YouTube TV to Offer Another Alternative for Cord Cutters
Google will soon be competing with the likes of Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, and DirecTV Now. Set to debut within a few months in a new standalone app, the $35-per-month YouTube TV service will feature about three dozen channels, including ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, as well as cable stalwarts like ESPN and Fox News. Google says the service will be designed primarily for mobile but will also work with computers and its Chromecast streaming devices. It’s slated to have a cloud-based DVR with unlimited storage and a Google AI-powered recommendation system. We’re guessing YouTube TV will be limited to U.S. viewers, but no details on international possibilities were mentioned.
Seems kind of expensive. For about the same price I can get cable TV, can record on my computer, and playback my way with full editing controls. Of course, the Elgato interface is no longer sold so that would not be an option for newcomers.
Comcast here charges ~$55/month for the cheapest plant that includes all these channels plus at least $10/month for DVR hardware (some of the content is available from their on demand service available through their cheaper hardware).
The problem of doing recordings yourself are getting the channel and start/stop times right, even when I had Comcast's DVR I had to add some "padding" to shows, especially on Sundays when sports would often make them start late.
I don't care about sports or cable news so giving up cable TV was relatively easy. I'm currently satisfied by Hulu, Netflix (both streaming and disc) and sometimes HBO Now. Oh, and I just started using Comedy Central's Roku app to watch The Daily Show and @midnight after Viacom's agreement with Hulu expired. The most likely reason I'd change and/or start spending more on something else is if more content agreements like that end, I already wait for a couple of CBS shows to show up on Netflix (streaming or disc) because I'm not willing to pay them for their own streaming option.