YouTube drops MLB Network

absintheofmalaise

too many flowers
Dope
SoSH Member
Mar 16, 2005
23,335
The gran facenda
They'll probably work something out, but in case they don't YouTube subscribers will no longer have access as of 1/31.

Here’s what the streamer said in a message.

We have been working hard to renew our deal with the MLB Network to continue carrying their content on YouTube TV. However, we have been unable to reach an agreement, and starting today, January 31, 2023, MLB Network content will no longer be available on YouTube TV. You will also lose access to any previous Library recordings from this channel. Members will be able to continue watching select national MLB games via coverage on FOX, ESPN, and TBS through our Base Plan. We also provide the flexibility to pause or cancel your membership anytime.

We apologize for the news and will continue conversations with the MLB to advocate on your behalf, in the hope of restoring their content on YouTube TV.

As always, thank you for being a YouTube TV member, and for your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,
The YouTube TV team
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
32,620
YouTubeTV hasn’t had YES for a while. I might need to start investigating alternatives.
 

begranter

Couldn't get into a real school
Silver Supporter
SoSH Member
Jul 9, 2007
2,344
This is the same message they basically sent out in response to dropping RSNs despite continuing to raise customer costs. As much as I like YTTV and wouldn't go back to cable, I don't buy the messaging.

I wouldn't be surprised if the league just moves the network to MLB.tv/extra innings package instead. If the reporting in this article is accurate it seems that the MLB is looking to ease blackout pains and this would be another selling point.
MLB already has started looking into creating a national product that would combine its local rights with its out-of-market Extra Innings package -- an effort that would do away with blackouts.
Maybe this moment actually worked? We can cross our fingers and hope.
 

jayhoz

Ronald Bartel
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
17,367
Looks like Fubo still has MLB Network for now. I pause my YoutubeTV service each April and flip over to Fubo for NESN access during the season and then jump back to YTTV in October.
 

McBride11

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
22,109
Durham, NC
Looks like Fubo still has MLB Network for now. I pause my YoutubeTV service each April and flip over to Fubo for NESN access during the season and then jump back to YTTV in October.
This fairly easy to do? Also on YTTV but this really sucks out of market. I pay for the MLB package but losing MLBN which carries a fair amount of games, and MLB package gets blacked out (Which whole other level of dumb), I may do something similar
 

LogansDad

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
29,055
Alamogordo
Yeah, got the email last night, and dropped YTTV like a bad habit. It was already rough without NHL Network, but this ended basically any reason I had for having it, not to mention it is stupid expensive compared to other options. The only thing better about it than, say, Sling, is that it has local channels, which I don't use anyway.
 

jayhoz

Ronald Bartel
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
17,367
This fairly easy to do? Also on YTTV but this really sucks out of market. I pay for the MLB package but losing MLBN which carries a fair amount of games, and MLB package gets blacked out (Which whole other level of dumb), I may do something similar
Couldn't be easier. Go to your account settings. Manage your base plan. Pick the number of weeks to pause.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

posts way less than 18% useful shit
SoSH Member
Nov 17, 2010
14,426
I get the negotiation tactic/process, but I think the fact they're even willing to drop the public statement shows the power dynamic between YTTV and MLB. Would they ever do something like this with the NFL? I wonder if MLB overvalues their hand because they're a live sport relative to the value YTTV believes they provide.
 

jayhoz

Ronald Bartel
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
17,367
How is FUBO? I've got a wife and two teenage daughters to appease
I prefer YoutubeTV, hence the switching back and forth, but Fubo is perfectly cromulent and I only get very mild complaints from the family. You'll have to check the channel lineup differences to make sure you don't lose something critical.
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
32,620
How hard to get out of direct tv stream if I sign up? FUBO doesn’t have YES either. Makes me wonder if I should just get a cable again. YouTubeTV was excellent but hasn’t had YES for a while now and costs more than when I first got it.
 

