YouTube TV is a subscription membership that will deliver live TV coming from major broadcasting networks, premium networks and cable networks. A subscription gets you live sports, shows and DVR that does not have a limited storage. One of the biggest advantages of YouTube TV is that a subscribed person can watch on all of their screens, whether on a tablet or mobile phone, web browser, or using a Chromecast on their TV.
How Youtube TV Works
YouTube TV can be accessed using a mobile application for either iOS and Android phones, as well as from the Web on a computer. It has not yet started support for devices such as PS4, Xbox, Apple TV and Roku. To counter this, the mobile application comes with a Cast button that allows you to watch the videos on a compatible TV or a Chromecast. The application comes with three screens for Home, Library and Live and a Search button at the top that enables you to search for content on different categories.
Home
This is a screen similar to the one that is available on the normal YouTube’s screen where you are able to see trending videos, subscribed content, recommendations and videos watched recently.
Live
This screen shows live content from other networks with a preview from each of the networks. Touching or tapping on any of the networks starts the show while tapping on a plus icon at the top of the preview allows one to save or record a show to watch it later.
Library
If you record anything or have anything scheduled on the DVR to be recorded, it will be shown on the library screen.
Pricing
Some things to take note of before signing up:
- It costs $35 per month, but signing up from an iPhone will cost you up to $39 for the same month if you do the billing using your iTunes account.
- There is a free 30-day trial period when you first sign up. You will, however, still need a debit or credit card, and there will be small charges for card authorization.
- Location is very important when signing up with YouTube TV. Your location will determine which local content you will be getting, so only sign up where you intend to watch most often.
- There is some content that cannot be viewed on mobile phones and others cannot be cast on other screens. NFL games, for instance, cannot be watched on a phone. This is due to the deal between Verizon and NFL.
- It is also very important to note that although YouTube TV subscribers get all the YouTube Red content, they also get ads when watching their content. Only YouTube Red’s subscribers do not get adverts.
- It is only available in the US at the moment.
YouTube TV vs. YouTube Red
On the other hand, YouTube Red is a Google service introduced in 2015 that gives viewers a YouTube experience that has no adverts. The main purpose of YouTube Red is to have subscribers pay for them to get an ad-free YouTube player.
Google makes a lot of money from the adverts that we get when using YouTube, and they cannot be removed without asking you to pay for it. This way, according to Google, a person can use the service on any device that their subscribed account is signed into. Other features that come with YouTube Red include:
- It works offline. This means that you can download a movie and watch it later.
- Google Music is free.
- It comes with original content that is not available for free YouTube subscribers.
Conclusion
Youtube TV or YouTube Red? Well, it will depend on what you is looking for, but YouTube TV gets the edge since you are able to get YouTube Red’s content, apart from Google Music and that you’ll need to put up with adverts. Let us not forget that it also has unlimited DVR powers, and you can save you content for offline viewing for a period of up to nine months.
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