YouTube adds free TV series and shows, with advertising

By Phil Nickinson March 23, 2022

The line between YouTube and YouTube TV is blurring even more, with the addition of full seasons of series — nearly 4,000 episodes in total — now available on YouTube. They’re free to watch, but there will be advertising — just like if you were to watch them on-demand on YouTube TV itself.

And YouTube also is rolling out “brand new streamlined navigation and immersive banner art,” which it says “will help you more easily find your favorite TV shows.” It also says that you’ll be able to watch many of the shows in 1080p resolution, and with 5.1 surround sound.

Related Videos

Hell's Kitchen promo for YouTube. — Google

That sure sounds a lot like YouTube TV, the $65-a-month linear streaming service from Google that is among the top three in the United States. (Hulu With Live TV has 4.3 million subscribers, and Sling TV last reported 2.486 million subs; YouTube TV hasn’t given an update since October 2020, when it said it had “more than 3 million.”) The big difference, of course, is that YouTube TV has live content, like sports and news, as well as all the traditional linear channels that show specific things at specific times.’

It also sounds a lot like what you get on AVOD services (that’s advertising-based video-on-demand) like Tubi, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and more. So YouTube isn’t really breaking new ground here, it’s just muddying the waters between its products that much more. And it’s a pretty busy space in which to play. The ViacomCBS-owned Pluto TV, for example, last reported 64 million monthly active users. But YouTube basically is the home for all online video that doesn’t come from a studio, and it notes that between YouTube and YouTube TV, it reached some 135 million people on connected TVs in December 2021.

YouTube also still has more than 1,500 movies available to stream for free, from such publishers as Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, FilmRise, and more.

The free series and shows on YouTube are only available in the United States.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Entertainment

The best live TV streaming services: Hulu, Sling TV, YouTube TV, and more

best streaming TV service

If you're thinking of cutting the cable cord, it's never been a better time, and networking and streaming giants are falling all over themselves to provide the best alternatives for live TV streaming. From Hulu with Live TV to Sling TV to YouTube TV, there are a number of ways to watch televised events live or catch up on your favorite network shows without paying for cable.

Each of these services has its own price tag and list of special features to stand out from one another. However, differentiating between them as a consumer can feel overwhelming. We’ve done our best to simplify the shopping process for you and explain the best live TV streaming services available today.

Audio / Video

YouTube TV: plans, pricing, channels, how to cancel, and more

The YouTube TV on a Roku TV.

When you think of streaming video, you think YouTube. And so YouTube TV — Google's live TV streaming service — very much just makes sense for a lot of people. Designed for those who want to cut the cord and ditch their cable or satellite subscriptions (and known in the industry as a multichannel video programming distributor, or MPVD), YouTube TV competes in the same arena as other streaming television services like DirecTV Stream (formerly known as AT&T TV Now and DirecTV Now), Sling TV, FuboTV, and Hulu With Live TV.

And YouTube TV offers a unique mix of features that make it very appealing, so much so that it's now the No. 1 service in the U.S. in terms of the number of paid subscribers, with some 5 million subscribers as of June 2022 — up some 2 million from the last time the service gave an update in October 2020. The popularity is due to several factors. YouTube TV is easy to use. It's got a selection of channels that's competitive with all its rivals. And the YouTube TV price is competitive, too. You're able to watch YouTube TV on pretty much any modern device. And the fact that parent company Alphabet (aka Google) has been marketing the heck out of it the past few years certainly hasn't hurt, either.

Audio / Video

YouTube TV increases its monthly prices by $8 – is now the time to switch?

YouTube TV on Roku.

YouTube TV has raised the price of its monthly subscription by $8, from $65 to $73. The move comes on the heels of its announcement that it will be adding a multiview feature for sports channels. The change in price will hit current subscribers on April 18, however, the streaming service, which is owned by Google, has already started charging new customers the higher price.

It's been a while since YouTube TV last raised its prices. That was in 2020, when the streaming service increased subscriptions from $50 to $65. When the service first launched in 2017, it only cost $35 per month.