I Canceled YouTube TV and May Never Go Back!

if you've watched any of my cord cutting videos you probably already know that YouTube TV has been my favorite live TV service for a while now I covered it since it launched in 2017 and I've created helpful reviews and tutorials all along the way my YouTube TV subscription is already on pause right now something I do to save money during the summertime but today I want to explain why I may never go back there's not just one reason there are actually five and if you're a returning viewer I hope you will watch this video until the very end let's get started number one today I'm using other streaming apps I mentioned in a recent video that when I sit down to watch TV these days I'm more likely to open up regular YouTube than YouTube TV and this is a change in behavior that I've noticed over the past maybe year or so it's not just YouTube that I'm watching more often I rotate paid services like Max Hulu and peacock and I've got plenty to watch including a long list of recommendations some of them from people who watch this channel I also feel like I should be spending a lot more time with free apps like tub according to this LA Times report May was tub's best month ever an average audience of a million viewers that's more than paid services like Disney Plus Peacock Max and Paramount plus so with the limited time that I have to watch TV and so many new apps competing for my attention YouTube TV is St starting to lose out and every month that I pause YouTube TV there's an instant benefit a savings of $75 every month number two today I found better deals on other live TV services now YouTube TV typically has a great introductory offer that's for new customers but longtime subscribers like myself we don't get that savings recently I shared a limited time deal from Direct TV stream it was $49.99 for 3 months I got that deal and I'm in the process of updating my review other services like sling TV often have discounts for new customers and I've received targeted offers to come back to that service and others as well so that's one reason to keep an eye on your inbox and all those emails from streaming companies the third reason why I may never go back to YouTube TV is because of a promising new live TV option you've heard me talk about venue Sports in my monthly news updates it's an upcoming live TV streaming service from e SPN Fox and Warner Brothers Discovery the service is expected to launch in the fall its pending regulatory approval Now venu Sports is going to Target people who don't pay for a big bundle but I actually think it could steal away customers from live TV streaming services including YouTube TV let's say venue Sports is $50 a month that's an estimate pricing not confirmed at recording time with the service you get popular cable TV sports networks as well as broadcast TV networks two of them ABC and fox for some people this channel lineup right here is going to be enough but if it's not enough you can get NBC and CBS content from peacock and Paramount plus respectively the cheaper plans with ads they have some live sports content but if you're looking for a 24/7 stream of your local NBC and CBS station you need the more expensive ad free plans number four today I want strong competition I shared this chart from endscreen media in a recent video YouTube TV now has more than 8 million subscribers that's impressive on its own but the service now has more subscribers than several of its competitors combined and now YouTube TV is the fourth largest pay TV service right behind companies that many cord cutters have broken up with Charter Comcast and Direct TV I think YouTube TV deserves to be in the top spot among live TV services and mostly because it's been more Innovative than its competitors but I do want healthy competition in the space to hopefully keep pricing down when I started reviewing streaming services back in 2016 I rotated through them for several years before sticking with YouTube TV long term going forward I see myself going back to more frequent switching it works for me but I know it doesn't work for all households reason number five today is more personal and it's got nothing to do with the YouTube TV app itself instead it's got everything to do with things that are happening at Google and YouTube let me explain this summer marks my 20th year of creating content full-time not long ago I shared this clip on my Facebook page it's from my internship station where I produced my first local newscast 8 years and several jobs later I was living in Atlanta and had the opportunity to help launch a talk show for a cable TV network this is where I met Clark Howard and began producing his consumer reports that showed didn't last I moved on from HLN and so did Clark but I later spent 5 years working for his website clark.com and when I left the site in January 2021 to focus on Michael saves I was fortunate to be able to support myself in part thanks to this YouTube channel which I spend a lot of time on 3 years later that is just no longer the case despite steady growth in views and subscribers I'm earning about 80% less from YouTube's ad Revenue since since November 2022 the reason invalid traffic I've done nothing wrong but my library of work has largely been demonetized YouTube has provided creators with very little support mainly they refer to this help document with common sense tips things like don't click on your own ads and to be clear I don't Tyler the antenna man recently spoke out about this issue shortly after it affected him and his case was quickly resolved I've been waiting a year and a a half no resolution and it's not for lack of effort this is YouTube's Creator liaison Renee Richie I've communicated with him directly and provided lots of information multiple times he's assured me it's been passed along to the team but I've never heard from this team and nothing has changed on top of that in September 2023 Google which owns YouTube penalized small independent websites like mav.com which I've run for the past 10 years this has made it harder almost impossible for Searchers to find my money saving tips instead of my website people are being served with AI overviews Reddit threads and in some cases pure spam somehow large websites they seem to be doing okay I realized that many people first heard about Michael saves from either a Google search or a YouTube recommendations these platforms have connected us and for that I am grateful I mentioned in a recent video that I understood why some people would never go back to Direct TV or comcast even if those companies offered them new and better deals for me with YouTube TV I don't think I can give the service another dollar until creators get better answers from Google and YouTube no matter what I still plan to update my YouTube TV content friends and family have offered to let me come over with my recording equipment and use their accounts but for now I need more than a pause from YouTube TV it's cancelled if my videos have helped you and you want to support this channel consider sharing this video and visiting my website Michael saf deals.com that's where I update deals on streaming services and more I'm also sharing content on other platforms Facebook X and my free Weekly Newsletter links are down below