YouTube TV
YouTube TV is Google's live television streaming service offering access to broadcast and cable channels through a cloud DVR. The subscription-based service provides an alternative to traditional cable with on-demand content and simultaneous streaming on multiple devices.
Score generated by AI agents based on publicly cited evidence and reviewed by the project maintainer. Not independently validated. Last assessed 2026-10-01. Score revised 2026-10-01: 52 → 44.
Score History
Timeline events are AI-curated from public reporting. Score trajectory is derived from documented events.
YouTube TV launched at $35/month with about 40 channels and an unlimited cloud DVR in five markets, a cheap, contract-free alternative to cable. The main annoyances were that several networks forced unskippable on-demand versions in place of DVR recordings and a first $5 rise to $40 in February 2018. Google's scale was an advantage, but the service was small and still courting users.
YouTube TV expanded to all 210 US TV markets and raised its price 25% to $49.99 in April 2019, ending grandfathered rates. Full DVR fast-forwarding, won from most networks in October 2018, eased the ad burden, while Google's $170 million COPPA settlement over YouTube marked the first major regulatory action in the wider YouTube ecosystem. In March 2020 it dropped Sinclair's regional sports networks and the YES Network without cutting its price.
A 30% price rise to $64.99 accompanied the addition of ViacomCBS channels, and the 4K Plus add-on arrived in June 2021 at $19.99/month. Google's use of YouTube as leverage surfaced when Roku pulled the YouTube TV app from its store for eight months in 2021, and a two-day Disney blackout in December 2021 previewed the carriage fights to come. Subscribers passed 5 million by mid-2022.
Winning NFL Sunday Ticket, at about $2 billion a year, gave YouTube TV an exclusive sports draw and fuelled growth past 8 million subscribers. The price rose to $72.99 in 2023 and $82.99 in January 2025, while Alphabet paired 12,000 layoffs with a $70 billion buyback and its first dividend. Larger scale brought tougher carriage negotiations, with Paramount and Fox renewing only after last-minute extensions in 2025.
YouTube TV let TelevisaUnivision's networks go dark on September 30, 2025 for 56 days, its longest outage, and lost ABC, ESPN and other Disney channels for two weeks from October 30, taking DVR recordings with them. Disney accused Google of using its market dominance, a survey found a quarter of users had cancelled or planned to, and YouTube issued $20 credits that had to be claimed manually. The Disney deal ended on November 14 with rights to put Disney channels in cheaper genre packages.
YouTube TV broke up its single bundle into more than ten genre plans from $54.99, kept the $82.99 main plan price unchanged, added fully custom multiview and folded ESPN Unlimited into sports-inclusive plans at no extra cost. Alphabet stopped buying back shares in 2026 to fund AI spending. Carriage friction continues on a smaller scale, with three niche channels and their recordings removed in September 2026, and a $7.5 million auto-renewal settlement recorded past consent failures.
Alternatives
If you're mainly paying for entertainment channels and not sports or local broadcast networks, Philo offers 70+ channels from $25/month (Essential) or $33/month with AMC+, HBO Max Basic and discovery+ bundled. Unlimited DVR with recordings kept for a year. Easy switch if sports aren't a priority. Missing ESPN, regional sports networks, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and local affiliates: a real gap for many households but irrelevant for others.
One of the most affordable live TV streaming alternatives, at roughly $46-66/month depending on the package (Orange, Blue, or both), well below YouTube TV's $82.99 main plan. Channel selection is narrower and DVR storage is more limited, but for many viewers it covers the basics. Easy switch: sign up, choose your package, and start streaming. NFL Sunday Ticket is sold only by YouTube, but it can be bought standalone through YouTube Primetime Channels without a YouTube TV subscription.
The closest like-for-like alternative to YouTube TV: 95+ live channels and unlimited DVR, with Disney+ and ESPN's streaming tier included in the price (about $89.99/month with ads). It includes two simultaneous streams, with an unlimited-screens add-on available. Moderate switch: DVR recordings don't transfer, and you'll need to rebuild your watchlist. It is now run together with Fubo under Disney, so it is a lateral move rather than an escape from big-media bundles.
