this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2023
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YouTube TV, which costs $73 a month, agrees to end “$600 less than cable” ads::Google to "modify or cease" ads after industry review board rejects appeal.

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[–] sorghum@sh.itjust.works 145 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (4 children)

Remember when it was $35/month? Dropped them like a bad habbit when it went to $60 something. No ala carte and adding channels I never wanted were also contributing factors.

[–] wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago

Same. I moved my parents from directv to ytv, saving them like $150+ a month (maybe more, it was a huge deal). When ytv was like 'puts on the proctology gloves' with that first price hike, I pitched an ota antenna + TV tuner, hooked up to my already-paid plex server running on my nas. We dropped ytv a few days later and now pay $0.

Smart move, G. Helping my family save so much money <3

[–] nocturne213@lemm.ee 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I dropped around the same time. I really only had it for local channels, but the stuff I was watching ended up on other streaming apps day or two later anyway.

[–] sorghum@sh.itjust.works 7 points 9 months ago

It was a great delivery mechanism for live sports for me. I went back to sling and put up a TV antenna. Too bad none of my local channels come in great past 15 miles, but I'd be a fool to pay that premium for locals.

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[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 133 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Holy crap. I had no idea it was $73 a month. I'm a little shocked that is a viable price point.

[–] PsychedSy@sh.itjust.works 38 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Is cable cheaper? I haven't used it for 15+ years so I have no comparison.

[–] survive@sh.itjust.works 22 points 9 months ago (1 children)

My Comcast is $78 for their highest tier channel lineup and DVR with no premium channels.

[–] PsychedSy@sh.itjust.works 10 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

So kinda samesy except you can share the YTTV with five family members.

[–] Fester@lemm.ee 11 points 9 months ago

My Spectrum cable TV bill was around $85, but they also charged a $22 “broadcasting fee” on top of that. YTTV doesn’t have any added hidden fees (yet.) Spectrum makes a big deal advertising “no hidden fees,” so fuck them and their hidden fees. Their TV app was also horrible, constantly losing audio sync.

[–] TopTierKnees@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago (12 children)

I currently pay $130 for cable and internet with Verizon (was $115 but they raised it recently). Cable package is comparable to youtube tv and the internet is 90 up/down.

But I'm moving and if I want useful upload speeds from Comcast at the new place I need a package that's something like $200+ per month. I'm going with tmobile internet and YouTube tv since it's about $70 cheaper.

Personally, I'd love to just diitch cable. I only want it for hockey and I can get that with ESPN+ and a VPN. But my wife watches it quite bit. She's got a dozen shows on different cable channels she watches religiously.

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[–] venusenvy47@reddthat.com 10 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

I went to YouTubeTV earlier this year and it's definitely cheaper than RCN, which recently bought WOW. I have Comcast as a choice but they aren't better. The base rate for RCN that they advertise is $59, but they add four different fees that you don't see until your first bill: Sports Surcharge, Broadcast TV surcharge, franchise fees, and Entertainment Networks Surcharge. After those add-ons it was $115, so I'm saving money because the YouTubeTV price is actually advertised properly, without these ridiculous add ons.

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[–] Riyria@sopuli.xyz 7 points 9 months ago

I honestly have no idea how much cable costs where I live and it’s not for a lack of trying. I’ve tried to look but it’s literally not possible to look on mediacom’s website to get cable prices unless I add a cable package to my internet plan. My only other option is to call them, and their entire support is outsourced and it’s a toss up on whether I get someone who speaks English or not. One time the call center person spoke so little English that they had to transfer me to someone else.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 90 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Holy shiiii. I had no idea they got that brave to raise those costs to that level.

[–] PeterPoopshit@lemmy.world 72 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (10 children)

"It's just the price of your daily coffee"

I self brew my own value pack coffee because I'm poor. I even have a reusable metal mesh coffee filter insert so I don't have to buy coffee filters, that's how cheap I am.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 42 points 9 months ago

Bruh, you're not being poor, just responsible. Dafuq.

