YouTube TV Reviews

(See Edit at end of page).

KUDOS WHERE KUDOS ARE DUE, AND THEIR TELEVISION CHANNEL SELECTION (PAST PROGRAMMING and LIVE TV) ARE PRETTY GREAT.
Sport channel selections are top-notch from what my husband and brother-in-law don't say. (Get it? They don't say, because they're too busy watching them). In all seriousness though, they are thrilled with the selection, and in-between manly grunts and chili fries, they have voiced their sincere approval. YouTubeTV beats ESPN in so many ways. As for me, I have binged so many Cake War episodes that I think I gained five pounds just watching. Now I just sit farther from my screen. ;) If I had to include one 'con', it is that Lifetime is not included, and I'm addicted to one of the shows on there, so that's a miss.

THEIR MOVIE SELECTION IS MOSTLY GREAT... BUT (See Edit at end of page).
On the plus side, YouTubeTV offers a FAR BETTER selection of more current (newer) movies than Flex or Peacock or Tubi, etc. The problem, is that sometimes their featured films are "UPCOMING", meaning you need to wait a day or two for them to begin streaming. Another issue is that in the case of some movie trilogies, sagas or franchises, only a fraction of the complete series is included in the plan. Examples: Mad Max Fury Road including Mad Max Chrome is included with plan, but other Mad Max movies are not. In the case of LOTR, both Return of the King and The Two Towers are available, but Fellowship of the Ring is only available for purchase. The Marvel Universe filmography, on the other hand, seems to be pretty complete. So, all-in-all, the entire selection of available films is pretty solid, although not excellent. I also like that they do not have "filler" movies (I think, or at least I haven't seen any) such as bargain C and D class films which, personally, I never watch and which many other streaming sites have on their platforms simply to advertise that they have an X number of films. Some people may actually like those films, so it is something to be aware of, but as for me, I am so glad I don't need to scroll through a bunch of them to get to the 'good stuff'.

Now, in terms of cost:
I am frugal. I like good things, but I love good deals, and the fact that we're paying $65.00/mo. ($64.99), bugs me enough to where I am keeping an eye out for alternative options, one of which is HULU, who offer ALMOST the same number of channels for $10 LESS a month. "What's $10?", you may ask. Well, it's a couple of gallons of milk, two quarts of Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream, a co-pay on a prescription, the difference between an older model and newer model external hard-drive on Amazon, a dog toy which will last for a week in this home, and enough to gas up my car for 2.5 visits with my grandmother.

On the other hand, can I really put a price on seeing my husband happy after a long day's work, relaxing on a plush leather recliner and watching his favorite NFL team score a touchdown while he waits for a slice of my latest cake-decorating masterpiece?

It's a tough call.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDIT:
*Keeps losing points, because it seems as if every movie I click on is not playing yet ("Upcoming"). Seriously, Youtube, whoever came up with the idea to tease (not deliver) something we're specifically clicking on and prepared to view, should be fired.

KUDOS WHERE KUDOS ARE DUE, AND THEIR SPORT CHANNEL SELECTION IS "GREAT"
Sport channel selections are top-notch from what my husband and brother-in-law don't say. (Get it? They don't say, because they're too busy watching them). In all seriousness though, they are thrilled with the selection, and in-between manly grunts and chili fries, they have voiced their sincere approval. YouTubeTV, from what I understand, beats ESPN in a lot of ways.

REGULAR TV CHANNELS
I have binged so many past Cake War episodes that I think I gained five pounds just watching. Now I just sit farther from my screen. ;) Lifetime, however, is not included, and I'm addicted to one of the shows on there, so that's a miss.

