YouTube is throwing its hat into the ring for a cable-style online TV service.

The company is working on a paid subscription service called Unplugged, that would offer customers a bundle of cable TV channels streamed over the internet, Bloomberg reports.

Anonymous sources told Bloomberg that YouTube has been in discussions with major media companies including Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal, Viacom Inc., Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. and CBS Corp., but rights are still pending.

Online video giant YouTube, a unit of Google parent company Alphabet, has already overhauled its technical architecture to make way for the new service, which has been in the works since 2012.

The service could debut as early as 2017.

Trending: OTT and Skinny Bundles

YouTube joins a slew of other companies that offer or are developing similar OTT services. Dish Network’s Sling TV costs subscribers $20 per month, and Sony Playstation’s Vue starts at between $30 and $40 per month.

Hulu also recently revealed plans for a $40 per month OTT service to launch in the first quarter of 2017, that would include ABC, Fox, ESPN, FX, Fox News and other popular channels.

RELATED: Hulu Developing Cable-Style Online TV Service

Many cable companies are trying to compete by offering consumers “skinny” bundles, such as Comcast’s $15-per-month Stream, and YouTube will be no exception.

YouTube already offers a $9.99 per month subscription service called YouTube Red that allows ad-free viewing. Through Unplugged, TV channels would be packaged as skinny bundles, and potentially sell for around $35 a month or less.

The video giant is also taking into consideration less popular second-tier channels, and may offer separate packages based around themes. For instance, the company may charge one subscription for the main bundle, and then an additional fee for theme-based channels, like a comedy bundle that may include three or four channels such as Comedy Central, or a lifestyle bundle that includes Style Network.

Bringing Cord Cutters Back to Cable

As cable subscriptions decline, especially among young viewers who opt out of traditional cable for on-demand streaming services instead, many media companies hope skinny bundles can help bring live TV to the web, and in turn bring some of those customers back to cable.

“There is a strong consumer demand for the skinny bundle of 15 channels to 30 channels,” CBS Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves has said. “Many viewers would rather pay for only those channels they actually watch.”

READ MORE: Bloomberg

Tags:


  Save as PDF