YouTube TV Announces A Significant Price Increase To Start 2025

You know what they say: media subscription price hikes come at you fast. On December 12, 2024, YouTube TV announced a price increase that will go into effect January 13, 2025. Subscribers will see new monthly costs for YouTube TV in the new year. Monthly Base Plan subscription prices will go up by $10, increasing from $72.99 per month to $82.99.

This 14% increase was announced to current subscribers via email. The email detailed "the rising cost of content" and investments in service provision as the driving factors behind the price spike. The $82.99 price will hit the first billing cycle on or after the fee change date in January. YouTube's email also states that subscribers already enjoying promotional rates will be safe from price increases throughout the duration of their promotional terms.

This isn't the first time the service provider has increased subscription prices. However, this increase announcement comes hot on the heels of Google's parent company, Alphabet, denying there would be one at all. While undeniably frustrating, this almost immediate about-face, as well as YouTube TV's email acknowledging that the company understands if some members "may want to cancel their subscriptions," also speaks volumes about the future of streaming and its subscription costs. 

Days before YouTube TV's official 2025 price increase announcement, internet sleuths were calling Verizon out for leaking the information, while Google officials insisted no such price increase was in the offing. Michael Saves, a verified YouTuber in the savings and streaming space, spotted the higher $82.99 per month pricing in a promo published (clearly too early) by Verizon, via a Facebook ad.

Michael Timmerman, the Michael behind Michael Saves, called the company out via Michael Saves on X, formerly Twitter. Saves asked if increased pricing was planned. The official @TeamYouTube account responded to the Michael Saves X post by saying: "We're aware that Verizon has published an advertisement with the incorrect price for the YouTubeTV Base Plan. We're working with Verizon to have this issue resolved."

This exchange (initially highlighted by news site Android Headlines) took place December 7, 2024. YouTube TV's official price hike email went out December 12, 2024. While one read of this situation shows a greedy, corporate streaming service provider's official customer services lying through their teeth a week ahead of an official price hike announcement, another read raises alarm bells. Corporate greed is very real, but so are the data storage costs and "content" costs associated with having a library of channels and media options at one's fingertips, especially when multiplying that cost by more than 8 million YouTube TV subscribers.

To think, there was a time when YouTube TV was considered a cheaper option than cable. The streaming library, live-event streamer, search service, channel and limitless cloud DVR storage provider was once a steal at $35, or even $50 a month. In 2025, with Basic Plans being $82.99 per month, plus an additional $10 if opting for 4k streaming, you might wonder if YouTube TV is really worth the price, or if you can just take up whittling as a hobby, instead.

People may be used to weighing the costs of premium add-on media subscriptions, or wondering if AppleTV+ is worth the subscription price. However, the services YouTube TV provides are vast. For those who opt for the service instead of cable, quitting may feel as impossible as paying the subscription fees, which will only get higher.

As YouTube TV shifts from grabbing market share to becoming profitable in 2026, more costs stand to be passed on to their customers. TV networks pay a ton to air NFL games, for example, and now that YouTube TV is akin to such networks, so will the company, and its subscribers. The same goes for storage, which incurs server, real estate, and energy costs. The more subscribers, the more they might be charged for the privilege of having endless content. YouTube TV initially denying this price hike, only o levy it anyway, seems to indicate they know they have their customer base over a barrel. Whether customers continue to pay extortionate rates for media streaming they rely on remains to be seen, but right now, the outlook is good for YouTube TV.