Dimensional Breakdown
Summaries below were written by AI agents based on the cited evidence. They are editorial interpretations, not independent research findings.
Dimension History
Timeline (56 events)
YouTube TV Launches at $35/Month in Five Markets
Google launched YouTube TV in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco at $35/month, offering over 40 channels including major broadcast networks, unlimited cloud DVR storage, and three simultaneous streams. The service positioned itself as a disruptive cord-cutting alternative to traditional cable.
Cloud DVR Locks Recordings to YouTube TV Ecosystem
YouTube TV's unlimited cloud DVR stored recordings for up to 9 months, but recordings were tied to the subscriber's account and playable only through YouTube TV's apps and website, with no way to download or export them, so they were lost once a membership ended. While unlimited storage was a competitive advantage over cable DVR boxes, it also created early switching costs.
YouTube TV Launches With Full Broadcast Ad Loads Despite Subscription
Unlike ad-free streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, YouTube TV launched carrying the standard commercial breaks of the live channels it resold. YouTube confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that, because of its contracts with Disney, 21st Century Fox and NBCUniversal, subscribers to the $35/month service would be forced to watch ads in some recorded shows: when a network offered a video-on-demand version of an episode (with fast-forwarding disabled), the ad-skippable DVR copy was not available. The restriction was not mentioned in YouTube TV's DVR FAQ.
First Price Hike to $40 With Turner Networks Added
YouTube TV raised its price from $35 to $40/month for new subscribers, adding Turner-owned networks including CNN, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, and Adult Swim. Existing subscribers were grandfathered at $35. This was the first of what would become a pattern of price increases tied to channel additions.
Contract Workers Become Majority of Alphabet Workforce
Reporting revealed that temporary workers, vendors, and contractors (TVCs) had surpassed full-time employees to become the majority of Alphabet's global workforce. These workers received lower pay, fewer benefits, and no access to Google's famous perks despite performing similar work. The two-tier employment system would become a persistent labor concern across all Google products including YouTube TV.
Networks Allow Full DVR Fast-Forwarding on YouTube TV
YouTube TV announced that AMC, Disney, Fox, NBCUniversal and Turner had agreed to make recordings immediately available for DVR playback with full pause, rewind and fast-forward. Previously these networks often forced subscribers to watch on-demand versions of recorded shows with unskippable inserted ads. CBS was not part of the change.
YouTube TV Expands to All 210 U.S. TV Markets
YouTube TV completed its nationwide expansion, reaching 98% of U.S. households by adding 95 new markets. By March 2019, the service covered all 210 American television markets, transforming from a limited urban experiment into a genuine national cable replacement. The service crossed 1 million subscribers during this period.
YouTube Algorithm Changes Reduce Borderline Content by 70%
YouTube announced algorithm changes that reduced consumption of borderline content (content that does not violate guidelines but is misleading or harmful) by 70% in U.S. recommendations. While applied to the main YouTube platform, the recommendation engine's opaque criteria for what constitutes 'borderline' content and its unilateral implementation demonstrated the company's willingness to reshape content visibility without transparency.
Price Jumps 25% to $49.99 With Discovery Channels
YouTube TV raised prices from $40 to $49.99/month after adding eight Discovery-owned networks including HGTV, Food Network, TLC, and Animal Planet. Unlike the previous increase, this hike applied to all subscribers with no grandfathering. Apple subscribers paid even more at $54.99/month. The price had risen 43% from the original $35 in just two years.
Alphabet Authorizes $25 Billion Stock Buyback Program
Alphabet's board authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $25 billion of its Class C stock, announced alongside second-quarter 2019 earnings, continuing an escalating pattern of shareholder returns that would grow to $70 billion authorizations by 2022 and 2024.
Google Pays Record $170M COPPA Fine for YouTube
Google and YouTube paid a record $170 million ($136 million to the FTC, $34 million to New York) for illegally collecting personal information from children under 13 on YouTube. The FTC alleged YouTube tracked and served targeted ads to children on child-directed channels while claiming to be a general-audience site. It was the largest COPPA fine in history.
