USA TODAY International Edition
YouTube TV vs. Sling depends on your viewing
If you’re like many TV fans, you are reexamining your TV streaming choices.
YouTube TV, which launched three years ago as a low- cost cable alternative for $ 35 monthly, chose a pandemic when millions are out of work to announce a 30% price hike to a whopping $ 65 monthly. ( The 2020 charge had been $ 49.99 monthly.)
It’s still cheaper than most cable packages, which top $ 100 monthly, and YouTube, which boasts of more than 2 million subscribers, has an advantage in no additional equipment and hidden fees, which cable is notorious for. But the price hike was such a cable- like move that many consumers cried foul. YouTube justified the decision by announcing new channels to the lineup, including MTV and Comedy Central. Many consumers said they didn’t want the new channels – just leave the pricing as is, please.
Enter Sling TV. While YouTube TV is now the most expensive offering for streaming cable and local channels, Sling is far and away the cheapest, starting at $ 30 monthly. And Sling went out of its way this week to let those furious YouTube customers know that there will be no price hikes from Sling, through at least August 2021. ( If you sign up for service by Aug. 1, 2020.)
So we decided to dive in and take a good look, again, at Sling, as a savings of $ 35 monthly is a lot of money, nearly $ 400 yearly. How much are you missing out by not having YouTube TV? How’s the interface? How’s the lineup?
Short answer: Sling TV isn’t as good as YouTube. But it does the job.
Start watching on the TV, finish on the phone, tablet or computer. A less cumbersome DVR that’s a one- click setup. And since YouTube is owned by Google and has followed my every move, it knows my tastes and could make some good recommendations.
Sling’s lineup isn’t as robust as YouTube’s, with 50 channels to the 90 from YouTube. If you’re a sports fan, there are a lot more regional sporting networks you may crave on YouTube.
Like YouTube, Sling lets you sort the channels to display only your favorites, use a program guide to find stuff to watch, or just watch the shows you’ve recorded. ( I paid an extra $ 5 for the DVR service.) The TV interface, which I watched via Apple TV’s streaming box, is interchangeable with the mobile app or viewing on your computer.
Sling’s program guide is superior to YouTube’s in that it can show you the lineup for seven days at a glance, while YouTube’s is only day and date. YouTube says it has updated the guide to 7 days at a glance, but in our tests, nothing has changed.
Sling is at a disadvantage over both YouTube and rivals Hulu with Live TV and AT& T Now ( both $ 55 monthly) in offering local channels and networks.
To those of you who would miss having CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC in your lineup, Sling recommends just connecting an antenna. That could work, but you might have some reception issues.
If we don’t fight back against the price increases, and this nasty TV habit of throwing all these channels at us that we don’t want, prices will only keep going up.