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YouTube TV Has More than 2 Million Subscribers in the U.S.

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YouTube TV has more than 2 million paid subscribers in the U.S. This is the first time Alphabet and Google have announced an official figure for YouTube TV. It also now confirms YouTube TV’s place as a major player in the live TV streaming market.

Up until now, Alphabet and Google have remained somewhat secretive over the performance of YouTube TV. While many had predicted the service was doing well (and especially in the last quarter), it remained to be seen just how well Google’s take on live TV streaming was doing. Some had already predicted YouTube TV was closing in on the 2 million subscriber mark, although those predictions were based on estimates, and while the estimates were expected to be accurate to a degree, how accurate remained the question.

Alphabet released its fourth quarter and year-end results today and as part of the earnings call following the main release. Alphabet and Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, confirmed YouTube TV had already surpassed 2 million subscribers. In addition, Pichai also confirmed YouTube in general has more than 20 million Music and Premium paid subscribers, and collectively, the wider YouTube ecosystem generated $15 billion in annual ad revenue.

YouTube now officially a major live TV streaming player

It was already assumed YouTube TV was a major player, but now that’s official following the latest announcement. With the figure now confirmed, YouTube TV joins the ranks of Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV with having more than 2 million live TV subscribers – although, YouTube sits in third behind the other two.

While the latest Sling TV subscriber figures have yet to come through, in November of last year Dish confirmed Sling TV was just under 2.7 million subscribers. Hulu + Live TV is understood to be around the same figure.

Although in third, YouTube TV sits there comfortably. This was a position previously occupied by AT&T TV NOW but with AT&T recently announcing its results, AT&T confirmed it had lost almost one million TV subscribers in the fourth quarter. That figure included 219,000 AT&T TV NOW subscribers, bringing the overall total down to under one million.

It is likely YouTube’s great fourth quarter was also partially the result of PlayStation Vue. While PlayStation Vue only closed down on January 30, it is likely some subscribers would have already transitioned away from the service ahead of time. What’s more, it seems highly likely YouTube TV is going to see another spike in subscriber growth during the current quarter as it is now the default option for those looking for a live TV streaming service accessible through a PlayStation 4 console.

Source: Alphabet

John Finn

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