YouTube Moderators Forced to Sign PTSD Acknowledgment
Reporting revealed that YouTube content moderators employed by Accenture at its Austin, Texas facility were required to sign documents acknowledging the job could cause PTSD. Two workers told The Verge that signing was mandatory or they would face termination; Accenture said there were no consequences for not signing. The document was distributed on December 20, 2019, four days after The Verge's investigation into PTSD at the facility. A later class-action lawsuit said YouTube moderators faced quotas of 100 to 300 pieces of content per shift.
YouTube TV Drops YES Network and Sinclair Regional Sports Networks
After a last-minute extension on February 29, 2020, YouTube TV and Sinclair struck a deal in March 2020 that kept 19 Fox-branded regional sports networks through the end of the 2020 MLB, NBA and NHL seasons but dropped YES Network, Fox Sports West and Fox Sports Prime Ticket. When that extension expired, all remaining Fox-branded RSNs were removed on October 1, 2020, along with subscribers' DVR recordings from them. Sports fans in affected markets lost access to local MLB, NBA and NHL broadcasts.
Largest Price Hike: 30% Increase to $64.99
YouTube TV raised its price by 30% from $49.99 to $64.99/month, coinciding with the addition of eight ViacomCBS channels including Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon, bringing the total to over 85 channels. The price had now nearly doubled from the $35 launch price in just three years. Subscriber count nonetheless grew to over 3 million by late 2020.
Roku Pulls YouTube TV App Over Google's Renewal Demands
Roku removed YouTube TV from its channel store for new customers after renewal talks with Google failed. Roku alleged Google was leveraging monopoly power to demand preferential ranking of YouTube content in search results, the ability to override default settings, and more customer data, and had threatened hardware spec requirements; Google denied asking for data or search interference.
4K Plus Add-On Paywalls Premium Resolution
YouTube TV launched its 4K Plus add-on at $19.99/month (with the first year at half price), placing 4K streaming, offline downloads and unlimited simultaneous streams at home behind a paywall. FuboTV offered the same live 4K events at no extra charge, and with 4K Plus the effective price for full-quality viewing rose to about $85/month.
Roku and Google Sign Deal Restoring YouTube TV
Roku and Google agreed a multi-year extension covering YouTube and YouTube TV a day before the YouTube app was due to leave the Roku store, returning YouTube TV to Roku after about eight months. Terms were not disclosed.
First Disney Carriage Dispute Blacks Out ABC and ESPN
Disney-owned channels including ABC, ESPN, and over a dozen cable networks went dark on YouTube TV at midnight when a carriage renewal could not be reached. Subscribers lost access to DVR recordings of Disney programming during the outage. The blackout lasted approximately two days before a new deal was reached, with YouTube TV offering a $15 credit to affected users.
Alphabet Authorizes $70 Billion Stock Buyback
Alphabet's board authorized $70 billion in share repurchases, up from $50 billion the prior year and $25 billion in 2019. In 2021 Alphabet had repurchased more of its own stock than any public company except Apple. The escalating buybacks signaled increasing prioritization of shareholder returns, even as YouTube TV continued raising prices for subscribers.
YouTube TV Surpasses 5 Million Subscribers, Tops Hulu Live
YouTube TV reported passing 5 million subscribers (including promotional trial users), surpassing Hulu + Live TV's 4.1 million to become the dominant virtual MVPD in the United States. The milestone cemented YouTube TV's market leadership, achieved through Alphabet's deep-pocketed content deals and integration with the broader Google ecosystem that smaller competitors could not match.
YouTube Settles Content Moderator PTSD Lawsuit for $4.3M
YouTube agreed to pay $4.3 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by content moderators who developed PTSD, anxiety, and depression from reviewing graphic material. The settlement covered approximately 1,300 U.S. moderators who received about $2,079 each. YouTube also agreed to provide onsite counseling and lift nondisclosure agreements barring moderators from discussing job details with mental health professionals.
