Latest in YouTube TV

YouTube and Verizon have minted a distribution deal that will cross-promote both the telecom giant’s offerings, including 5G and broadband, and the internet-delivered pay-TV service. Under the deal, Verizon will offer promotions on YouTube TV to customers regardless of the service they get. A Verizon spokesperson…

NBCUniversal executive Lori Conkling has been tapped by Google to lead global partnerships for its YouTube TV and internet service division, Google Fiber. Conkling spent the last six years at NBCU, where she served as EVP of strategy and business development focused on digital. In her new role, she’ll lead YouTube…

Hulu is phasing in a significant rate hike for its skinny-bundle live TV service, to $44.99 a month from $39.99, but at the same time will lower the price of its signature SVOD offering to $5.99 from $7.99. The ad-free version of Hulu’s SVOD service will remain $11.99 a month. The new pricing scheme will go into…

UPDATE:  After a global outage that lasted over an hour, YouTube is back and up and running. The popular video-sharing service experienced a disruption earlier this evening for a long period of time, causing a panic amongst the Internet masses. After everyone was without their favorite videos, the site was finally…

YouTube TV is offering subscribers a free week of service to compensate for an outage during a 2018 FIFA World Cup semifinal match. The company sent emails today, apologizing for the high-profile service interruption (right smack in the middle of Wednesday’s Croatia-England match). “To help make this right, we’d like…

TYT Network has added three new shows to its recently launched YouTube TV channel, building out its programming slate to more than a dozen talk, news and entertainment shows for millennials. Political analyst Michael Shure will host Reasonably Shure, a 30-minute weekly interview program where he’ll talk with artists…

UPDATED with additional comment from fuboTV: Scrappy sports streaming service fuboTV couldn’t resist the opportunity to capitalize on YouTube TV’s red card-worthy service outage in the middle of World Cup semifinal soccer action. FuboTV issued a press release this afternoon touting beta tests of ultrahigh-definition…

UPDATE with service restored. Even YouTube admits the timing was horrible that its YouTube TV service crashed as England and Croatia clash in the 2018 FIFA World Cup semifinals. Just when fans were starting to show red cards and roll around on the turf in agony, the service came back on line, with apologies for the…

If it feels like Netflix has taken over the living room, some new research backs up that sense. Financial firm Cowen Equity Research asked 2,500 U.S. consumers (in a regular, ongoing panel) which programming platform they watch on their TV set. Netflix led the pack at 27%, followed by basic cable at 20%, broadcast at…

A new report from UBS predicts a “steeper ramp” than previously forecast for so-called “skinny bundle” services like Sling TV and DirecTV Now in the coming years. By 2022, the financial institution’s media analysts predict, they will represent 25% of all pay-TV subscriptions. “As these offerings continue to…

Hulu has nearly doubled the number of subscribers to its “skinny bundle” pay-TV service over the past six months, reaching 800,000 paying customers, according to CEO Randy Freer. The Hulu chief provided the estimate during an interview with CNBC. The company, which is controlled by 21st Century Fox, Disney and…

Lionsgate touted the expanded availability of its Starz premium channel, which launched this morning on Amazon Prime in the United Kingdom and Germany and will come next month to YouTube TV in the U.S. “This is another major step in rolling out Starz as a global consumer brand,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer…