YouTube TV Expands to Cover 98% of Markets, Full Nationwide Coverage Coming Soon

[MacRumors]

Google's live streaming TV service, YouTube TV, is expanding to an additional 95 markets in the United States today, resulting in total coverage of over 98 percent of U.S. households. Soon after this rollout, YouTube TV will expand to cover the remaining major U.S. markets and reach nationwide coverage (via Variety).

This expansion comes after YouTube TV first launched in April 2017 in just five U.S. cities: the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago. More cities were added soon after, and by the end of 2017 the service had reached 50 percent of U.S. households.

One year after its launch, YouTube TV gained an app for the fourth- and fifth-generation Apple TV, launching in time for the Super Bowl in February 2018. Like other live streaming TV services, YouTube TV offers a selection of channels, a DVR, and more features at a cost of $40 per month.

In today's report, Google says that it currently has no plans to launch YouTube TV in international markets: "This is a U.S.-only app at this time," according to a YouTube representative. In the U.S., new markets for YouTube TV include the following regions:

Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Boise, Idaho; Evansville, Ind.; Augusta, Ga./Aiken, S.C.; Johnstown-Altoona-State College, Pa.; Springfield-Holyoke, Mass.; Reno, Nev.; Lincoln, Tenn.; Tallahassee, Fla./Thomasville, Ga.; Peoria-Bloomington, Ill.; Tyler-Longview, Texas; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Montgomery-Selma, Ala.

For local networks, YouTube TV says that it offers access to all four of the big broadcast networks (ABC, FOX, CBS, and NBC) in over 90 percent of the markets it serves, and the remaining markets have access to "at least three." Other channels include TNT, TBS, CNN, ESPN, FX, and more, which subscribers can record using an unlimited cloud DVR.

Article Link: YouTube TV Expands to Cover 98% of Markets, Full Nationwide Coverage Coming Soon

 

[neuropsychguy]

I guess I'm in the 2% who are not covered. Not that I'd pay for this anyway.

 

[earthTOmitchel]

I guess I'm in the 2% who are not covered.

I just checked, I am too

Edit: scratch that, looks like they just rolled it out in my city. Worth inputting your zip code here and checking throughout day it seems: https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/

 

[ugahairydawgs]

Good news

 

[moabal]

Cannot even consider Youtube TV without Viacom channels. I have to stick with DirectTV Now until that happens.

 

[thesheleys]

I just checked, I am too

I don't think they have updated the site yet. I am on the list in the FAQ if you scroll down on the site but my zip code doesn't work yet.


On January 23rd, YouTube TV will be available in the following markets:

Albany (GA), Alexandria (LA), Amarillo, Anchorage, Augusta-Aiken, Bakersfield, Bangor, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Bend (OR), Billings, Biloxi-Gulfport, Binghamton, Bluefield-Beckley-Oak, Boise, Bowling Green, Butte-Bozeman, Charlottesville, Cheyenne-Scottsbluff, Chico-Redding, Clarksburg-Weston, Columbia-Jefferson City, Columbus-Tupelo, Corpus Christi, Davenport-Rock Island-Moline, Dothan, Duluth-Superior, Elmira (Corning), Erie, Eugene, Eureka, Evansville, Fairbanks, Fargo, Ft. Wayne, Gainesville, Grand Junction, Great Falls, Greenwood-Greenville, Harrisonburg, Idaho Falls-Pocatello, Johnstown-Altoona, Jonesboro, Joplin-Pittsburg, La Crosse, Lafayette (IN), Lake Charles, Lansing, Laredo, Lima, Lincoln, Lubbock, Macon, Mankato, Marquette, Medford-Klamath Falls, Meridian, Minot-Bismarck-Dickinson (Williston), Missoula, Monroe-El Dorado, Monterey-Salinas, Montgomery-Selma, Myrtle Beach, North Platte, Odessa-Midland, Ottumwa-Kirksville, Palm Springs, Panama City, Parkersburg, Peoria-Bloomington, Presque Isle, Rapid City, Reno, Rochester-Mason City-Austin, Rockford, San Angelo Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, Sherman-Ada, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Springfield-Holyoke, St. Joseph, Tallahassee-Thomasville, Terre Haute, Topeka, Traverse City, Twin Falls, Tyler-Longview (Lufkin & Nacogdoches), Utica, Watertown, Wausau-Rhinelander, Wheeling-Steubenville, Wichita Falls, Wilmington, Yakima-Pasco-Richland-Kennewick, Yuma-El Centro

 

[Mackinjosh]

They're the best simply because they dont offer service until they offer you your locals. Their UI and DVR are also far superior to the competition.