THEIR MOVIE SELECTION IS MOSTLY GREAT, BUT...
To begin, YouTubeTV offers a FAR BETTER selection of more current (newer) movies than Flex or Peacock or Tubi, etc. Their entire selection of available NEWER films is pretty solid, although not excellent (see point 1, below). I also like that they do not have "filler" movies such as bargain C and D class films which, personally, I never watch and which many other streaming sites have on their platforms simply to advertise that they have an X number of films. Some people may actually like those films, so it is something to be aware of, but as for me, I am so glad I don't need to scroll through a bunch of them to get to the 'good stuff'.
The PROBLEMS are that,
1. MANY times, their featured films are "UPCOMING", meaning you need to wait a day or two for them to begin streaming, so you click on it only to find out you have to wait days for it to come on. (Seriously, Youtube, whoever came up with the idea to tease, or not 'deliver', something we are specifically clicking on and prepared to view, only to be told it is still not playing, should be fired.
2. With movie trilogies, sagas or franchises, only a fraction of the complete series is included in the plan, so if you want to watch (example) all of the Halloween films, you'll probably be able to access only 732 of the 746 ones made (joke, of course, but you know what I mean). One of the films in a series always seems to be a 'paid' version.

PLATFORM
The platform itself is bulky and not very user-friendly. It resembles the regular YouTube channel rather than other streaming services. It needs a complete revamp. For example, if you want to watch Fox or CNN, or whichever your cup of tea my be, you can search for either, but the results are murky, not very descriptive, and sometimes not playing even if you specifically search under "LIVE TV". Definitely another miss.

VPN
YoutubeTV will refuse to work with a VPN, and that is a major con for us. More and more of us have moved toward using VPNs for online security and I sometimes like to use social media while I have the TV on in the background. With YouTubeTV, you cannot run a VPN without it refusing to connect.

COST:
I am frugal. I like good things, but I love good deals, and the fact that we're paying almost $65.00 a month for this service, bugs me enough to where I am keeping an eye out for alternative options, one of which is HULU, who offer ALMOST the same number of channels for $10 LESS a month. "What's $10?", you may ask. Well, it's a couple of gallons of milk, two quarts of Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream, a co-pay on a prescription, the difference between an older model and newer model external hard-drive on Amazon, a dog toy which will last for a week in this home, and enough to gas up my car for 2.5 visits with my grandmother.

On the other hand, can I really put a price on seeing my husband happy after a long day's work, relaxing on a plush leather recliner and watching his favorite NFL team score a touchdown while he waits for a slice of my latest cake-decorating masterpiece?

It's a tough call, but in a nutshell, if we could find a streaming service which offers the same channels for less, we'd move quickly.

KUDOS WHERE KUDOS ARE DUE, AND THEIR SPORT CHANNEL SELECTION IS "GREAT"
Sport channel selections are top-notch from what my husband and brother-in-law don't say. (Get it? They don't say, because they're too busy watching them). In all seriousness though, they are thrilled with the selection, and in-between manly grunts and chili fries, they have voiced their sincere approval. YouTubeTV, from what I understand, beats ESPN in a lot of ways.

REGULAR TV CHANNELS
I have binged so many past Cake War episodes that I think I gained five pounds just watching. Now I just sit farther from my screen. ;) Lifetime, however, is not included, and I'm addicted to one of the shows on there, so that's a miss.

TOO MANY ISSUES with MOVIE SELECTIONS
While YouTubeTV offers a better SELECTION of more current / newer movies than Flex or Peacock or Tubi alone, because they pull them from each of those platforms, their collective offering is pretty solid, although not excellent. PROBLEMS include:
1. Normally, their featured films are "UPCOMING", meaning you need to wait a day or two for them to begin streaming. SO, you click on a featured title expecting to view it, only to find out you have to wait days for it to come on. (Seriously, Youtube, whoever came up with the idea to tease, or not 'deliver', something we are specifically clicking on and prepared to view, only to be told it is still not playing, should be fired.
2. With movie trilogies, sagas or franchises, only a fraction of the complete series is normally included

PLATFORM
The platform itself is bulky and not very user-friendly. It resembles the regular YouTube channel rather than other streaming services. It needs a complete revamp. For example, if you want to watch Fox or CNN, or whichever your cup of tea may be, you can search for either, but the results are confusing, murky, not very descriptive, not laid-out well and sometimes not playing even if you specifically search under "LIVE TV". Definitely another miss.

VPN
YoutubeTV will refuse to work with a VPN, and that is a major con for us. More and more of us have moved toward using VPNs for online security and I sometimes like to use social media while I have the TV on in the background. With YouTubeTV, you cannot run a VPN without it refusing to connect. Huge miss.