YouTube TV Wins $2B/Year NFL Sunday Ticket Exclusive
Google secured exclusive residential rights to NFL Sunday Ticket in a seven-year deal worth approximately $2 billion per season, taking the package from DirecTV, which had held it since 1994. From the 2023 season Sunday Ticket became available only from YouTube, as a YouTube TV add-on or standalone through YouTube Primetime Channels, making Google the sole residential source of out-of-market NFL Sunday afternoon games and giving YouTube TV a significant competitive moat against rival vMVPDs.
Alphabet Lays Off 12,000 Workers Amid Record Buybacks
CEO Sundar Pichai announced the elimination of approximately 12,000 roles, about 6% of Alphabet's global workforce and the largest layoff in the company's history. The layoffs came while the $70 billion stock buyback authorized in 2022 was still in effect, drawing criticism for prioritizing shareholder returns over employee retention.
YouTube TV Launches Multiview for Sports Fans
YouTube TV rolled out early access to its multiview feature for select U.S. users on TV devices, allowing subscribers to watch up to four live streams simultaneously on a single screen. While positioned as a consumer-friendly innovation, multiview also deepened sports-watching engagement and lock-in. The feature was initially limited to preselected stream combinations.
Price Rises to $72.99 After Three-Year Hold
YouTube TV increased its base price from $64.99 to $72.99/month, the first hike since the 2020 jump to $64.99. Google cited rising content costs. In a partial offset, the 4K Plus add-on dropped from $19.99 to $9.99/month. The cumulative price increase from launch now stood at 109%.
YouTube Music Contract Workers Unanimously Vote to Unionize
Workers employed by Cognizant to manage YouTube Music content in Austin, Texas voted 41-0 to join the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA. The NLRB had previously ruled in March 2023 that Google was a joint employer of these workers. Google refused to bargain, prompting unfair labor practice charges. The workers held a one-day strike in September 2023.
YouTube Introduces 30-Second Unskippable Ads on TVs
At its Brandcast upfront event, YouTube announced 30-second unskippable ads for connected TVs through its YouTube Select premium ad tier, replacing the previous format of two consecutive 15-second ads. YouTube also began testing 'pause ads' that display when viewers pause a video. These changes brought YouTube's ad format closer to traditional TV advertising loads.
Google Accused of Retaliatory Layoffs Against Union Workers
Google and Accenture laid off approximately 80 Google Help workers subcontracted through Accenture, reducing the team from about 130 to 40 U.S.-based workers. The layoffs came just weeks after workers announced unionization efforts. Workers were instructed to train replacements in the Philippines and India. The Alphabet Workers Union accused Google of retaliation.
Senators Demand FTC Investigate YouTube for COPPA Consent Decree Violations
Senators Ed Markey and Marsha Blackburn sent a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan demanding an investigation into whether YouTube violated the 2019 COPPA consent decree. Research from Adalytics and reporting by the New York Times suggested Google continued tracking and targeting children on YouTube without parental consent, potentially breaching the settlement terms that included the $170 million fine.
Alphabet Issues First-Ever Dividend Plus $70B Buyback
Alphabet announced its first-ever dividend of $0.20 per share and authorized $70 billion in stock repurchases, an identically sized authorization to the one it made a year earlier during a period of intense cost-cutting and layoffs. Shares rose 15% after hours. Co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page were set to receive dividend payouts of about $146 million and $78 million respectively.
YouTube Tests Server-Side Ad Injection to Defeat Ad Blockers
YouTube began testing server-side ad injection (SSAI), which embeds ads directly into the video stream before delivery, making them indistinguishable from content and effectively impossible for ad blockers to filter. The SponsorBlock developer confirmed the experiment would break existing ad-blocking tools. This represented an escalation of YouTube's 2023 crackdown on ad blockers.
NFL Loses $4.7B Sunday Ticket Antitrust Verdict
A Los Angeles federal jury found the NFL violated antitrust laws with its Sunday Ticket distribution model, awarding about $4.7 billion in damages to residential subscribers and $96 million to commercial subscribers (potentially tripled under antitrust law). The verdict highlighted concerns about the exclusive packaging model that YouTube TV inherited from DirecTV. However, Judge Philip Gutierrez overturned the verdict on August 1, 2024, citing flawed expert testimony. The plaintiffs appealed; the Ninth Circuit heard oral argument in March 2026.