 

[lunarworks]

Meanwhile in Canada, Rogers just launched an IPTV service that seems to be even more expensive than their regular cable package.

 

[triangletechie]

I've tried all the streaming services and I think YouTube is the best all around. Hopefully they'll offer HBO as an add-on.

 

[travoose]

I have YouTube TV, one thing missing for me is no ABC, which really stinks. I wish they would get that worked out.

 

[praterkeith]

My area is listed but it’s telling me my zip code isn’t available.

 

[adamjackson]

98%, huh?

I feel as if honestly every single day the entire Internet hates me:

-no cell phone service at my house
-Can't stream music in my area unless I'm right in town
-We just got cable TV (Until 2017, I was on 1.5 megabit DSL)
-No Uber, grub hub, door dash or Lyft
-No over the air channels via rabbit ears or satellite dish
-and no Chick Fil-A or Arby's or Chipotle (I really like Chipotle)

I love it up here in the middle of nowhere but we are a city with 30K people..quite big in my opinion but the internet itself just sort of doesn't know we exist. We're always last to get everything. You'd think being 2.5 hours from Boston, we'd have a lot more amenities.

sorry for the mini-rant. I think I might as well just move further into the woods because I don't gain much by living so close to a city other than higher taxes.

 

[gotluck]

playstation vue is the best OTT streaming service IMO

 

[12vElectronics]

I don’t know anyone that subscribed to YouTube TV. Honestly I forgot this even existed.

 

[neuropsychguy]

I don't think they have updated the site yet. I am on the list in the FAQ if you scroll down on the site but my zip code doesn't work yet.

Okay, that makes it better. My area is on that list so it looks like it's still rolling out.

 

[avanpelt]

YouTube TV has the best interface and reliability, in my opinion; but DIRECTV Now smokes them in terms of channel lineup. I'm grandfathered in at the now $40/month (used to be $35/month) 'Go Big' DIRECTV Now plan, but if YouTube TV offered the same channel lineup I have with DIRECTV Now -- even if it cost me $65 or $70 per month -- I'd switch in a heartbeat. DIRECTV Now has one of the buggiest UI's of any of the streaming services I've tried. They've gotten better over the past 26 months since the service launched, but they're nowhere near where they would be if they actually gave a damn about the customer experience.

What's worse is that their entire service will go down for anywhere between one and three hours at a time. It's happened three times in the last six weeks alone. If you look at the DIRECTVNowHelp Twitter account during an outage, their CSRs endlessly tell people to try rebooting their Apple TV's, their phones, modems, routers, etc. during a service outage that the CSRs seem to know nothing about (or they simply refuse to acknowledge the outage on social media). The lack of a reliable product and the lack of useful customer service when the service is down is pretty embarrassing.

 

[uecker87]

YouTube TV has the best interface and reliability, in my opinion; but DIRECTV Now smokes them in terms of channel lineup. I'm grandfathered in at the now $40/month (used to be $35/month) 'Go Big' DIRECTV Now plan, but if YouTube TV offered the same channel lineup I have with DIRECTV Now -- even if it cost me $65 or $70 per month -- I'd switch in a heartbeat. DIRECTV Now has one of the buggiest UI's of any of the streaming services I've tried. They've gotten better over the past 26 months since the service launched, but they're nowhere near where they would be if they actually gave a damn about the customer experience.

What's worse is that their entire service will go down for anywhere between one and three hours at a time. It's happened three times in the last six weeks alone. If you look at the DIRECTVNowHelp Twitter account during an outage, their CSRs endlessly tell people to try rebooting their Apple TV's, their phones, modems, routers, etc. during a service outage that the CSRs seem to know nothing about (or they simply refuse to acknowledge the outage on social media). The lack of a reliable product and the lack of useful customer service when the service is down is pretty embarrassing.