COST:
I am frugal. I like good things, but I love good deals, and the fact that we're paying almost $76.00 a month for this service, bugs me enough to where I am keeping an eye out for alternative options, one of which is HULU, who offers ALMOST the same number of channels for $10-$12 LESS a month. "What's $12?", you may ask. Well, it's 3 gallons of milk, two quarts of Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream, a co-pay on a prescription, the difference between an older model and newer model external hard-drive on Amazon, a dog toy which will last for a week in this home, and enough to gas up my car for 3.5 visits with my grandmother. On the other hand, can I really put a price on seeing my husband happy after a long day's work, relaxing on a plush leather recliner and watching his favorite NFL team score a touchdown while he waits for a slice of my latest cake-decorating masterpiece?

It's a tough call, but in a nutshell, if we could find a streaming service which offers the same channels for less, we'd move quickly. YouTubeTv while plentiful with CHANNEL SELECTIONS lacks way too much in other departments to win over our loyalty.

First of all, they're CRAZY to think hundreds of thousands of people will pay close to $70 a month to 'cut the cord'.

Orrrrr, ARE they?

KUDOS WHERE KUDOS ARE DUE, AND THEIR TELEVISION CHANNEL SELECTION (PAST PROGRAMMING and LIVE TV) ARE EXCELLENT.
Sport channel selections are top-notch from what my husband and brother-in-law don't say. (Get it? They don't say, because they're too busy watching them). In all seriousness though, they are thrilled with the selection, and in-between manly grunts and chili fries, they have voiced their sincere approval. YouTubeTV beats ESPN in so many ways. As for me, I have binged so many Cake War episodes that I think I gained five pounds just watching. Now I just sit farther from my screen.;)
If I had to include one 'con', it is that Lifetime is not included, and I'm addicted to one of the shows on there, so that's a miss.

THEIR MOVIE SELECTION IS MOSTLY GREAT.
On the plus side, YouTubeTV offers a FAR BETTER selection of more current (newer) movies than Flex or Peacock or Tubi, etc. The problem, is that sometimes their featured films are "UPCOMING", meaning you need to wait a day or two for them to begin streaming. Another issue is that in the case of some movie trilogies, sagas or franchises, only a fraction of the complete series is included in the plan. Examples: Mad Max Fury Road including Mad Max Chrome is included with plan, but other Mad Max movies are not. In the case of LOTR, both Return of the King and The Two Towers are available, but Fellowship of the Ring is only available for purchase. The Marvel Universe filmography, on the other hand, seems to be pretty complete. So, all-in-all, the entire selection of available films is pretty solid, although not excellent. I also like that they do not have "filler" movies (I think, or at least I haven't seen any) such as bargain C and D class films which, personally, I never watch and which many other streaming sites have on their platforms simply to advertise that they have an X number of films. Some people may actually like those films, so it is something to be aware of, but as for me, I am so glad I don't need to scroll through a bunch of them to get to the 'good stuff'.

Now, back to my opening remark in terms of cost:
I am frugal. I like good things, but I love good deals, and the fact that we're paying $65.00/mo. ($64.99), bugs me enough to where I am keeping an eye out for alternative options, one of which is HULU, who offer ALMOST the same number of channels for $10 LESS a month. "What's $10?", you may ask. Well, it's a couple of gallons of milk, two quarts of Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream, a co-pay on a prescription, the difference between an older model and newer model external hard-drive on Amazon, a dog toy which will last for a week in this home, and enough to gas up my car for 2.5 visits with my grandmother.

On the other hand, can I really put a price on seeing my husband happy after a long day's work, relaxing on a plush leather recliner and watching his favorite NFL team score a touchdown while he waits for a slice of my latest cake-decorating masterpiece?

It's a tough call.

KUDOS WHERE KUDOS ARE DUE, AND THEIR SPORT CHANNEL SELECTION IS "GREAT"
Sport channel selections are top-notch from what my husband and brother-in-law don't say. (Get it? They don't say, because they're too busy watching them). In all seriousness though, they are thrilled with the selection, and in-between manly grunts and chili fries, they have voiced their sincere approval. YouTubeTV, from what I understand, beats ESPN in a lot of ways.