Google Found to Have Illegally Monopolized Search
A federal judge ruled that Google illegally monopolized the markets for general search services and general search text ads, finding dominant market share and significant entry barriers. While not directly about YouTube TV, the ruling demonstrated a pattern of anticompetitive behavior across Alphabet's businesses that benefits YouTube TV through cross-platform integration.
Judge Blocks Venu Sports Venture on Antitrust Grounds
A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking Venu Sports, a proposed joint venture between Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery that would have bundled sports streaming. FuboTV had argued the venture would harm competition in the vMVPD market. While YouTube TV was not a party, the ruling preserved YouTube TV's competitive advantage as the dominant sports-focused live TV service.
YouTube Expands Unskippable Ads to 60 Seconds on TVs
YouTube confirmed that more unskippable ad formats debuted on connected TVs in early September 2024 alongside pause ads, mostly as 30-second spots replacing pairs of 15-second ads. A source told Tubefilter YouTube was also offering advertisers 60-second unskippable ads for TVs in beta. YouTube justified the longer formats by saying 79% of viewers preferred one longer ad break to several shorter ones.
Price Reaches $82.99 With $10 Monthly Increase
YouTube TV raised its base price from $72.99 to $82.99/month, a 14% increase and a 137% cumulative increase from the $35 launch price, citing rising content costs. The hike took effect December 12 for new members and January 13 for existing subscribers. Many subscribers reacted angrily on social media, some calling it 'greed' and threatening to cancel. The announcement came days after YouTube TV said a Verizon promotion listing an $82.99 price had been an error.
Paramount Renewal Averts Blackout of CBS and 22 Networks
After a last-minute short-term extension, Paramount Global and YouTube TV signed a multi-year carriage renewal that kept CBS, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and 20 other networks on the service. The deal added Paramount+ with Showtime and BET+ to YouTube's channel store and let YouTube TV include Paramount+ in future packages.
Google Found to Have Illegally Monopolized Ad Tech
Judge Brinkema ruled in a 115-page decision that Google had unlawfully monopolized the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets, finding liability on two of three counts. The ruling opened the door to a potential forced divestiture of Google's AdX exchange. YouTube's advertising infrastructure, which extends to YouTube TV's on-demand library, was built on this monopolized ad tech stack.
Fox Renewal Ends Threatened Blackout Before NFL Season
Fox Corp. and YouTube TV renewed carriage of the Fox network, Fox News and other Fox channels after a short-term extension, averting a blackout before a major college football game and the NFL season. YouTube TV had told subscribers it would offer a $10 credit if the channels went dark.
TelevisaUnivision Channels Blacked Out in 56-Day Dispute
YouTube TV dropped TelevisaUnivision's Spanish-language networks, including Univision, UniMás, TUDN and Galavisión, along with subscribers' library recordings from them, after failing to reach a carriage deal. YouTube TV had sought to move the channels from its base plan to a Spanish-language package. The blackout lasted 56 days, until a renewal in late November 2025, disproportionately affecting Spanish-speaking subscribers.
NBCUniversal Signs Long-Term YouTube TV Deal After Standoff
After heated negotiations and a short-term extension, NBCUniversal and Google signed a multi-year deal keeping NBC, Telemundo, USA, CNBC and other networks on YouTube TV. Google said its main objection had been being asked to pay more than consumers paid for the same content on Peacock; Peacock was added to YouTube Primetime Channels.
Disney-Fubo Merger Creates Second-Largest vMVPD
Disney closed its acquisition of Fubo, combining Hulu + Live TV and FuboTV into a single entity with nearly 6 million subscribers. Disney holds approximately 70% of the combined company. The merger created YouTube TV's most formidable competitor but also consolidated the vMVPD market further, raising barriers for smaller entrants like Sling TV and Philo.
