FIRST DOWN

“YouTube TV” might sound like something of an oxymoron — with many turning to YouTube for short hits or highlights — but, since its launch in 2017, the premium service from YouTube had grown steadily to some 8 million subscribers. At least, until Q1 this year, when it took its first backward step.

Estimates from MoffettNathanson, reported by Variety’s VIP+, reveal that YouTube TV experienced its first quarterly loss of subscribers, dropping 150K paying members, as the virtual pay TV service begins to grapple with the seasonality of live sports offerings. The end of the football season — live TV's largest draw — makes Q1 particularly challenging for pay TV and this year the exodus wasn’t just limited to traditional cable.

YouTube execs will be hoping that the lost subscribers return once the season picks back up again come September, as YouTube TV holds the exclusive streaming rights to Sunday Ticket games… particularly because the company is still in the early years of a 2023-2029 deal that’s reportedly worth an eye-watering $2 billion a year. That is, as Variety points out, if the Sunday Ticket still exists following last week’s bumper antitrust trial verdict, in which the NFL was ordered to pay $4.7 billion to plaintiffs.

For years, YouTube TV was big tech’s answer to cord-cutting, but its latest quarter proves that consumers don’t exactly care how they get access to the content… once it stops being a draw, they will cancel.