REGULAR TV CHANNELS
I have binged so many past Cake War episodes that I think I gained five pounds just watching. Now I just sit farther from my screen. ;) Lifetime, however, is not included, and I'm addicted to one of the shows on there, so that's a miss. Edit*** Earlier broadcasts can sometimes not be easily re-watched. Example: HLN is presenting excellent coverage on the George Floyd case, but upon missing one day's coverage, neither that day, nor any previous days (termed Episodes on YTTV's Site), were available to view).

TOO MANY ISSUES with MOVIE SELECTIONS
While YouTubeTV offers a better SELECTION of more current / newer movies than Flex or Peacock or Tubi alone, because they pull them from each of those platforms, their collective offering is pretty solid, although not excellent. PROBLEMS include:
1. Normally, their featured films are "UPCOMING", meaning you need to wait a day or two for them to begin streaming. SO, you click on a featured title expecting to view it, only to find out you have to wait days for it to come on. (Seriously, Youtube, whoever came up with the idea to tease, or not 'deliver', something we are specifically clicking on and prepared to view, only to be told it is still not playing, should be fired.
2. With movie trilogies, sagas or franchises, only a fraction of the complete series is normally included. Sometimes it is a good fraction, but still a fraction. Example: 19 out of the 23 Marvel Franchise films.

PLATFORM
The platform itself is bulky and not very user-friendly. It loosely resembles the regular YouTube channel rather than other streaming services, which is okay for YouTube, but not for a streaming service. It needs a complete revamp in several areas to do with searching/finding. For example, if you want to watch Fox or CNN, or whichever your cup of tea may be, you can search for either, but the results are much too broad or too few, confusing, murky, not very descriptive, not laid-out well and most of all, mostly not playing even if you specifically search under "LIVE TV". Definitely another miss.

VPN
YoutubeTV will refuse to work with a VPN, and that is a major con for us. More and more of us have moved toward using VPNs for online security and I sometimes like to use social media while I have the TV on in the background. With YouTubeTV, you cannot run a VPN without it refusing to connect. Huge miss.

COST:
I am frugal. I like good things, but I love good deals, and the fact that we're paying almost $76.00 a month for this service, bugs me enough to where I am keeping an eye out for alternative options, one of which is HULU, who offers ALMOST the same number of channels for $10-$12 LESS a month. "What's $12?", you may ask. Well, it's 3 gallons of milk, two quarts of Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream, a co-pay on a prescription, the difference between an older model and newer model external hard-drive on Amazon, a dog toy which will last for a week in this home, and enough to gas up my car for 3.5 visits with my grandmother. On the other hand, can I really put a price on seeing my husband happy after a long day's work, relaxing on a plush leather recliner and watching his favorite NFL team score a touchdown while he waits for a slice of my latest cake-decorating masterpiece?

It's a tough call, but in a nutshell, if we could find a streaming service which offers the same channels for less, we'd move quickly. YouTubeTv while plentiful with CHANNEL SELECTIONS lacks way too much in other departments to win over our loyalty.

Both online and mobile experiences are very buggy. If you save a setting, it will say "you're all set" and "error" at the same time and the error explanation will be undecipherable such as "could not save the following" (following... what?). If you invite a family member to join your family circle, it will allow you to invite them by email but then that family member won't be able to accept your invite and hours of troubleshooting later you will discover that everyone in your family is required to have a gmail account (why??). And so on and so forth. It's unpleasant to use and very time-consuming to troubleshoot.

The videos often start off pixelated and often continue on low quality for a while, even though we have the highest-tier internet bandwidth and other streaming apps never have this issue.

Also there are LOTS of ads on some shows. YouTube's explanation is that they weren't able to negotiate better with the networks. Well then, don't offer me to DVR a show if I can't fast-forward through the ads - the whole purpose of DVR is to skip ads. And in addition to in-video ads from the networks, the YouTube TV app itself constantly interrupts you with "our picks for you" which of course are just ads for random shows.