[–] neutron@thelemmy.club 25 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Is this another one of those Silicon Valley syndrome where paying for an overpriced latte/chai/kombucha every day is the expected routine?

[–] atetulo@lemm.ee 9 points 9 months ago

Yes.

It's sad how much we've normalized overpaying for brown shitwater so we can work harder for peanuts.

[–] Microplasticbrain@lemm.ee 10 points 9 months ago (12 children)

Just use normal coffee filters, they are better for your health and are cheap af. The paper filters block some carcinogens that the metal ones do not. Your call, cheers

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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 8 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I too drink coffee laced with platinum and gold, sprinkled with diamonds

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[–] oakey66@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago (5 children)

I canceled that shit and got a homerun for football. If you’re going to just make me stream cable for the price of cable, you can go suck on a tailpipe if you think I’m paying over 850 a year. Fuck google. Fuck cable companies. And fuck these studios for thinking they can keep doing this to people.

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[–] Tygr@lemmy.world 70 points 9 months ago (5 children)

I still cannot understand how anyone decides to have 30% of their programming to be ads AND decide to pay for it.

[–] sulgoth@lemmy.world 30 points 9 months ago

Boiling frog effect mostly.

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[–] redimk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 62 points 9 months ago (3 children)

So what is the next step for Google? Raising YT TV to $100/month? $200/month? Raising Youtube Premium to $30/month? Google one to $200/month? Laying off employees?

I mean they gotta keep hitting that 5% growth every year, right? When does it stop? When there's nobody else at the company? When people can't afford anything anymore and go bankrupt?

When are companies gonna understand that growth for the sake of growth every year is just not feasable?

[–] Ddhuud@lemmynsfw.com 11 points 9 months ago (3 children)

It's not a matter of understanding the failure is systemic.

Shareholders only buy shares for the expected growth, not so much for the dividends. Dividends are literally pennies on the hundred dollar costs. Single digits percent annually.

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[–] SmoothIsFast@citizensgaming.com 9 points 9 months ago

When are companies gonna understand that growth for the sake of growth every year is just not feasable?

Depends when we actually enforce and support the SECs market reforms instead of defending them. As it sits once, that 5% target is no longer consistently hitable the naked shorts will start to come from maket makers and hedge funds allowing wall street to make just as much money in the growth stage as in the desth stage of a company plus when Google eventually gets to that point they can buy up all the IP during the bankruptcy process for their next unlimited growth candidate to usurp. Shit is absolutely fucked, plus congress has basically called out in their deals to keep the government running that the SEC can't use any of the budget to further market reform, so your gonna need to vote in candidates who support Markey reform, and proper reform at that sense baring indivual household shareholders from being able to participate and get accurate disclosures on off market trade data, equity swap data, or just widening the gap between wall street and retail investors access to data is also considered market reform by those corrupt individuals supporting wall streets mess.

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[–] atetulo@lemm.ee 55 points 9 months ago (4 children)

You can stream pretty much anything for free here: https://fmoviesz.to/

Just make sure you have uBlock Origin installed.

If you have any issues, try searching 'free streaming sites reddit' and go from there.

Your wallets will thank me later.

[–] Scotty_Trees@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago (5 children)

I've never heard of this site before and you can bet I'll be adding it to my bookmarks uhh I mean block list right away!

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[–] drdiddlybadger@pawb.social 36 points 9 months ago (2 children)

The fuck? What's the point of it can't be cheaper.

[–] 1024_Kibibytes@lemm.ee 16 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Well, you need a router or access points instead of a cable box. And you can stream it over Wi-Fi. Yeah, you can stream it over Wi-Fi. That's why this is vaguely better than regular cable TV.

[–] wildginger@lemmy.myserv.one 17 points 9 months ago

So, it costs more because it requires less dedicated hardware?

