand multiview beyond the realm of sports. YouTube TV customers found some pre-selected news and business channel selections available to watch with multiview last June, but the options were frustratingly limited. Creating better multiview options for news and business channels that are customizable would be a wise move on YouTube’s part, especially in a U.S. presidential election year.
It’s a good bet that YouTube isn’t done expanding the functions of multiview this year, and its rollout for Coachella is just the next step. Fans can begin watching Coachella free on YouTube on Friday, April 12 at 7 p.m. ET, and use multiview to watch their favorite acts simultaneously.