YouTube TV Gains Support for 4K Streaming and 5.1 Surround Sound

[mnsportsgeek]

I don't recall YTTV starting out as a niche (skinny bundle.) I recall it starting out cheap. But it always had a fairly full cable package at least from what I remember. Yes they added some channels along the way and gradually got the local networks in most every area of the country. But I don't think it was ever a skinny bundle like Sling.

And Sling's price has increased dramatically as well. It used to be $20 maybe even $15 for one of their skinny packages. Now it's $35 to start.

The reality is the early prices were loss leaders to grow the services. And again, the price of cable channels is largely dictated by the big media companies who own the channels. The other reality is customers demanded additional channels. Turns out there was a reason for the cable package being what it is.

To say YouTube was always just like cable is incorrect. They are now, but that isn’t how it started. It was never as skinny as Sling, but they didn’t have the cable bloat. They were missing Discovery, Turner, all of the branded sports networks and more. Their niche was sports and that was readily apparent in their advertising back in 2018.

And you recognize how much of a stretch it is to compare YouTube’s price increases to Sling, right? Sling went from $25 to $35 over like 6 years. Not sure where you’re remembering cheaper. Maybe a promo at one point. Or a smaller side package that wasn’t Sling Blue or Orange.

YouTube went from $35 to $65 and now is tacking on another $20 to watch a 4K sports game once in a blue moon. Prices will always increase over time, but YouTube increasing as much as it has in 3 years is comical.

The difference is clear. One added every channel they could get their paws on. The other stuck to what it promised from the start, and at the end of the day it didnt really buy them many more subscribers.

 

[randyhudson]

4K is hilarious. They still don’t have 1080 for the 4 major networks.

 

[maxxodd]

I thought my $45 /mo for gigabit internet and 220 channels was expensive.

No you didn’t.

 

[4jasontv]

No you didn’t.

I didn’t?

 

[x-evil-x]

What about offering hdr and 5.1 support on YouTube content(not tv). I’m sure tons of people want 5.1 on YouTube. 2 channel for everything is a bit 20 year old technology. People should have the option to upload things in 5.1 or even atoms nowadays.

 

[ds2000]

Just use youtube through brave, the ads are gone. Their pricing is madness.

 

[One2Grift]

Love 4K content but that’s some steep pricing. I cut the cord because cable was expensive and I just didn’t watch the more expensive channels (ESPN, cable news). I definitely did not cut the cord to still pay a lot for channels I don’t watch, but! in 4K.( I can live with 1080 and even 720p).

Plus I have ATV+ to see 4K content and I hear it’s content is considered awards worthy in critics circles. I know I love that one show….there was one show I think ….I can’t remember the name ?
I did actually really like Tiny World and Earth At Night. In 4K but not sure if upscaled. Used my APP for E1 Earth At Night sound. Amazing listening to the sound of the lion’s roar and the general sound of nighttime amongst the pride.

 

[JimmyHook]

Google has perfected the art of misreading markets. See dead and zombie products…

 

[mattopotamus]

I don't get it. Youtube TV is basically Cable TV over streaming. What content on Cable TV is 4k?

my guess is on demand content. Also, YouTube TV is very compressed so I can only imagine how poor the 4K content will look.

 

[rezwits]

What's stupid is "supposedly" youtube videos have had 5.1 audio and such even atmos in just regular user's posts! So you can get 5.1 in just day to day use of youtube? Or it's never been there? Man I am 100% let down by Alphabet -> Google -> YouTube...etc they are just trash now to me or in other words dead to me...

I was never gonna buy the YouTube "Subscription" cause as others have said practically $100 for a streaming service!! heck cable tv + internet is a little over that price... yeesh!

 

[GDF]

Fubo broadcast some sporting events in 4K, and they do not charge extra. The selection of 4K shows is very limited.

The following events are available in 4K on fuboTV:

DATE	TIME (ET)	EVENT/LEAGUE	MATCHUP	CHANNEL
13-Jul	8:00 PM	MLB	MLB All-Star Game	FOX 4K
12-Aug	7:00 PM	MLB	Yankees vs. White Sox	FOX 4K
11-Sep	7:30 PM	MLB	Yankees vs. Mets	FOX 4K

Is it all just upscaled though and not true 4K? If so, it really does not look any different than what would be upscale on a good tv.

 

[GDF]

Still better than cable. Show me a cable with the same channel line up, unlimited streams, unlimited DVR and offline DVR downloads, cancel anytime with a single click and ability to pause. I'll wait.

True, but you can bundle cable with internet and you wind up way more ahead. Much cheaper at least by me for Spectrum and WOW. And with Spectrum you can cancel at any time, but not sure why you would as it is much cheaper for the first year or two than these streaming services.

Great - that they finally offer 5.1 audio. ATTNow has had that for a long time and was one of the short falls of Youtube TV.

 

[nikaru]

YouTube should have some hell of content in order to try charge more than 1000$ a year for subscription. I pay less than that for Netflix 4K subscription + the electricity bill + the LG OLED TV depreciation, combined.

