YouTube TV’s skinny bundle offerings represent the service’s latest efforts to win new customers in a fiercely competitive market for pay-TV customers. YouTube’s free service has already grown into the leading platform for U.

YouTube TV is launching more than 10 genre-specific channel packages in early 2026, the Google-owned company announced on Wednesday. The move will mark the first time YouTube TV breaks up its cable-like channel bundle. The new packages will give consumers more flexibility over the content that they want to pay for.

The streaming giant’s major feature was disrupted for some customers as YouTube TV keeps rolling out improvements.

DirecTV offers signature streaming packages, and its basic plan starts at $90 a month with fees (without the promo rates). YouTube TV, Sling, Fubo and Hulu Plus Live TV's plans all cost more, affecting the value of these services based on their channel lineups. With channel losses and price hikes, some of services may seem less appealing.

YouTube TV is breaking up its big bundle in early 2026, letting you pick cheaper, focused plans for sports, news, or entertainment instead.

The video platform’s cable streaming service is introducing cheaper genre-specifying channel bundles next year.

In Q3 2017, MoffettNathanson reported that pay TV gained 318,000 net new subscribers. But since then, the industry’s subscriber count has been declining, with 1,045,000 customers in Q2 2025, as depicted in the graph below.

YouTube TV made headlines last month when it engaged in a standoff with Disney as a carriage rights dispute turned ugly. Customers with the streaming TV platform were left without major Disney products like ABC and ESPN for two weeks as the dispute raged on.