Will YouTube replace the TV in 5-10 years in the US?

0
1464
youtube
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

There is a common observation that every company has to adapt to the challenges of the modern-day and innovation to stay relevant. The biggest problem with many companies is that once they reach their prime, they start to live in a comfort zone without realizing what the future holds for them. The biggest example of this is Nokia. It was considered to be the world’s best cellphone brand. When android entered the market, Nokia was supposed to take it in. However, it didn’t and it all lead to the downfall of the company.

Cable TV faces a great threat to survival as more and more streaming services have started to take over. The streaming services offer great affordability, reliability, and convenience for the customers. They don’t have to pay a hefty amount every month to get just the basic coverage. It allows them to watch anything directly from their smartphones and it changes how we get entertainment forever.

YouTube is a popular video-based platform that has come a long way ever since its inception. YouTube now offers a streaming service called YouTube TV that offers Live TV, on-demand service, and DVR functionality. Can YouTube TV replace cable TV in 5 to 10 years? Let’s see what YouTube TV has to offer in the first place:

YouTube TV review

While streaming services like Netflix and prime feature original or on-demand content, platforms like YouTube TV can replace your cable TV subscription. YouTube TV is a modern approach to all streaming services. It offers more than 80 channels in the plan. The channels include news, sports, and tons of entertainment channels. It offers a great combination of streaming and TV channels.

YouTube TV channels

YouTube TV offers an extensive channel lineup with more than 90 channels. All these channels stack up really well against the competition and cable TV. The channel lineup is completely out of all the streaming services present in the market.

Local Channels

Local Channels are something that every streaming platform clearly lacks. The best thing about cable TV is the ability to get you all the popular local channels ranging from sports, news, and entertainment. Fortunately, YouTube TV has all the major local channels. These channels include FOX, NBC, CBS, and ABC.

Sports channels

Just like cable TV, YouTube TV offers a great lineup for sports programming. You get all the important channels such as ESPN, ESPN2, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, NBA TV, and MLB Network. However, YouTube TV has lost FOX regional sports networks. If you are a sports fanatic, this might not go down well with you. Losing FOX has serious implications for our ability to watch the NHL, NBA, and MLB games. Therefore, YouTube TV is left with some limited regional sports choices. You cannot say the same for cable. Providers like Spectrum cable have a huge lineup of all the regional sports choices.

Other channels

There are many other popular channels you can find on YouTube TV. These channels include all the news channels such as BBC America, CNN, FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC. You can watch live and exclusive coverage of these channels from the YouTube streaming application that is available on Apple and PlayStore. You also get to access a variety of lifestyle and entertainment content. These channels belong to all genres and include AMC, The CW, National Geographic, USA, TNT, TLC, HGTV, Discovery, and the Travel Channel. After a deal with ViaconCBS, you get Comedy Central, Paramount Network, BET, CMT, MTV2, BET Her, TeenNick, MTV Classic, and VH1.

The downside to YouTube TV

Why do people switch to streaming? The ever-increasing prices of cable TV are the main reason why people opt for cable TV. There are many additional charges on top of the regular monthly bill. This makes cable TV inaccessible for the customers.

The only downside to YouTube TV is the monthly charges. It starts around $65 per month which is too much for a streaming service. This is exactly the same amount you pay for a cable TV provider. You may even get more than 120 channels at the same price. This beats the entire purpose of YouTube TV.

Final Verdict

If YouTube TV is to beat cable TV in the next 5 to 10 years, it should be affordable for the likes of an average consumer.