 

[mattopotamus]

YouTube should have some hell of content in order to try charge more than 1000$ a year for subscription. I pay less than that for Netflix 4K subscription + the electricity bill + the LG OLED TV depreciation, combined.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone reference TV depreciation haha

 

[spitcoff]

Drops the number of streams so split with others and bring the cost down.

 

[bn-7bc]

Fubo broadcast some sporting events in 4K, and they do not charge extra. The selection of 4K shows is very limited.

The following events are available in 4K on fuboTV:

DATE	TIME (ET)	EVENT/LEAGUE	MATCHUP	CHANNEL
13-Jul	8:00 PM	MLB	MLB All-Star Game	FOX 4K
12-Aug	7:00 PM	MLB	Yankees vs. White Sox	FOX 4K
11-Sep	7:30 PM	MLB	Yankees vs. Mets	FOX 4K

Hmm, 2 of the 3 games are Yankees vs someone, I wonder if those ar Yankeess home games, Do all MLB stadia have facilities for producing 4k (wether staff is local or remote)

 

[bn-7bc]

Too much, especially since the non-TV portion of YouScrewed doesn't even support Dolby Vision. Does the TV portion? Regardless, $20 extra for a handful of shows that will be offered in 4K isn't worth it. There are still a few cable companies, the last time I checked anyway, that charged extra for HD programming, and HD has been the standard for a lot of years now. Bottom line, getting TV programming these days equals paying a king's ransom regardless of whether you choose cable, satellite, or streaming.

Well how much content destined for YT (the non tv part) is produced in Dolby vision to begin with. Dolby vision is not exactly new, but if we look at traditional distribution channeløs I'm not surprised, Linear tv (ie broadcast/cable) Sorry only HLG here if any at all, Physical media: well UHD BD only, and iirc not all studios. Unfortunately (for broadcasters) Dolby vision ,as far as I know, lacks one important feature: Graceful fallback for non compatible devices, ie the broadcaster would need to provide 2 separate program streams, One non hdr 4k stream for non dolby vision tvs and one Dolby vision steam for the viewers with a compatible tv, thus doubling their multiplex bandwidth costs. What HLG they only need one (although slightly larger) multiplex allocation to satisfy all 4k viewers. Now you are a broadcaster which format will you order you content in? Ding, Ding Ding, congrats for choosing HLG. Or did I get bogged down in technicalities, didi you use Dolby vision as a shorthand for HDR? In that case never mind. I might have focused a bit too much on Broadcast but since streaming does not have the either/or choice (ok you might need to double the storage in your dc but bandwidth for distribution will be equal) streaming is not the question here as I suppose fox/Discovery etc want their 4k material to be HDR across as many platforms as possible, at least until linear tv finally dies

 

[powerbook911]

The belief is on the main $65 package, YouTube breaks even.

I believe this $20 add-on ($10 for first year) is one of their strategies to make the service profitable along with the other add-ons such as premium networks.

Unlimited streams will be the biggest driver towards the 4K plan. Whether one is suppose to or not, I don't as I don't have any family nearby nor want to share, but many folks share it with family when they are in the same market. Some folks have called YouTube and were told the Unlimited Streams have to be in the same zip code, but not on the same wi-fi network, but I guess that is to be found out in the coming days.

The other thing is, say for me with the $65 plan, I have four devices connected to my TV that can play YoutubeTV, I have my iPhones, xbox in bedroom, etc. etc. You have the TV everywhere, your same DVR everywhere. It is a pretty compelling product, once you use it. YouTube TV is on everything. Nine months of unlimited DVR.

There's a couple shows and sports I watch on regular TV, otherwise, I would opt out like many of you. Nevertheless, it's still a pretty good deal and if you're like me, unless there's more 4K soon, I'll still be on $65 plan with 5.1 now too!

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Hmm, 2 of the 3 games are Yankees vs someone, I wonder if those ar Yankeess home games, Do all MLB stadia have facilities for producing 4k (wether staff is local or remote)

They’re both road games

 

[ThatGuyInLa]

Looking at this from a VoD perspective (digital code) anything you buy online would be better from iTunes Movies or MoviesAnywhere because they both present 4K HDR10 streams usually at 32 Mbps Max peak. Whats YouTube TV going to offer comparably?

iTunes still doesn’t sell TV shows at 4K or HDR. Wish they did. I own over 400 films in iTunes. I am a fan. Don’t get me wrong. YTTV is for couch potatoes. Which I also am. A Mouth Breathing Channel Flipper. M.B.C.F.

 

[Salty Pirate]

Anybody get the Dolby 5.1 yet?

 

[powerbook911]

Anybody get the Dolby 5.1 yet?

Nope, and some of the articles suggested it would show up on Smart TVs first. As odd as that might sound.

 

[George Dawes]

Ridiculously over priced especially considering the lack of 4k material

Most of the stuff I watch isn’t even 720p let alone 4k , old tv shows etc

 

[AndreGB]

Do not forget it is only truly available on the new AppleTV 4K (2021), probably because that's the only model capable of decoding VP9 in 4K 60fps?