YouTube TV Joins Netflix, DirectTV In Raising Monthly Fees Before Disney Slams Them All

YouTube , the trash factory for predatory videos and comments has a TV Service. Maybe while slogging through the infinite well of streaming content you noticed it existed, perhaps you didn't. Regardless, Google has decided that $40 a month wasn't enough for this TV/DVR service and has jacked up the price to $50 a month.

When it launched in 2017 it was $35 a month. Last year Google raised it to $40 a month and has now decided it's worth $50 a month. Price matters to consumers, and Google has to know that later this year when Apple launches its own Channels and TV+ service, Google will be undercut. So it may as well pump up the market average while it is still possible. Especially since Google charges customers who get billed through Apple five bucks more.

Also see: Porn Is The Only Streaming Service That Really Matters

So what will subscribers get for that extra ten bucks a month? Well, YouTube is adding a slate of Discovery Channel properties such as the Discovery Channel itself, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, and MotorTrend. Later this year — hold your pant cuffs — Oprah's OWN Network will be added. Insert audible gasp here. This is all stacked on to the over 70 channels YouTube TV already provides. Is it less than what you paid for cable? I have no idea.

Price hikes are nothing new, Netflix just raised its prices recently as did DirectTV last month. This is a normal trend we are seeing with streaming subscription services, especially as they solidfy their user base and meet the competition on the battlefield.

That battlefield is about to get super competitive when it comes to service offerings and pricing. T-Mobile announced it's getting into the cable TV replacement game, though its pricing ($100 a month for 150+ channels) is pretty close to what you were probably paying for cable. None of this will matter though, because while most of you are whining about winter coming, in truth, Disney is coming.

While not a full cable provider, Disney's Disney+ service will compete with the ancillary streaming services like Netflix, but a hell of a lot cheaper than anything else. At $6.99 a month when it launches, it'll be about the same cost as your Amazon Prime subscription. Except it'll be Disney and everything that comes with Disney. We're talking everything Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar, National Geographic and probably 20th Century Fox.

What do we need traditional television for if we've got Disney and everything that encompasses? YouTube TV, while a healthy and cheaper cable replacement at $50 a month, is still not Disney. Netflix will be at a deficit when Disney content is pulled. Television is not the same without Disney and all the price hikes reflect that fear. Someday it will all be Disney, but for now, doling out cash at a slowly increasing rate for non-Disney TV doesn't feel as futile as it really is.