Bigdogx

New Member
Jul 21, 2020
145
How hard to get out of direct tv stream if I sign up? FUBO doesn’t have YES either. Makes me wonder if I should just get a cable again. YouTubeTV was excellent but hasn’t had YES for a while now and costs more than when I first got it.
This is the part i dont get with cord cutters, i really don't see you guys saving much of anything now and it is a damn hassle with this service and that service. After i deduct my internet cost from my xfinity 4k package, I'm at about 120 a month and that is with the sports package that gives you redzone. Youtube tv is what 65 a month for the base package now and is literally a fraction of what i get on xfinity.

Im sure if i added their 4k service along with red zone i would maybe save 20-30 bucks a month and to me that is not worth the aggravation. Am i wrong with this because i just don't see were you get much savings making this switch today?
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
32,620
This is the part i dont get with cord cutters, i really don't see you guys saving much of anything now and it is a damn hassle with this service and that service. After i deduct my internet cost from my xfinity 4k package, I'm at about 120 a month and that is with the sports package that gives you redzone. Youtube tv is what 65 a month for the base package now and is literally a fraction of what i get on xfinity.

Im sure if i added their 4k service along with red zone i would maybe save 20-30 bucks a month and to me that is not worth the aggravation. Am i wrong with this because i just don't see were you get much savings making this switch today?
Most of the "fraction" I got on YouTubeTV when I signed up was more than I needed. It had YES and was like half the price of cable. That may no longer be the way it is but at the time it was a no-brainer.
 

RSN Diaspora

molests goats for comedy
SoSH Member
Jul 29, 2005
11,346
Washington, DC
This is the part i dont get with cord cutters, i really don't see you guys saving much of anything now and it is a damn hassle with this service and that service. After i deduct my internet cost from my xfinity 4k package, I'm at about 120 a month and that is with the sports package that gives you redzone. Youtube tv is what 65 a month for the base package now and is literally a fraction of what i get on xfinity.

Im sure if i added their 4k service along with red zone i would maybe save 20-30 bucks a month and to me that is not worth the aggravation. Am i wrong with this because i just don't see were you get much savings making this switch today?
I was paying something like $150-160/mo for DirecTV, plus more for the Sunday Ticket, and I wasn't on a particularly high tier. The $80+ drop is important because YTTV carries every channel I would watch on DirecTV, save for one regional sports channel. I don't know where you live, but if you live outside your team's market and sports is a big part of your viewing (along with news it's pretty much all I watch) then you're already going to pay for national sports packages regardless of where you get your standard channels and save in the long run.
 

Matty005

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 28, 2005
925
Arlington, MA
This is the part i dont get with cord cutters, i really don't see you guys saving much of anything now and it is a damn hassle with this service and that service. After i deduct my internet cost from my xfinity 4k package, I'm at about 120 a month and that is with the sports package that gives you redzone. Youtube tv is what 65 a month for the base package now and is literally a fraction of what i get on xfinity.

Im sure if i added their 4k service along with red zone i would maybe save 20-30 bucks a month and to me that is not worth the aggravation. Am i wrong with this because i just don't see were you get much savings making this switch today?
Even if I was paying the same amount (I am not, I am paying about $25 less by having YTTV and a separate wifi source) YTTV is still so worth it. I can bring my roku (or laptop) on any trips and I have pretty much every show at my disposal. If I want to bring the TV outside during football season, it takes 2 minutes to set up and I'm watching the Pats from there. I loved it a few years ago when it was a fraction of the cost, but being able to watch from basically anywhere (and only need a WiFi connection) is priceless.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,058
Hingham, MA
When YTTV started it was $39.99/month and had NESN. Now it's $64.99/month and of course, doesn't. I still have YTTV because it gives me most of what I need. Plus I can still watch the Sox and Bs through NESN+ because my Dad has a Comcast account.
 

Spelunker

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 17, 2005
11,862
Even if I was paying the same amount (I am not, I am paying about $25 less by having YTTV and a separate wifi source) YTTV is still so worth it. I can bring my roku (or laptop) on any trips and I have pretty much every show at my disposal. If I want to bring the TV outside during football season, it takes 2 minutes to set up and I'm watching the Pats from there. I loved it a few years ago when it was a fraction of the cost, but being able to watch from basically anywhere (and only need a WiFi connection) is priceless.
Right: I can watch YTTV on my TV. I can watch YTTV on a monitor at work. I can have it on my laptop while I'm playing a videogame on my TV. Hell, I can have the Bruins on my laptop and the Celtics on my TV. I can use it when I travel. The other night I was watching the Celtics on my phone on the subway en route to the gym. There is no contact. I can pause it anytime, with zero hassle. The flexibility and the actual offering are miles ahead of a cable package.

