If you switched to Fubo because it was cheaper than YouTube TV, I’ve got bad news

Summary

Fubo TV initially offered better value than YouTube TV with access to local sports at a lower price.
A recent price increase by Fubo, making it more expensive than YouTube TV, eradicated this advantage.
YouTube TV dominates the live TV services market with over 8 million subscribers compared to Fubo’s 1.6 million.

After YouTube TV raised its price to close out 2024, I started testing out new live TV services. The first one I checked out was Fubo TV, and I came away with a very positive impression. It gave me access to local sports, a cheaper price, and a UI that had a lot in common with YouTube TV, so the transition wasn’t difficult.

Some downsides are a lower quality with much of the content coming in at 720p compared to YouTube TV’s 1080p, but outside of that, the two services were largely the same. Coupled with the lower cost, Fubo was better value for a lot of people. However, that’s not the case any longer. Thanks to price hikes across all Fubo TV plans, the least-expensive package is now $85 per month (not including the regional sports fee), which makes the service now more expensive than YouTube TV. For a service that’s fighting to gain market share from its competitors, going up to a price higher than a service that’s arguably better for a lot of people isn’t the best way of doing it.

fuboTV

Simultaneous streams: 10
Originals: No
Live TV: Yes

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Fubo TV isn’t as cheap as it seems.

Fubo wiped out a major advantage

Self-inflicted wound

Fubo

I think one of the biggest advantages Fubo had over YouTube TV was the price. Even though it was by a small margin, it’s important to take wins where you can, and that was a place where it could definitively be used as a selling point. Unfortunately, it lasted for about a month. Another big thing working against Fubo was the lack of Turner networks like TBS and TNT, so the price was the main area that could secure a win for the platform.

There are still some nice features that Fubo offers, like a customizable multi-stream, but that’s more of a cherry on top instead of a clear selling point. With much of the content locked to 720p, price was the key factor and now the service doesn’t even have that. It’s a disappointing change for somebody who was hoping to save some cash.

Even when you broaden the horizons to other services, Fubo doesn’t really stack up anymore. Hulu + Live TV has a deal available for $83 that comes with not only a live TV plan, but subscriptions to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. The reality is that Fubo doesn’t provide a whole lot that other services don’t, and it makes a service that’s already viewed as an underdog become an even bigger one. Since YouTube TV just went up in price, it’s difficult to imagine it happening again so soon, so this price advantage could remain for the remainder of the year.

Rising costs are a problem for all services, and Fubo is far from the only one who has taken this path. Earlier this month, Netflix announced another price hike that makes the already costly streamer even more expensive.

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Fubo has a rocky road ahead

An uncertain future

The price change isn’t great news no matter how you slice it, but the company already has a complicated future. Earlier this month, Disney announced a purchase of the company, and it came as surprising news. Disney already has its own live TV service with Hulu, so adding another one to the umbrella is a head-scratcher.

The deal is still expected to take a year or so to actually go into effect, but it’s not clear what that means for both Hulu + Live TV and Fubo going further. Disney says the two services will remain independent of each other, so even when the deal closes you still have your pick between the two. You’d think the services would borrow from each other, like Hulu + Live TV adopting Fubo’s UI and multi-stream functionality, but it’s not clear if that’s going to be the case.

Speculation is fun to do and all, but there’s not a lot of sense in doing it this early considering how much can change. Ideally, I’d like to see the services take the best features from each other and become even better.

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YouTube TV needs a true challenger

Dominance isn’t good for anybody

YouTube TV against a black screen in front of blurred apps.

Unsplash / Pocket-lint

For a myriad of reasons, YouTube TV reigns over all other live TV services. According to The Hollywood Reporter, YouTube TV boasts over eight million subscribers, while Hulu + Live TV lags far behind in second place with 4.6 million. Fubo, in comparison, has just 1.6 million. Even when you combine the two, they still come in way behind YouTube.

I can make a good argument that Hulu + Live TV is better value than YouTube TV thanks to the inclusion of all the streaming services for the same exact price, but it looks like I’d be in the minority based on the subscriber numbers. However, there’s a chance people don’t know the type of value Hulu offers, so there could be a marketing problem too. The reality is that YouTube TV does have challengers, but they haven’t been able to carve out a huge market share.

I’ll admit I stuck with YouTube TV for years without even looking into other options. I knew I wasn’t always getting the best deal, but I never thought much about it considering I was happy with the service. It wasn’t until the latest price increase that I finally took a step back to think about how little live TV I watched and how much I was paying for it.

The majority of the services cost around the same price, but there’s still one out there that comes in at a much lower price. That service is Sling TV, but it’s able to do so by completely dropping local channels like FOX, CBS, and ABC. You can soften the blow by picking up an antenna, something I actually did and enjoyed. The stream quality doesn’t match the heavy hitters, but if you’re looking for a cheaper way to watch live TV than what YouTube or Fubo offer, this is a good choice.

Anybody looking for something that has a similar UI to a regular cable subscription, has a wide selection of channels, and is easy to use, I hate to admit that it’s YouTube TV. This could change in the future, but YouTube TV, in my opinion, comes away the winner in that regard.