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Tag: live tv

  • Google Raises YouTube TV Price

    Google Raises YouTube TV Price

    Google has announced a price hike for its YouTube TV streaming service, following its distribution agreement with ViacomCBS.

    YouTube TV has garnered mostly positive reviews as one of the premier TV streaming services available. One glaring omission was the lack of some ViacomCBS channels. In May, Google announced it had struck a deal to bring 14 additional ViacomCBS channels to the service.

    While many users expected there might be a slight increase in price, thanks to the new channels, it’s probably a safe bet that few were expecting a $15 price increase. Whereas YouTube TV did cost $49.99, effective June 30, the price increases to $64.99.

    “We don’t take these decisions lightly, and realize how hard this is for our members,” says the official blog post. “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.”

    One of YouTube TV’s best selling points was the features and channels it provided at an exceptionally good price. With this recent price hike, however, Google may have a hard time distinguishing its service from fuboTV and Hulu.

  • NFL Games on Netflix? Not Anytime Soon

    NFL Games on Netflix? Not Anytime Soon

    For many people looking to cut the cord and ditch cable, one of the last hurdles they can’t seem to clear is live sports. How will I watch the big game on Sunday without cable? Streaming services are now starting to catch up to this, and many are offering sports via streaming networks like ABC, CBS, NBC, and ESPN.

    But what about Netflix, the biggest streaming platform in the world? When will it start streaming live sports?

    Not for a long time – if ever.

    Re/code has some remarks from Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos that both put the kibosh on any immediate plans but also leaves the door open … ever so slightly. Speaking to analyst Michael Nathanson at a recent conference:

    Sarandos: I will never say never, but I would say that where we sit today, I don’t think the on-demand to sports is enough of an addition to the value proposition to chase. I think the leagues have tremendous leverage in those deals, so it’s not like we’re going to get in and de-leverage the leagues. We’re going to go in and overpay like everyone else does, so it doesn’t get me that excited. Not to say that it wouldn’t someday, down the road, make sense. Today, I think there’s lots of growth in what we’re doing.

    Nathanson: And there’s nothing available [from the NFL] to 2022.

    Sarandos: Yep.

    A lot can change between now and 2022, but for now, you’re going to have to find pro football somewhere else.

    Various reports have linked the NFL and Netflix over the years. In 2013, one said the NFL was disappointed with the ratings for Thursday Night Football, housed on its own NFL Network, and was looking to sell off some more games to beef up the amount of professional football playing out on Thursday night primetime.

    “Potential buyers of the games would likely be national cable sports networks. But league officials have also considered selling the Thursday night package to a nontraditional media partner, including online players like Netflix Inc. or Google Inc., the person said,” said a source to the WSJ.

    The NFL League Office vehemently denied this.

    The NFL has been making incremental steps toward the web in recent months. It streamed the Super Bowl and the Halftime Show earlier this year. It also partnered up with Google to bring highlights to YouTube and Google search. The league is even going to try out livestreaming this fall.

    But NFL on Netflix, and in reality any sports on Netflix, is barely a dream at this point.

  • HBO Comes to Sling TV, Giving Cordcutters Another Option

    It doesn’t appear that Apple has totally cornered the cable-free HBO market after all.

    Dish’s Sling TV has announced that HBO is coming to the subscription-based live TV service, making it the first and only internet TV platform to offer live HBO. Sling TV customers who sign up for HBO will get the one live HBO channel, as well as all the on-demand content (similar to HBO GO or the new HBO NOW). It’s important to note that Sling TV isn’t getting HBO NOW – that’s still an Apple exclusive for now. Sling TV is offering HBO content directly through Sling TV itself.

    “You don’t need me to tell you what a big deal this is, both for us and for our customers: HBO delivers hit shows and movies that TV viewers crave, and with this addition Sling TV becomes the only streaming service that offers both HBO and ESPN without a cable subscription,” says Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch.

    HBO will cost $15 on Sling TV, which is the same as a subscription to HBO NOW. In order to qualify for the $15 HBO, you must also subscribe to Sling’s “Best of Live TV” core package. That package includes channels like ESPN, ESPN2, AMC, A&E, TNT, History Channel, TBS, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, Cartoon Network, and IFC. It costs $20 per month.

    There’s no hard date for when HBO will launch on Sling TV – “next week” is a specific as the company gets. But it will be before the big season premiere of Game of Thrones on April 12.

    Just another option for cordcutters – and with more and more people realizing that cable is just too much of a burden on their bank accounts, that is never a bad thing.

    Image via Game of Thrones, Facebook

  • Apple’s Streaming TV Service Could Launch This Fall

    Apple’s Streaming TV Service Could Launch This Fall

    Apple wants to sell Apple TVs, but one hurdle the company has to jump is convincing people they need an Apple TV. What’s the real benefit of streaming Netflix or Hulu or whatever via Apple TV, when I can do it through a Roku, smartTV, gaming console, etc. What can Apple TV offer me?

    Of course, the answer is exclusive content and services that you can’t find anywhere else. Apple dipped its toes into this earlier this month when it partnered with HBO to launch its HBO NOW cable-free subscription service as an Apple exclusive.

    Now, Apple’s moving on to something bigger – a live TV service.

    We’ve heard for the past couple of months that Apple has been in talks with TV programmers about crafting its own pay-TV service. A new report from The Wall Street Journal now offers a timeline – announce at June’s WWDC and launch this September.

    So, what would an Apple web TV service look like? According to the WSJ, it would be priced between $30 and $40 and carry a “slimmed down” lineup of around 25 channels – stuff like ESPN, CBS, and FX. Apparently, there’s little chance it would offer NBC, as Apple and NBCUniversal parent company Comcast have had a bit of a falling out.

    Of course, the lack of NBC wouldn’t really be that big of a deal.

    The bigger deal could be the price. An obvious competitor in this space would be Dish’s SlingTV, which offers a bundle of channel for $20 per month. Apple’s offerings would have to warrant a $40 price tag – as that’s still a hefty price to pay for a couple dozen channels when you factor in the $40-$60 you’re already paying for high-speed internet.

    Still, it’s cheaper than a cable subscription.

    Image via Rob DiCaterino, Wikimedia Commons

  • Apple Wants to Give Cordcutters Live TV Too: Report

    Apple Wants to Give Cordcutters Live TV Too: Report

    Apple, who has had a fair amount of success selling hardware that lets users stream TV shows and movies, is now considering stepping into the role of content gatekeeper.

    A report from Re/code, citing various industry executives, says that Apple is currently in talks with some TV programmers about crafting its own pay-TV service.

    According to the sources, it would look something like Sling TV – Dish’s new offering.

    What Dish’s Sling TV does, and presumably what any Apple web-TV product would do, it allow people to stream a smaller amount of TV programming – for instance a dozen channels as opposed to the hundreds you get with traditional cable. Of course, the point of such an endeavor would be to capture the attention of the cordcutting crowd, who have ditched cable (due to its hefty price and inflexibility) but still want to be able to watch some traditional live TV.

    For Dish, one of the big draws is ESPN. Sports are what cordcutters usually miss the most.

    It’s important to note that if this were to occur, it would be a hell of a long way down the road. From Re/code:

    Apple has shown programmers demos of the proposed service, sources say. But talks seem to be in the early stages, which means terms like pricing and timing aren’t close to being ironed out. Several programmers say they’ve yet to start talks with Apple at all.

    Still, Apple has the method for distributing TV programming. It makes sense, as least from a logistical standpoint, that Apple is strongly considering taking control of some of the content that its users watch.

    Image via Rob DiCaterino, Wikimedia Commons