YouTube TV in H-Town
Cord cutters get another option as YouTube TV expands to Houston with live local programming
YouTube has expanded its internet-based television service to Houston. On Thursday, owner Google announced the expansion of YouTube TV to the Bayou City and nine other new U.S. markets.
For $35 a month, with no contract required, subscribers can get more than 40 channels, including live local feeds from major broadcasters, including ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC Houston affiliates. Other favorites include popular cable networks ESPN, AMC, FX, E!, Telemundo, the CW, Bravo, the Disney Channel FOX News, and MSNBC. But CNN is notably missing.
Other new cities to get the full service include Atlanta, Phoenix, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, Charlotte, and Washington, D.C. In Dallas-Fort Worth, ABC coverage is restricted to prime programming, minus the local news.
The service launched in April in New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Philadelphia and Chicago. It competes with such services as Dish’s Sling TV, AT&T’s DirecTV Now, Hulu’s live TV service, and Sony’s PlayStation Vue. Aimed at cord cutters, half of YouTube TV viewership comes from millennials ages 18-34, wheres half of traditional TV viewers are over 49.
Among the other features touted by the service:
- YouTube TV can be watched on any screen—mobile, tablet or computer—and can be easily streamed to a TV with a Google Chromecast or Chromecast built-in TV.
- It works on both Android and iOS. YouTube TV recently enabled AirPlay support so Apple TV owners can stream on the big screen.
- It includes a cloud DVR, with no storage limits, so you can stream recordings on any device at any time. It also enables you to record live TV and never run out of storage space plus record shows simultaneously, without using data or space on your phone. Each recording will be stored for nine months.
- The service allows six accounts per household.