YouTube TV is the brand new streaming product from Google, and it definitely is a great service. But, can it compete with Amazon Prime? Are they even fighting for the same customers?
It is always interesting to compare products and it becomes especially interesting when a new product enters the market. YouTube TV is such a product, and with Google financing the project, there is both money, creativity and power in the product. But, can YouTube TV cause trouble for Amazon? Can YouTube TV make Amazon Prime customers cancel their subscriptions and sing up for YouTube TV instead? I have tested YouTube TV for a couple of days and based on my testing period, these are my thoughts!
Should Amazon Prime members cancel their subscription and move on to YouTube TV?
I always have to emphasize this, but it is important to know that Amazon Prime is much more than just streaming. With Amazon Prime you get access to free video storage, free music streaming, faster delivery on products ordered online and lots of other stuff. But, if you have a valid Amazon Prime subscription for the purpose of streaming, should you consider cancelling your subscription in order to use YouTube TV instead?
My first answer is no!
Based on my experience of both products I would say that Prime Video is very different from YouTube TV, meaning that they are actually playing on two different ground, making the comparison in vain. YouTube TV is about watching live streams from some of the best TV channels in the USA like Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC and several other networks. That is simply brilliant. You can also record TV shows and watch TV shows on demand from the same networks, meaning that you can watch 24: Legacy live, but if you miss out on the most recent episode, then you can have it recorded so that you can watch it whenever you want to. There are a few movies available on YouTube TV, but those are very few, so I do not even take those really into consideration.
Amazon Prime is not about live content at all. Amazon Video is about movies and TV series, but not the most recent ones. You do not get to watch brand new episodes on Amazon Prime anyway, you either have to buy the newest episodes, or you will have to wait a couple of years before the season is made available on Amazon Prime. The Amazon Original Content works somewhat differently, but such content will never be made available on YouTube TV anyway, so that is yet another battle played on different grounds.
My seconds answer is no!
My first answer to the question was no, and it still is a no. I do not believe that you should cancel your Amazon Prime subscription because of YouTube TV. But, there might be some subscription you want to cancel after subscribing to YouTube TV, but that is not your Prime subscription. Products that however might stand in danger are your current Hulu subscription, DirecTV subscription, your CBS All Access subscription and also your Fubo TV subscription. With the arrival of YouTube TV these have gotten a new opponent that is strong (in all ways) and that might make their currently offered products in vain.
There are of course differences between YouTube TV and the mentioned products, but there are also lots of similarities. I believe that I would cancel my Hulu subscription if I decided to go with YouTube TV on the long run. The same is true about my Fubo TV subscription. But, probably I will skip my YouTube TV subscription instead, as I like the Fubo TV and the Hulu interface way better than YouTube TV. It should also be mentioned that it is way easier to watch Hulu and Fubo TV and CBS All Access overseas, compared to streaming YouTube TV overseas. That might not be true on Windows computers online, but if you want to watch YouTube TV on Chromecast, Apple TV, Fire Stick and similar devices abroad you will have a lot of trouble doing so.
What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter!
