Google’s television streaming service is finally online.
The search giant said that its YouTube TV service is available in five metropolitan areas: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
The new service, which costs $35 monthly, includes channels like ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and Fox Sports Networks. It challenges conventional cable TV at a time when increasing numbers of people are cutting the so-called cord and switching to online-only services like Sling TV.
But YouTube TV lacks several big TV networks like CNN, Discovery Channel, and TBS, making it an incomplete replacement. The hope is that the cheaper cost will make up for the holes along with the ability to save shows to watch later, much like a DVR device.
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Google, which announced the service last month, said the service is free for the first month as a trial. The deal also includes free access to YouTube Red, an ad free version of YouTube; the Google Play music streaming service; and a free Google Chromecast digital media player “while supplies last” after customers pay their first full month.
Users are allowed to share YouTube TV with up to six different people, each of whom would be able to get their own personal accounts. However, YouTube only allows three TV streams at once.
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YouTube said Wednesday that more TV networks would be available in the future and that it would debut it in new cities in the future.
