Three of the four major live streaming services in the U.S. have reported their earnings for the third quarter, and the results are pretty clear: YouTube TV (probably) still leads the pack — and by a healthy margin. We have to hedge that just a tad because Google doesn’t give regular updates on streaming statistics, unlike the other parent companies at play here.
But with that said, here’s how things break down:
- YouTube TV last reported having more than 5 million subscribers in the middle of 2022. While it hasn’t given an update since then, Google did say in its Q3 earnings call that there was “YouTube non-advertising revenue driven by subscriber growth in YouTube TV” on the back of NFL Sunday Ticket moving to the service. So we know it’s growing. We just have no idea how much.
- Hulu With Live TV is firmly in second place at 4.6 million subscribers as of the end of parent company Disney’s fiscal year. (Which ended on September 30.) That’s only 100,000 off its high for the fiscal year, but it did add 300,000 subs in the third quarter.
- Sling TV remains in third at 2.12 million subscribers. That’s basically the same number of subscribers has had since the beginning of 2018, never climbing higher than 2.6 million subscribers in that time period. It’s been slowly trending down since then.
- Fubo is the dark horse in this conversation. Its numbers can fluctuate a bit depending on the quarter because a good bit of its attraction has to do with sports, but it’s essentially grown by 5 times since the end of 2019.
And one other mention here: ESPN+. It’s not in the same category as the services mentioned above. They’re known as MPVDs, for multi-platform video distributors — basically the streaming version of what you’d get from a cable company. ESPN+ closed Disney’s fiscal year at 26 million subscribers, up 5.7 million subs for the year, and up about 8.9 million over two years. It’s full of on-demand content but also is full of live sports that can’t be watched anywhere else.
What does all that mean? Not a whole lot, actually, except to say that the two services that are showing significant growth — YouTube TV and Fubo — tend to add features and adjust their businesses as necessary. Hulu With Live TV is still growing overall, just much more slowly. And all the services have one thing in common: Price increases. (Mostly. Fubo actually just lowered the cost of one of its tiers.)
None of that changes the only things that matter: Does a service have the channels you want? And does it have a price you’re willing to pay? If the answer to either of those questions is no, then you should try another service. And if none of them does the trick for you? (Or if you just can’t handle the occasional streaming hiccup?) There’s always a good, old-fashioned antenna.
Editors’ Recommendations
- YouTube NFL outage: Should Google give refunds or credits?
- Everyone is missing the point on streaming video
- YouTube rolling out some three-dozen new features this fall
- YouTube TV in 4K: Everything you need to know
- Can you buy NFL Sunday Ticket on a TV? Yes, no, and sort of
Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…
How to watch The Weather Channel without cable
There are a million ways to get information on the weather these days. Windows, for one. Computers for another. But for a lot of folks, it’s still all about The Weather Channel — the ubiquitous channel that, appropriately enough, is all about The Weather. On a Channel.
And, unfortunately, it’s time for many in Florida and the rest of the Southeast to keep their eyes glued on The Weather Channel as Hurricane Idalia makes landfall this week in Central Florida. (And Franklin spins off the East Coast. And other areas of concern spin up in the Atlantic. Welcome to the 2024 hurricane season, everyone.)
YouTube with a blank home screen is a beautiful place
I knew it was coming, but it still came as a little bit of a surprise. I opened the YouTube app on my phone and was greeted by … nothing. No Mr. Beast, a video creator whose videos I have never watched — and never will. No tech tips from an overcaffeinated Peanuts character. (I think. Given my advanced age and inability to find entertainment value in someone trying to sell me something, I may not have that quite right.) No random recipes from someone who somehow managed to hide a full kitchen just off camera in the middle of the woods and preps ingredients using only a hand-carved stone hatchet.
This is YouTube without recommendations. And it is wonderful.
What is YouTube Music? Everything you need to know
Google once had its own dedicated music player called Google Play Music — and if you’ve looked into that streaming option lately, you will see that it’s been shut down. As you may know, people regularly use YouTube itself to play music, search for new songs, and assemble playlists of their favorites. This prompted Google to release a new, upgraded service called YouTube Music, a music-only source for streaming your tunes.
Is YouTube Music a contender along with apps like Spotify, Tidal, or Apple Music? Well, that may depend on how much you use YouTube to look for music and how important music videos are to you. Here’s everything you should know.
[ For more curated Samsung news, check out the main news page here]
The post YouTube TV still leads after latest round of streaming numbers | Digital Trends first appeared on www.digitaltrends.com
