Google is bringing its nascent television streaming service to more cities.
The search giant’s YouTube TV subscription service is now available in ten new metropolitan areas: Washington D.C., Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Dallas, Charlotte, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Google (GOOG) first previewed its TV-streaming service in February and debuted the service in April in New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
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Google pitches YouTube TV, which costs $35 dollars monthly, as an alternative to watching television on traditional cable TV. Subscribers can watch live streams from TV networks like ABC, NBC, and FOX, but it lacks several big cable TV networks like CNN and TBS.
Love live sports and TV but over cable? We've got you covered.
YouTube TV is now in 10 new US areas. Try it free→ https://t.co/7RqBXvZhw0pic.twitter.com/GZOpdk3Dwn
— YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) July 20, 2017
One of the biggest challenges facing online TV services like YouTube TV, AT&T’s DirecTV Now, and Dish Network’s Sling TV is adding local television broadcast channels to their respective online services.
Some traditional broadcasting networks view these online services as competition, and are hesitant to add their local channels to those services in regional markets. That’s why it’s noteworthy when these new online streaming services get more local TV affiliate stations onboard, as was the case when AT&T in June said that it had added 30 additional ABC local affiliate channels in cities like Atlanta, Dallas, and Boston.
As tech publication CNETnotes, YouTube TV has distinguished itself from its TV-streaming rivals by offering local network TV affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC in all of the regions it now serves (except Dallas), even though the service is not available in as many U.S. Cities its rivals. Subscribers to YouTube TV in Dallas are unable to watch regional broadcasting like ABC local news, but they can still watch ABC’s national programming.