Of course, how did I not see it before

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[–] Phegan@lemmy.world 27 points 9 months ago

I used YouTube TV early on when it was a legit alternative to cable. It costs just as much so there is no benefit. I cancelled when the prices were raised to 45 a month. They can fuck straight off at 73 a month

[–] ApexHunter@lemmy.ml 24 points 9 months ago

Next advertising campaign: Cable companies sued to keep us from telling you how much money you'd save by switching to YouTube TV. Find out the numbers for yourself at calculate your savings link

[–] nooneescapesthelaw@lemmy.ml 24 points 9 months ago

Relevant bits

YouTube TV launched in 2017 for $35 a month, but the base package is $72.99 after the latest price hike in March 2023. Google's "$600 less than cable" claim was challenged by Charter, which uses the brand name Spectrum and is the second-biggest cable company after Comcast. The National Advertising Division (NAD) previously ruled in Charter's favor but Google appealed the decision to the NARB in August.

"Charter contended the $600 figure was inaccurate, arguing that its Spectrum TV Select service in Los Angeles only cost around $219 a year more than Google's YouTube TV service," according to a MediaPost article in August.

A Google ad claimed that YouTube TV provided $600 in "annual average savings" compared to cable as of January 2023. A disclosure on the ad said the price was for "new users only" and that the $600 annual savings was "based on a study by SmithGeiger of the published cost of comparable standalone cable in the top 50 Nielsen DMAs, including all fees, taxes, promotion pricing, DVR box rental and service fees, and a 2nd cable box."

[–] thisisawayoflife@lemmy.world 20 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I feel sorry for those that don't use newsgroups and automation.

[–] synae@lemmy.sdf.org 15 points 9 months ago

(Let's see if I can get the markdown right on first try)

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Not just YouTube TV. I was thinking about switching from the Spotify family plan to the YouTube family plan, but the Spotify family plan is $16.99/mo and the YouTube family plan is $22.99/mo. That does include YouTube with no ads, but it's still too expensive for me. It's just not worth an additional $6. Especially not while my adblocker still works. It does mean I can't cast ad-free YouTube to my Chromecast because Google would not allow that, but I can live with it.

[–] Taringano@lemm.ee 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Pretty sure your description sold YouTube family plan to a lot of people. I was ready to hate on it but after you describe that's a pretty sweet deal.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Ok, if it's a good deal to you and them, fine. $6 extra for no ads is not worth it to me.

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[–] 01011@monero.town 10 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I had no idea YouTube TV costs that much, or that there were people paying that much.

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[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 9 points 9 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Google has agreed to stop advertising YouTube TV as "$600 less than cable" after losing an appeal of a previous ruling that went against the company.

The National Advertising Review Board (NARB) announced today that it rejected Google's appeal and recommended that the company discontinue the YouTube TV claim.

The National Advertising Division (NAD) previously ruled in Charter's favor but Google appealed the decision to the NARB in August.

A disclosure on the ad said the price was for "new users only" and that the $600 annual savings was "based on a study by SmithGeiger of the published cost of comparable standalone cable in the top 50 Nielsen DMAs, including all fees, taxes, promotion pricing, DVR box rental and service fees, and a 2nd cable box."

Agreeing with the NAD decision, an NARB panel found that the price comparison provided by Google did not justify the "$600 less" claim.

Google said it "disagrees with NARB's determination that people watching the challenged commercials will somehow understand 'cable' to mean something other than traditional cable television," but "intends to modify or cease the disputed advertising claim."


The original article contains 443 words, the summary contains 184 words. Saved 58%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] shaelz@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I don't get it I thought I pay like $5 a month for my 1/6 portion of YouTube premium family account which included YouTube TV (which i never use)

[–] RanchOnPancakes@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

Its not normal for youtube premium to include YouTube TV.

[–] Jimmycakes@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

This is cable TV like espn and stuff

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[–] AreaKode@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Lol. My retired parents just switched to this because cable was too expensive.

OTA antenna + Plex is the best combination for me. Any content with no subscription fees.

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