The pricing of the 4K Plus add-on for YouTube TV has always been a bit of an oddity. Technically, the plugin has cost $20 a month since its launch in mid-2021, but subscribers have always gotten the first year of service for half. And that will continue to be the case in April 2023, when the basic YouTube TV plan goes up to $73/mo and the add-on changes the price to $10/mo, with the first year of service at $5/mo.
That’s a much more acceptable price for a plug-in that’s quite an extravagance.
You have to think about the 4K Plus plugin in several ways. First is that it gives you some live video in the highest resolution. That almost exclusively means sports: big events like the Super Bowl and the FIFA World Cup, but also more regular events like the English Premier League and NFL games on Fox. Not all live games are available in 4K resolution. , since some stations (looking at you, CBS) still do not do anything in 4K. Right now, only ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, and MLB Network are listed as offering anything live in 4K on YouTube TV.
But the simple fact is that once you watch a game of any kind in 4K, whether it’s football, soccer or baseball, you’ll want it all in 4K, even if it’s compressed. (One exception to that has been MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, which has been mostly excellent in 1080p.)
Then there’s on-demand content. Once again, the options are pretty slim. But Discovery, FX, Nat Geo, and Tastemade all have on-demand content available in 4K on YouTube TV. That’s not what prompted me to splurge on 4K Plus in the first place, but it’s there if I want it.
There are also a couple more sweeteners. If you have the 4K Plus add-on, you also have the ability to simultaneously watch on as many devices as you like at home. Without it, you’re limited to three devices at a time (I only ran into that limitation once or twice). You can also download content locally to your device for offline viewing.
YouTube TV isn’t the only 4K game in town, either: FuboTV basically has the same live options for 4K as YouTube TV, and doesn’t charge you anything extra. And with the recent price increase for YouTube TV’s base plan, there’s now only a $3 a month difference between it and the cheaper FuboTV option. That will make Fubo much more attractive as a YouTube TV alternative.
The question has always been whether 4K Plus was “worth it,” and $20 a month has always been a pretty big pill to swallow. By comparison, HBO Max costs $16 a month (and has some 4K movies, too). Those are apples and oranges in comparison, to be sure. It’s just that 4K Plus on YouTube TV won’t leave a sour taste in your mouth every month anymore.
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