YouTube TV is becoming more expensive — again.
YouTube announced on Thursday that the price of itsstreaming service had increased $10 a month, a 14 percent increase, to $82.99. For new subscribers, the change takes effect immediately, while existing subscribers will begin to pay the higher price on Jan. 13.
In a statement posted on social media and emailed to YouTube TV subscribers, YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, cited “rising content costs” for the price change.
“We don’t make these decisions lightly, and we realize this impacts our members,” the company said, adding that anyone who was paying a discounted rate or was on a trial would not be affected until that promotional period ended.
The increase means YouTube TV is now charging the same as Hulu’s most popular television streaming package. Hulu, a rival cable substitute, raised that monthly streaming charge in October.
It is the latest in a series of price hikes for YouTube TV, which debuted in 2017 at $35 a month and has slowly risen in price ever since, first to $50 a month in 2019 and most recently to $72.99 in March 2023.
YouTube will not be adding new channels for subscribers as part of the increase. YouTube TV’s current offering of more than 100 traditional network and cable channels, a DVR service and six accounts per household will stay the same.
YouTube declined to say how many subscribers YouTube TV had, but it reported in February that the service had eight million paying customers.
Separate from YouTube, the company’s free video platform that generates revenue through advertisements, YouTube TV competes with Hulu, Fubo, Sling and other streaming services that offer a range of channels.
Those cable substitutes compete for content as well as for customers, often at great cost. In 2022, YouTube TV acquired the exclusive rights to a package of National Football League games called Sunday Ticket for $2 billion a year.
