http://www.marketwatch.com/story/youtube-reportedly-planning-streaming-tv-service-2016-05-04
YouTube reportedly planning streaming TV service
YouTube is reportedly ready to compete with cable TV providers by offering a
paid subscription bundle of streaming TV channels as soon as next year.
Bloomberg News reported Wednesday that YouTube, a division of Alphabet Inc.’s
Google business,
has been working on the project since 2012 and has recently been in licensing
talks with major TV content providers such as Comcast Corp’s NBC Universal,
Viacom Inc, CBS Corp. and 21st Century Fox Inc., although it has not yet
secured a deal with any of them.
YouTube reportedly hopes to offer so-called “skinny bundles” of programming in
2017 at less than $35 a month, and would include the four major broadcast
channels along with a selection of popular cable channels. Bloomberg said
additional themed bundles — such as sports and kids programming — may be
offered separately.
Securing streaming rights with the top media companies is critical in order to
offer a competitive product. Apple Inc.’s long-rumored TV plan was reportedly
put on the back burner earlier this year after it failed to reach such a deal
with CBS, the No. 1 broadcast channel in the U.S.
YouTube’s service, which would be called Unplugged, would add an additional
revenue stream to the company, likely much more so than its current Red
subscription service. And the à la carte method of programming would likely
appeal to many so-called “cord-cutters” as a cheaper alternative to cable
packages.
YouTube Unplugged would join a growing field offering streaming TV bundles.
Earlier this week, Hulu was reported to be planning a subscription service
offering broadcast and cable TV channels that it hopes to launch by early 2017.
Dish Network Inc’s Sling TV already offers a similar service for $20 a month,
though it lacks channels from Walt Disney Co. — such as ESPN and ABC — NBC
Universal and CBS.