YouTube Reorganizes Around AI, Offers Voluntary Exit Program
CEO Neal Mohan reorganized YouTube's product teams into three groups, including a Subscriptions Products unit, and offered US employees a voluntary exit program with severance. YouTube said no roles were being eliminated as part of the changes.
Disney Channels Go Dark in Two-Week Blackout
YouTube TV pulled all Disney-owned channels at midnight ET on October 31, leaving roughly 10 million subscribers without ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, FX, National Geographic, Disney Channel and about 15 other networks. YouTube TV also removed subscribers' DVR library recordings from those networks during the outage. Morgan Stanley analysts estimated Disney was losing about $4.3 million a day; Disney later disclosed the dispute cost its sports division $110 million in operating profit. A deal was reached after about two weeks.
Disney Deal Ends Two-Week Blackout, Adds ESPN Unlimited
Google and Disney signed a multi-year agreement restoring ABC, ESPN and other Disney networks, plus previously recorded shows, after a blackout from October 30. YouTube TV base-plan subscribers were promised ESPN Unlimited content at no extra cost by the end of 2026, and Disney channels became available for genre-specific packages. YouTube had issued one-time $20 credits that subscribers had to claim, and a survey found 24% of users had cancelled or planned to.
Univision Returns to YouTube TV After 56-Day Blackout
TelevisaUnivision and Google renewed carriage, returning Univision, UniMas, Galavision and TUDN to YouTube TV after a 56-day blackout, the longest in the service's history. ViX was added to YouTube Primetime Channels as part of the deal.
Omdia Forecasts YouTube TV as Largest US Pay-TV Operator by 2027
Omdia estimated YouTube TV had 9.3 million subscribers at end-2025, behind Charter (11.4 million) and Comcast (10.6 million), and forecast it would overtake both by end-2027 with 10.4 million, the first time a virtual provider would lead the US pay-TV market.
YouTube TV Launches 10+ Skinny Bundles Starting at $54.99
YouTube TV introduced over 10 genre-based skinny bundles priced between $54.99 and $71.99/month, below the $82.99 base plan. Options included Sports ($64.99), Entertainment ($54.99), and combination packages. While the cheaper tiers acknowledged pricing complaints, the proliferation of plans introduced complexity and potential confusion. Downgrading to a cheaper plan meant losing DVR recordings for channels no longer included.
DOJ Opens Antitrust Probe Into NFL Media Deals
The Justice Department opened an investigation into whether the NFL's television contracts, which require fans to pay subscriptions to watch some games, are anticompetitive. The probe targets the league; its out-of-market Sunday Ticket package is distributed by YouTube TV.
YouTube TV Launches Fully Custom Multiview
YouTube TV rolled out a multiview builder letting subscribers combine any live channels, including across plans and add-ons such as NFL Sunday Ticket. Recordings and on-demand content cannot be used, and fewer than 5% of devices are limited to preset views.
Court Preliminarily Approves $7.5M YouTube TV Auto-Renewal Settlement
A California court preliminarily approved a $7.5 million settlement in Dutcher v. Google, filed in June 2020, which alleged YouTube TV automatically renewed subscriptions without the disclosures and affirmative consent required by California's Automatic Renewal Law. It covers California residents who paid for a renewal between February 2017 and October 2021, with estimated payments of about $92 each; final approval was set for October 15, 2026.
Alphabet Halts Share Buybacks to Fund AI Spending
Alphabet's second-quarter 10-Q reported no repurchases of Class A or Class C shares in the first half of 2026, leaving $69.5 billion of its April 2025 authorization unused, while quarterly dividends continued. Alphabet had guided to $175-185 billion of capital expenditure for 2026, mainly for AI infrastructure.
ESPN Unlimited Added to YouTube TV at No Extra Cost
Under the November 2025 Disney deal, YouTube TV subscribers whose plan includes ESPN began getting ESPN Unlimited, normally about $30/month standalone, at no additional charge. Access requires linking accounts and watching in the separate ESPN app.
