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YouTube TV Hits 5 Million Subscribers; Becomes Largest Live TV Streaming Service

Matt Tamanini
Matt is The Streamable's News Editor and resident Ohio State fan. You can find him covering everything from breaking news to streaming comparisons to sporting events. Matt is extremely well-rounded, having worked for the Big Ten Conference, BroadwayWorld, True Crime Obsessed, and Land-Grant Holy Land before joining TS. He cut the cord in 2014, streams with a Fire TV, and his favorite titles include "The Bear," "The Great British Bake Off," "Mrs. Davis," and anything on the Hallmark Channel.
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Matt Tamanini

While more and more people are moving away from traditional pay-TV subscriptions, that doesn’t mean that they are comfortable losing access the linear content that they have enjoyed for years. So, a cord-cutting middle ground has become popular in recent years which frees customers from the expensive, long-term subscriptions of cable and satellite while also giving them the live TV that they know and love.

Showing the growing popularity of live TV streaming services, on Tuesday, YouTube TV announced that it had become the first such service to cross 5 million subscribers, as of June 2022, after launching on Feb. 28, 2017.

In a blog on the company’s website, YouTube’s vice president of product management for YouTube TV and connected TV Christian Oestlien said, “When we launched YouTube TV five years ago, we wanted to make watching TV even more enjoyable — featuring a modern product experience without all the commitments, equipment fees and hassle. Today, we’re humbled that five million of you are currently on this journey with us.”

Technically, YouTube is saying that the service has “5 million subscribers and trialers,” since some portion of the people on the introductory two-week free trial undoubtedly won’t convert to paid customers, but the streamer’s paid subscriber number will still likely be significantly more than that of its closest competitor.

The last time that Disney shared a quarterly earnings report, the company announced that Hulu Live TV had dropped 200,000 subscribers to bring its total to 4.1 million. To be fair, live streaming services often see dips in the first quarter of the year as football fans unsubscribe, but that is a feature of these services, not a bug.

Allowing customers to come and go as they please is part of the value proposition offered by live streamers that stands in contrast to their pay-TV counterparts.

For comparison, Sling TV most recently reported having 2.25 million subscribers, sports-focused live streamer fuboTV reportedly has 1.05M subscribers, and the last reported numbers for Philo suggest that it has 800,000 subscribers.

Currently, YouTube TV offers over 100 channels, an unlimited cloud-based DVR, a wide array of Spanish-language content, and much more.

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YouTube TV

YouTube TV is a live TV streaming service with more than 60 channels for $72.99/month. This plan includes local channels, 32 of the top 35 cable channels, and regional sports networks (RSNs) in select markets. The service includes an unlimited DVR. The Streamable does not recommend YouTube TV. Consider DIRECTV STREAM for a better channel lineup or Hulu Live TV for its free Disney Bundle.

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YouTube TV offers select 4K content, including some live sports and on-demand shows, as part of their 4K Plus add-on. The 4K Plus add-on starts with a free trial and includes offline downloads and unlimited streams on your home network.

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Matt Tamanini
Matt is The Streamable's News Editor and resident Ohio State fan. You can find him covering everything from breaking news to streaming comparisons to sporting events. Matt is extremely well-rounded, having worked for the Big Ten Conference, BroadwayWorld, True Crime Obsessed, and Land-Grant Holy Land before joining TS. He cut the cord in 2014, streams with a Fire TV, and his favorite titles include "The Bear," "The Great British Bake Off," "Mrs. Davis," and anything on the Hallmark Channel.
Read full bio ›
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Hulu Live TV Cash Back

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  • Only valid once per household.
  • You must pay and maintain service for at least one month to be eligible.
  • You must click from The Streamable and complete your purchase on the Hulu Live TV website.
  • You’ll receive gift card 4-6 weeks after purchase (~2 weeks after your first month).
  • Cannot be combined with any other promotion and won’t be eligible if you try to use a coupon code or cash back from another site.