Why I picked Fubo TV over YouTube TV as an Apple TV 4K owner

Summary

Fubo TV offers better multi-streaming features than YouTube TV, with the ability to select your preferred channels to view simultaneously.
Fubo TV is a cheaper choice compared to YouTube TV; however, it lacks Turner networks like TBS, TNT, and TruTV.
Despite the cheaper price of Fubo TV and additional features, including regional sports networks, individual needs and preferences might affect the value of the service.

When the news hit that YouTube TV was going up in price, I let out a groan lamenting that the once-great service was now at a price that rivals cable again. While the ship has sailed on the fabled $50 a month price of the service, there are alternatives to get the price down. Around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I looked into streaming deals that could replace YouTube TV. This came before the price hike, but after getting the email telling me my service was going up in price, it led me to pull the trigger on Fubo TV while the offer was still available.

You might’ve heard of Fubo in passing, but it has nowhere near the name recognition something like YouTube or Hulu have. Despite that, a 7-day free trial and discounted first month was enticing, and I decided to give it a go. After using Fubo for a few days, I can’t find much to complain about. As an Apple TV 4K owner, there’s actually a big advantage Fubo has over YouTube TV, and it’s multi-streaming.

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fuboTV

Simultaneous streams: 10
Live TV: Yes
Free trial: Yes, 7 days

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Fubo’s multi-streaming is far better than YouTube

Much more versatility

Fubo

For Fubo TV, you can select what you want to appear in your multi-stream. That means you can pair an NFL game with an episode of Law and Order if it’s on TV. Why you’d want to do that is another question entirely, but it’s well within the realm of possibilities. Strangely, it only works on my Apple TV 4K box, and I can’t get it to work on my desktop or tablet. Considering I do the majority of my TV viewing on my living room TV, it’s not a dealbreaker, but it’s something you have to be aware of if it’s a feature that interests you. The biggest change for me is the ability to flip between four different channels with ease using a multi-stream. There’s no need to constantly dip back into the guide on a commercial, and it’s a big upgrade for me. Even if you’re not watching four things at a time, just selecting four channels for a multi-stream makes your viewing experience better from a quality-of-life standpoint. You can have one show maximized, and when it goes on commercial you can minimize it and go to another channel in a second or two.

It feels like something YouTube TV should eventually add to the service, but it took a long time for basic multi-streaming to arrive. At the end of the day, it’s a niche feature, but it’s something Fubo has a clear advantage over Apple with. When it comes to the rest of the service, there’s much more in common than not, and each of them has pros and cons. With the price hike from YouTube TV, Fubo is actually the cheaper choice, but there are still sacrifices that have to be made.

YouTube TV against a black screen in front of blurred apps.

How I get specific, single channels on YouTube TV

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The price looks lower, but there’s a catch

It’s not as simple as it seems

A person with a remote pointing it at YouTube TV.

Erik Mclean / Unsplash / Pocket-lint

With the price going up to $82.99 for YouTube TV, Fubo TV’s $79.99 looks a lot more appealing, but it’s not quite that simple. The biggest change comes with the channels, and Fubo is missing the Turner networks. That means TBS, TNT, and Tru TV are all missing, which is a big change for sports fans.

To help make up for that shift, Fubo offers a package that includes the regional sports networks, so you can start watching your local teams again, something that’s not possible with YouTube TV. However, it comes with the added cost of being tacked onto your regular monthly bill. In my case, that’s $11.99 on top of $79.99, but it varies by where you live.

That bumps the cost up closer to $100, but it’s still more value than packaging FanDuel Sports Network with YouTube TV. The tradeoff is losing the Turner networks. Subscribing to Max gets you access to those, but that’s also driving the costs back up. There’s no perfect answer in the world we live in due to how split content is across the different platforms. If you don’t need access to the Turner networks, then Fubo starts to look a lot more valuable. If you don’t want to miss out on what those networks air, then it’s a harder pill to swallow.

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So far, so good with Fubo

I’m happy with Fubo

YouTube TV

After spending a week or so with Fubo, I plan on sticking with it for a while, at least until the end of the NBA season. After that, I might look into YouTube TV again since I won’t need the regional sports anymore as I’m not a huge baseball fan. The benefit of both YouTube TV and Fubo is I can cancel at any time if I don’t like the service, so both of them offer a clear advantage over cable, where I’d be locked into a service and have a cable box in my house.

The reality is that I have to constantly look for deals on streaming services if I want to keep my prices low. For example, Fubo gave me a month for $13.98, and that’s a very hard price to beat. Obviously, it’s not going to remain at that price, but it gives me time to scout for more details, or I could just stick with the service. I might still be in the honeymoon period, or Fubo TV is a strong alternative to YouTube TV.

Whatever the case is, I’m glad I found out about the service and gave it a try. Barring any unforeseen price hikes, it’s an easy service to recommend, especially for anybody familiar with how the YouTube TV user interface works. It’ll be an uphill battle for the service to overtake something like YouTube TV, but having competitive pricing and more features is a step in the right direction.