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Cord cutting has become a pretty popular thing in the past few years. With many customers opting to cut the cord for their cable or satellite provider, and watch TV through the internet on various devices. Services like Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV and even YouTube, have helped to make that a reality. While YouTube already has a ton of content available, it is mostly user-generated content. And not much from the big networks like ABC, CBS, ESPN and many others – other than short clips from their shows. But that might be changing soon.
YouTube has been rumored a few times to be working on a TV service. This service was previously reported to be named “Unplugged” and cost about $35 per month. Undercutting services like PlayStation Vue from Sony. The plan for YouTube, is to sell a number of channels in smaller bundles. Which is the same business model that Sling TV currently uses (Sling TV costs $20/month and offers different bundles on top of that for $5 or $10/month). However, this new report out of The Information, depicts that YouTube may skip smaller networks, and opt for the larger ones to be part of the service.
Of course, the big question here with YouTube is, how will they get people interested in their service? There are already a slew of services available – including their own YouTube Red, which is $10/month and bundled with Google Play Music Unlimited. YouTube will need to add some exclusive content and possibly channels that no other service has (Sling TV already has ABC, ESPN, CBS and many others), to really stand out and attract users. The report from The Information depicts that YouTube may have trouble selling this subscription, as they are already having quite a bit of difficulty in selling YouTube Red. And that most of the YouTube Red subscribers are actually subscribing to Google Play Music Unlimited.
Currently, there’s no word on when this service would be available. Additionally, ABC, ESPN and CBS have not yet signed a contract with YouTube. With this report stating that the networks are “firmly expected” to be part of YouTube’s new subscription service. We should hear more on “Unplugged” in the next few months, though.