Overall, not a very nice experience.

**** UPDATE ****

After using YouTube TV for a month, I am downgrading my review to 1 star.

The video continues to be EXTREMELY low quality about 20% of the time - I am talking pixelated, jerky, faded colors, you name it. I am not experiencing these issues with my other streaming services so it's definitely YouTube TV.

Also I take it back that there are a lot of ads on SOME shows. There are a lot of ads on MOST shows. It's like I am back to the olden days when I had to get up to wash the dishes for 10 minutes while the ads are playing.

Also the mobile app is supposed to be a "remote control" but instead it's a sales app for Google. It CONSTANTLY highjacks what you are doing to try to get you to buy more stuff.

Sadly, I will be switching back to Comcast, at least it had less ads and more of them could be fast forwarded, and the video quality wasn't so abysmal.

**** UPDATE ****

I have another update. On Feb-27, YouTube sent a notice that as of Feb-29, regional sports are no longer available (yes, it's a two-day notice, how dysfunctional their corporate must be). Without regional sports, there is simply no reason to pay over $50/month for YouTube TV when there are so many wonderful shows and movies available on Netflix and other streaming services, for much less.

Both online and mobile experiences are very buggy. If you save a setting, it will say "you're all set" and "error" at the same time and the error explanation will be undecipherable such as "could not save the following" (following... what?). If you invite a family member to join your family circle, it will allow you to invite them by email but then that family member won't be able to accept your invite and hours of troubleshooting later you will discover that everyone in your family is required to have a gmail account (why??). And so on and so forth. It's unpleasant to use and very time-consuming to troubleshoot.

The videos often start off pixelated and often continue on low quality for a while, even though we have the highest-tier internet bandwidth and other streaming apps never have this issue.

Also there are LOTS of ads on some shows. YouTube's explanation is that they weren't able to negotiate better with the networks. Well then, don't offer me to DVR a show if I can't fast-forward through the ads - the whole purpose of DVR is to skip ads.

Overall, not a very nice experience.

Both online and mobile experiences are very buggy. If you save a setting, it will say "you're all set" and "error" at the same time and the error explanation will be undecipherable such as "could not save the following" (following... what?). If you invite a family member to join your family circle, it will allow you to invite them by email but then that family member won't be able to accept your invite and hours of troubleshooting later you will discover that everyone in your family is required to have a gmail account (why??). And so on and so forth. It's unpleasant to use and very time-consuming to troubleshoot.

The videos often start off pixelated and often continue on low quality for a while, even though we have the highest-tier internet bandwidth and other streaming apps never have this issue.

Also there are LOTS of ads on some shows. YouTube's explanation is that they weren't able to negotiate better with the networks. Well then, don't offer me to DVR a show if I can't fast-forward through the ads - the whole purpose of DVR is to skip ads. And in addition to in-video ads from the networks, the YouTube TV app itself constantly interrupts you with "our picks for you" which of course are just ads for random shows.

Overall, not a very nice experience.

I'm surprised so many people don't know about Youtube TV yet. It's cheap (used to be cheaper), you get all the great channels cable plans offer live plus DVR recording for less than $50/month.

YouTube TV is new, and they've hit the market with a bang. I thought I'd give them a try, as I was dying to get rid of another streaming company. Once I started using it, it was a no-brainer.

Unlike most services, YouTube TV doesn't have hidden costs or unexpected add-ons. You get what you see, with an easy-to-use-and-understand interface, the ability to add shows to your library, and the option to have those shows DVR'd.

PROS:

Family Is Invited! Up to five family members with a Google account can be invited, no extra cost. They then have private access to their own viewings, lineup, recordings, etc.

Live and On-Demand, DVR, ability to watch a network show right after it's aired. Pausing live? Priceless.

Fast forwarding, rewinding, and pausing is available for on demand and live shows.

Clean, user-friendly interface.

CONS:

No Comedy Central.

So many obscure sports networks to get past; it almost feels as though there are as many of those channels as there are regular ones. I'm also 99% sure this is a common issue with all streaming services.