Judge Rejects AdX Breakup in Google Ad Tech Case
Judge Leonie Brinkema declined the Justice Department's request to force Google to divest its AdX exchange, ordering behavioral remedies instead, following her April 2025 finding that Google monopolized ad tech markets.
Sunday Ticket 2026 Priced at $240 New, $378 Existing
For the 2026-27 season YouTube offered NFL Sunday Ticket to new YouTube TV customers for $240 (a discount of up to 50%), while existing YouTube TV subscribers paid $378 and the standalone Primetime Channels version cost $480.
YouTube TV Drops Court TV, Tastemade and The Young Turks
YouTube TV removed Court TV, Tastemade and The Young Turks from every plan, along with recordings of their shows, after notifying members by email. It gave no public reason and did not lower prices.
Evidence (47 citations)
D1: User Value Erosion
D2: Business Customer Exploitation
D3: Shareholder Extraction
D4: Lock-in & Switching Costs
D5: Twiddling & Algorithmic Opacity
D6: Dark Patterns
D7: Advertising & Monetization Pressure
D8: Competitive Conduct
D9: Labor & Governance
D10: Regulatory & Legal Posture
Scoring Log (8 entries)
Checked 83 items + prose. 41 verified, 28 corrected (9 date-only), 10 re-sourced, 4 removed (1 duplicate, 1 contradicted, 2 junk-source evidence). Invented: 'YouTube TV revenue nearly $9B in Q1 2025' (Variety 2025-04-24: the $8.93B is YouTube ad revenue and excludes YouTube TV). Other fixes: Sinclair RSN drop date (2020-03-05, not 02-29), $25B buyback date (2019-07-25), Markey letter date (2023-08-17), DOJ URL repointed to search-ruling statement, alternatives prices updated and typed-in score removed; trimmed unsupported moderator wage figures, Pichai 'worst moment' line, 'shoddiest' interface quote, and an unsourced Congressional-scrutiny claim.
52->44. D1 7->5 (recalibration: price rises and 2025 blackouts fit 4-5 'noticeable decline'; satisfaction still tops J.D. Power and 2026 brought cheaper plans, multiview, ESPN Unlimited), D3 5->4 (event: Alphabet made no buybacks in H1 2026; correction: fact audit removed invented YouTube TV revenue), D4 6->4 (recalibration: no contract, no network effects, real substitutes; DVR is the main switching cost; correction: Sunday Ticket sold standalone), D6 5->4 (recalibration: several mild patterns, online cancellation; auto-renewal settlement added as evidence), D7 6->5 (correction: DVR fast-forward allowed since Oct 2018; main-YouTube ad formats removed from basis), D8 6->5 (recalibration: Google search/ad tech rulings concern other businesses; Roku dispute and Sunday Ticket exclusive support 5). D2, D5, D9, D10 unchanged. Alphabet-wide conduct (buybacks, layoffs, dual-class, antitrust, lobbying) weighted only where it bears on YouTube TV; D9 held at 5 rather than the 6-7 Alphabet-level fit. Eras: 2017-04-01->2017-04-05, 2019-01-01->2019-01-23, 2020-06-01->2020-06-30 re-dated; 'NFL Lock-In Era' re-dated 2022-12-01->2022-12-22 and relabeled 'Sunday Ticket Era'; 'Dominant vMVPD' re-dated 2026-02-11->2025-09-30 (Univision blackout) and relabeled 'Blackout Showdowns'; new era 'Genre Plans Reset' 2026-02-09 (genre plans launch). Since Oct 2025: Univision and Disney blackouts ended with deals, genre plans from $54.99, main plan held at $82.99, custom multiview, ESPN Unlimited included, Alphabet buybacks halted, $7.5M auto-renewal settlement, DOJ probe of NFL media deals, three channels dropped Sept 2026. Category 'Video Streaming' is fine.
Removed typed-in site scores from alternatives text (they go stale on re-score; the page shows live scores). No other changes.
Triaged 2026-06-30 (Wave A); no rescore warranted (no material change / changes sub-threshold / flag refuted on verification).
Added 1 missing dimension narratives (d10)