I absolutely love YouTube TV. Ever since I moved to the US two years ago, it's been my cable-replacement streaming service of choice, but it was limited to certain markets only. This wasn't an issue for me living in San Francisco (and now New York) but it did rear its head when I was traveling and couldn't access the service from a not-so-major market stateside. This morning, Google has announced that YouTube TV is going nationwide and I, for one, am thrilled!
As our friends over at CordCutters outlined in their guide to YouTube TV, Google's streaming service features over 60 live channels – including all the major channels we all love to watch – as well as unlimited recording to the cloud and the ability to share your membership with up to six accounts. All of these ultimately add up to an incredibly compelling service, especially when it costs just $40 per month.
On the official YouTube blog, Google says that YouTube TV will be expanded to the top 100 markets in the US today – resulting in coverage for 98% of American households – with the rest of the nation expected to gain access in the coming days, presumably in time for next week's Super Bowl. A key sticking point up until this time has been the inability to strike partnerships to showcase regional broadcasts, but this seems to be resolved as YouTube TV will provide "local feeds from the four largest broadcasters in over 90 percent of the markets where YouTube TV is available".
If you haven't checked out YouTube TV already, we highly recommend it and with the first month free, you really have nothing to worry about. If you're still not sure whether YouTube TV is right for you or not, check out the YouTube TV guide over at CordCutters!
