A few years back, Karl Bode wrote about YouTube TV’s 2020 price hike, going from $50/month for its base package, to $65/month. The framing of that post was spot on: Google was behaving much like that of a cable company, with the exact customer-angering actions being taken that drove so many people into YouTube TV’s arms to begin with. Regular price hikes devoid of any real additional value, channel packages filled with unwanted content, and so on. In its announcement of the 2020 price hike, here is how Google justified it to customers.
“We don’t take these decisions lightly, and realize how hard this is for our members. That said, this new price reflects the rising cost of content and we also believe it reflects the complete value of YouTube TV, from our breadth of content to the features that are changing how we watch live TV. YouTube TV is the only streaming service that includes a DVR with unlimited storage space, plus 6 accounts per household each with its own unique recommendations, and 3 concurrent streams. It’s all included in the base cost of YouTube TV, with no contract and no hidden fees.”
Got it? Google raised its YouTube TV rates for two reasons. The rising cost of content was one. The other was the true value for YouTube TV due to the listed features: lots of content, unlimited cloud DVR space, and multi-device streaming.
Well, YouTube rates are going up again, and the story is largely the same.
Due to the rising cost of content, we’ve updated our membership pricing to reflect the complete value of YouTube TV. The new price for a Base Plan is $82.99 per month. This change has been implemented since December 12, 2024.
The updated price will continue to include 100+ channels, a DVR with unlimited storage, up to 6 accounts per household, and 3 concurrent streams. No additional fees are required for broadcast, HD, set-top box, or DVR.
That’s so close to the previous message that you have to wonder if there was some copying/pasting going on here. I will say that it’s refreshing for a company to come right out and demonstrate via the written word that it is hiking prices without adding in one iota of value for the second time in a few years. And, given that, it would be quite nice if Google would be more transparent on the delta in costs in producing content. Otherwise, this just looks like typical shareholder-driven enshittification within the tech industry.
And because this is Google we’re talking about, it fumbled the communications on this fairly badly.
The move comes just days after a Verizon promotion on Facebook suggested that customers could save $10 per month on YouTube TV, in which the “Current subscription price of $82.99/mo applies.” As seen on 9to5Google, the verified TeamYouTube account responded on X (formerly Twitter) that it was aware Verizon promoted “the incorrect price for the YouTubeTV Base Plan.” It’s true that the price was incorrect—for three days, or about five weeks, depending on how you count.
Raising prices in the most confusing way possible isn’t exactly going to engender a great deal of goodwill from the customer base. Especially when you consider the brisk pace these price changes have undergone in the mere 7 years YouTube TV has been around.
YouTube TV launched for $35 per month in 2017. It rose to $40 in 2018, $50 in 2019, $65 in 2020, and then $73 in March 2023. Google did decrease the cost of upgrading from HD to 4K to $10 per month with its last price hike.
The move away from cable television had to, and always was going to, happen. What didn’t need to happen was for Google to ignore the lessons of cable TV’s past and instead slowly give in to the dark side, like a Luke Skywalker that gives into his hate and fails to make the positive changes as a result.
If Google wants to become the next Comcast, in other words, it ought not be surprised when it earns a Comcast-like reputation.