Yeah I had DTVN with the GoBig promo but sold it. The buggy interface wasn’t worth it to me. Ended up going to YTTV and have been extremely happy. Even passes the wife test.

There were a few channels we were missing so what we do is supplement it with Philo for a few months each year (to binge watch the shows we missed). During months we pay for both we pay $57. Other months only $40. This way we get a terrific and reliable service and all of the channels we ever need.

 

[BuffaloTF]

And they're the only ones offering 60 fps on every. single. channel... Take notes, other providers. Now, if they could just add the correct MSG channel and get Viacom...

 

[EdT]

98%, huh?

I feel as if honestly every single day the entire Internet hates me:

-no cell phone service at my house
-Can't stream music in my area unless I'm right in town
-We just got cable TV (Until 2017, I was on 1.5 megabit DSL)
-No Uber, grub hub, door dash or Lyft
-No over the air channels via rabbit ears or satellite dish
-and no Chick Fil-A or Arby's or Chipotle (I really like Chipotle)

I love it up here in the middle of nowhere but we are a city with 30K people..quite big in my opinion but the internet itself just sort of doesn't know we exist. We're always last to get everything. You'd think being 2.5 hours from Boston, we'd have a lot more amenities.

sorry for the mini-rant. I think I might as well just move further into the woods because I don't gain much by living so close to a city other than higher taxes.

I’ve have the same complaints and problems. I live 12 miles from the largest city in my state, I do not have cable available, cell service is good for voice, but bad to nonexistent for data, and home internet speeds have finally risen into double digits-DSL, for my home. The cost is in triple digits.

I really don’t like the push for wireless connectivity that Apple and others are trying to force on rural communities. I can’t use Apple Music or Spotify or any other streaming service even if I wanted to. Not and be able to walk across the street. I leave my house WiFi and streaming is dead. And driving I’d have 50-100 miles I could go north or west and have a couple of minutes tops when I could use streaming services. Look at any providers coverage map and I’m in good to great zones. Voice I do have coverage, data I don’t. I’m not holding my breath waiting for it to arrive here either.

 

[tpham5919]

Got this for my parents (we're in AZ). About the same as Hulu live give or take a few channels but it is $10 cheaper now that Hulu live is going up by $5.

 

[wwooden]

I've been using YouTube TV for about 8 months now, love it. The interface is simple, I love the unlimited DVR, and it just seems to know what I want to watch or knows what I like for recommendations. I have been very happy with the experience.

I convinced my parents to switch from comcast to YouTube TV - it saves them $120/month because they were paying for two services: one at their condo and one at their camp. Now they just pay for internet at each and YouTube TV with the benefit of having all their shows and DVR'd items ready where ever they are.

 

[benroberts3]

For any of you out there with a significant other who insists that streaming TV have Food Network, HGTV, etc, YouTube TV is a nonstarter.

Get those networks on board and then it’ll be a viable competitor to DirectTV Now.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

I won't be switching to them (already loving DirecTV NOW) but I love all the competition in this field. It ensures we won't be seeing crazy prices like all the regional monopolies (Comcast, Verizon, etc) charge for cable TV.

Now I'd like to really see 5G cellular take off, so we can finally destroy the regional monopolies for home internet... finally we'll see some proper competition in that market.

 

[picaman]

Now I'd like to really see 5G cellular take off, so we can finally destroy the regional monopolies for home internet... finally we'll see some proper competition in that market.

This. I hate hate hate having to pay Comcast for internet access so I can watch DTVN on my Apple TV. But it’s the only broadband option in my area.

 

[UnusedLoginID]

I just got Sling at $25/month with the AirTV player and so far I’m pretty happy about it if not for the occasional restart needed. I like the way you can integrate ALL local channels - or only the ones you like - to the SlingTV line-up. And Sling has most of the standard TV channels that people actually watch including ESPN. I even added BeInSports with the $5/month Latino package.