# YouTube TV
> vMVPD · alphabet
- Profile type: Product
- Profile status: baseline
- Last updated: 2026-05-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Canonical URL: https://thestateofstreaming.com/products/youtube-tv/
- Also known as: YouTube TV, YTTV
## Summary
Alphabet's virtual MVPD, launched April 5, 2017. With more than 8 million subscribers as of YouTube CEO Neal Mohan's February 2024 update, it is the largest US vMVPD by paid subscribers, ahead of Hulu + Live TV. Holds the exclusive US distribution rights to NFL Sunday Ticket through a seven-year, roughly $2 billion-per-year deal that began in the 2023 NFL season.

## Product facts

- Category: vMVPD
- Parent company: alphabet (https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/alphabet/)
- Launched: 2017-04-05
- Ad model: Subscription-funded; addressable and programmatic ads served into linear streams via Google Ad Manager. Add-on packages (NFL Sunday Ticket, premium networks) sold a la carte.
- Pricing: Base Plan listed at $82.99/month as of April 2026 (introductory rate of $67.99/month for the first three months for new subscribers). On December 10, 2025, YouTube announced a tiered restructuring launching in early 2026 that adds genre-specific packages (Entertainment, Sports, Sports + News) alongside the Base Plan; specific pricing for the new tiers was not disclosed at announcement. NFL Sunday Ticket sold separately as an add-on or through YouTube Primetime Channels.


## Key facts

- YouTube TV launched April 5, 2017, in five US markets — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay Area — at an introductory price of $35 per month. — CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/05/youtube-officially-launches-youtube-tv-in-select-markets.html
- YouTube CEO Neal Mohan disclosed in his February 6, 2024 annual letter that YouTube TV had surpassed 8 million paid subscribers, up from 5 million in 2022. — TheWrap: https://www.thewrap.com/youtube-tv-subscribers-total/
- Google and the NFL announced a multi-year agreement on Dec. 22, 2022 granting YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels exclusive US residential distribution rights to NFL Sunday Ticket beginning with the 2023 season; the deal runs for seven years at roughly $2 billion per year. — NFL.com: https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-google-nfl-sunday-ticket-youtube-tv-youtube-primetime-channels
- Disney's networks — including ABC and the ESPN family — went dark on YouTube TV just before midnight ET on Oct. 30, 2025 over carriage fees and were restored Nov. 14, 2025; at 15 days it was the longest blackout in Disney's history. Disney's Q1 FY2026 8-K disclosed a $110 million ESPN segment operating-income hit from the suspension. — Disney Q1 FY2026 earnings release (Form 8-K Ex. 99.1): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1744489/000174448926000018/fy2026_q1xprxex991.htm
- Under the carriage settlement that ended the Disney–YouTube TV blackout, ESPN Unlimited will be added to YouTube TV's Base Plan at no additional cost by the end of 2026. — Variety: https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/youtube-tv-disney-blackout-deal-renewal-espn-abc-1236567658/
- On Dec. 10, 2025, YouTube announced a tiered restructuring of YouTube TV launching in early 2026, introducing more than 10 genre-specific plans — including a Sports Plan and Entertainment Plan — alongside the existing Base Plan. — YouTube Official Blog: https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/introducing-youtube-tv-plans-launching-early-2026/


## Related

- alphabet (parent) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/alphabet/
- the walt disney company (counterparty in 2025 carriage dispute; ESPN/ABC distributor) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/the-walt-disney-company/
- sports rights fragmentation (anchor distributor for NFL Sunday Ticket package) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/tech/sports-rights-fragmentation/


## External coverage

- YouTube: YouTube TV — Watch & DVR Live Sports, Shows & News (https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/)
- 2025-12-10 — YouTube Official Blog: Introducing YouTube TV Plans, launching early 2026 (https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/introducing-youtube-tv-plans-launching-early-2026/)
- 2022-12-22 — NFL.com: NFL, Google announce agreement to distribute NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV, Primetime Channels (https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-google-nfl-sunday-ticket-youtube-tv-youtube-primetime-channels)
- YouTube TV: The Exclusive Home of NFL Sunday Ticket (https://tv.youtube.com/learn/nflsundayticket/ytpmemberoffer/)
- 2026-02-02 — Variety: ESPN Took $110 Million Hit From YouTube TV Blackout Last Fall (https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/espn-110-million-lost-income-youtube-tv-blackout-1236648725/)
- 2017-04-05 — CNBC: YouTube officially launches YouTube TV in select markets (https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/05/youtube-officially-launches-youtube-tv-in-select-markets.html)

## Profile
YouTube TV is the distribution surface where Alphabet's pay-TV ambitions and the NFL's most valuable out-of-market package live under one app. It is the largest US virtual MVPD by paid subscribers and the only platform that can sell NFL Sunday Ticket as a bundled add-on. The 2025 Disney carriage standoff — 15 days dark, $110 million off ESPN's quarter, ESPN Unlimited folded into the Base Plan as part of the truce — established that YouTube TV is now large enough that legacy programmers can no longer dictate carriage terms unilaterally. The December 2025 tiered-plan restructuring is the next pivot: a vMVPD that grew up selling one big bundle is unbundling itself before regulators or competitors force it to.
## Coverage on The State of Streaming
- [YouTube Ads Hit $9.88B in Q1 — The Subscription Mix Is Catching Up](https://thestateofstreaming.com/platforms/2026/05/youtube-q1-2026-ad-revenue-trajectory/) — 2026-05-04
- [The Cord-Cutting Cliff Stalled in Q1 2026. The Consensus Hasn't Caught Up.](https://thestateofstreaming.com/devices-distribution/2026/04/cord-cutting-pause-2026-thesis-rewrite-2/) — 2026-04-27
- [The Cord-Cutting Cliff Stalled in Q1 2026. The Consensus Hasn't Caught Up.](https://thestateofstreaming.com/devices-distribution/2026/04/cord-cutting-pause-2026-thesis-rewrite/) — 2026-04-27
- [ESPN Preps Roughly 30 Layoffs After Disney Books $110M YouTube TV Hit](https://thestateofstreaming.com/platforms/2026/04/espn-layoffs-youtube-blackout-aftermath/) — 2026-04-26

## Tags

- youtube-tv
- vmvpd
- virtual-mvpd
- alphabet
- nfl-sunday-ticket
- carriage-disputes
- cord-cutting
- addressable-advertising

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