YouTube TV just copied DirecTV and it could be a win for your wallet

YouTube TV is arguably one of the most popular live TV streaming platforms in the US, with an estimated 9.4 million subscribers. However, although many people are interested in becoming cord-cutters and using a service like YouTube TV, cost remains a significant barrier. When it launched in 2017, YouTube TV cost $35 per month. In 2025, that cost has increased to $83 per month. Now, it seems YouTube TV is ready to partially tackle this issue.

In a recent blog post, YouTube TV announced it will launch “YouTube TV Plans” in early 2026, allowing users to subscribe to channel packages based on different genres. The Google-owned streaming service didn’t share pricing details, and overall, the announcement was pretty vague, but YouTube TV did confirm it will offer more than 10 genre-specific packages.

“TV should be easy, giving viewers greater control over what they want to watch. Our goal is to let you tailor your subscription with more options,” YouTube TV said in a blog post. “Whether you stick with our main YouTube TV plan with 100+ channels, focus on sports, combine sports and news, or select a plan centered on family and entertainment content, subscribers will be able to easily choose the plan that works best for them.”

YouTube TV is taking a page from DirecTV’s playbook

One of YouTube TV’s packages will focus solely on sports

While YouTube TV’s announcement is thin on details, it did confirm that it will launch a “YouTube TV Sports Plan” in the new year, featuring sports networks like FS1, NBC Sports Network, all ESPN channels, and ESPN Unlimited.

As someone who follows the TV scene quite extensively, YouTube TV’s future genre-specific plans remind me of what DirecTV already offers. Earlier this year, DirecTV launched what it calls Genre Packs, which let users sign up for channel bundles based on specific genres at a lower cost than subscribing to one of its main signature package plans, which include a bunch more channels.

DirecTV offers several different Genre Packs, with the big three being MyEntertainment, MyNews, and MySports. For example, its MySports bundle offers over 20 sports-focused channels, including ESPN, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, TNT, and TBS, and costs $70 a month. That’s $13 cheaper than YouTube TV’s current base plan.

Of course, the big question here is price…. If these plans end up being significantly cheaper than the current $83-per-month main plan, a lot of people may actually be interested.

Currently, when you sign up for YouTube TV, you’re subscribing to its all-in-one package, which includes every channel the service offers. That means even if you only want a handful of channels, you still pay for many you’ll never watch. YouTube TV’s new genre-specific plans seem designed to fix this. Yet it’s hard not to notice the irony: YouTube TV is starting to resemble the traditional cable model it was originally meant to replace.

Of course, the big question here is price. YouTube TV didn’t reveal how much these new plans will cost, saying only that it aims to offer “more choice and flexibility.” If these plans end up being significantly cheaper than the current $83-per-month main plan, a lot of people may actually be interested. I know plenty of people who watch only entertainment channels on TV and have zero interest in sports. Conversely, I know other people who watch nothing but sports on traditional TV and rely on Netflix or Disney+ for everything else — which is why I think these new genre-based plans could attract real interest.

YouTube TV says its new genre-specific plans will launch “early next year,” so full details on the packages, genres, and pricing will likely be revealed then.