The issues I have with it are more around blackouts and silly sports TV rights issues that are problems with the league, not YTTV.
 

AlNipper49

Huge Member
Dope
SoSH Member
Apr 3, 2001
44,853
Mtigawi
When YTTV started it was $39.99/month and had NESN. Now it's $64.99/month and of course, doesn't. I still have YTTV because it gives me most of what I need. Plus I can still watch the Sox and Bs through NESN+ because my Dad has a Comcast account.
The value proposition for YTTV is getting shakier and shakier for us. Were I living solo I'd get rid of it, but for now the cost of it is somewhat offset from the fact that everyone in my house is comfortable using it.
 

Max Power

thai good. you like shirt?
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
7,878
Boston, MA
Right: I can watch YTTV on my TV. I can watch YTTV on a monitor at work. I can have it on my laptop while I'm playing a videogame on my TV. Hell, I can have the Bruins on my laptop and the Celtics on my TV. I can use it when I travel. The other night I was watching the Celtics on my phone on the subway en route to the gym. There is no contact. I can pause it anytime, with zero hassle. The flexibility and the actual offering are miles ahead of a cable package.

The issues I have with it are more around blackouts and silly sports TV rights issues that are problems with the league, not YTTV.
You watch anything on any device in any location with Comcast and the Xfinity Stream app. It works in a browser on a PC, too.
 

Max Power

thai good. you like shirt?
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
7,878
Boston, MA
Maybe it changed but back a few years ago, you had to be connected to the "Home" wifi to be able to stream for Comcast.
I can watch Red Sox games at work where we have RCN fiber. There doesn't seem to be that limitation anymore.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
72,440
You watch anything on any device in any location with Comcast and the Xfinity Stream app. It works in a browser on a PC, too.
Maybe it changed but back a few years ago, you had to be connected to the "Home" wifi to be able to stream for Comcast.
You still had to be connected to home for NFL games and some other sports/games, but not sure for MLB. (As of this last fall)

High 90's % of channels were watchable (but of course not the stuff I wanted)
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,058
Hingham, MA
The value proposition for YTTV is getting shakier and shakier for us. Were I living solo I'd get rid of it, but for now the cost of it is somewhat offset from the fact that everyone in my house is comfortable using it.
I’ve actually dropped it during each of the last 3 or 4 summers. There is basically no content I need during those months. No network TV, no NFL or college football, NBA and NHL on summer vacation, and the Sox aren’t available anyway.
 

Spelunker

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 17, 2005
11,862
I’ve actually dropped it during each of the last 3 or 4 summers. There is basically no content I need during those months. No network TV, no NFL or college football, NBA and NHL on summer vacation, and the Sox aren’t available anyway.
Which is one of the selling points for a on-demand service like that. You don't need it for a few months? Pause (or cancel) it, and save a few hundred bucks. I do that quite often, because there isn't much in the broadcast world that I need.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,058
Hingham, MA
Which is one of the selling points for a on-demand service like that. You don't need it for a few months? Pause (or cancel) it, and save a few hundred bucks. I do that quite often, because there isn't much in the broadcast world that I need.
Exactly. I'm paying $65/month, but only for 10 months, so it's effectively $54/month.
 

mostman

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 3, 2003
18,740
I’m on both YTTV and Fubo. YTTV is the superior experience, so it’s the default for me. Celtics games are on both, I will always choose YTTV because the interface is so much better. Fubo is basically my NESN app. I need to look into the NESN direct streaming stuff.
 

LogansDad

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
29,055
Alamogordo
So is FUBO now the only place that MLB Network is available? I don't see it on Sling, are there any other options? Fubo seems really expensive.