YouTube TV reaches five markets

YouTube TV reaches five markets

YouTube has launched its live television service in limited markets: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Subsrribers pay $35 per month to have access to live television programming from more than 50 networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and ESPN. AMC Networks, including AMC, BBC America, IFC and Sundance TV, will also join the service soon. Showtime and Fox Soccer Plus are available for an additional charge.

YouTube TV is the culmination of several years of work at Google-owned YouTube and represents a radical shift in the company's business from its roots as an ad-supported platform for user-generated video to a full-fledged provider of traditional television programming. 

In addition to its offering of live, traditional television programming, YouTube TV will also give members access to its slate of YouTube Red originals. But YouTube Red, which offers ad-free viewing and access to those same originals, remains a separate product.  

YouTube TV also comes with unlimited cloud DVR that will store shows for up to nine months.