YouTube Unveils YouTube TV, $35 Monthly Subscription Service

[...] YouTube TV will offer hit shows from major broadcast and cable networks live and on demand, and has no long-term contracts.

Given its price tag and catalog, YouTube TV is positioned to challenge both traditional pay-TV packages and cheaper streaming offerings like AT&T’s DirecTV Now — which opened its service late last year with the same $35 a month rate. 

The service will also leverage YouTube parent Google’s technology, allowing users to cast a show from a smartphone to a Chromecast-enabled TV — and back to the phone — with a push of a button.

While YouTube TV includes more than 40 channels, including the big four broadcast networks and popular cable channels like ESPN and FX — as well as pricey regional sports networks — it isn’t a full-on replacement for a traditional pay-TV package yet.

In a blog post announcing the news, the company said it was able to achieve the milestone through years of focusing on engagement, rather than raw view counts, to fine-tune its content recommendation engine.