YouTube Launching Cheaper Genre-Specific Plans in 2026

In “early” 2026, YouTube says it’s “bringing more choice and flexibility” for customers via its YouTube TV Plans. (News we first heard about at Variety.) It will launch 10+ genre-specific packages. This will let customers pay for what they want to watch rather than one single package with everything. (Though that option isn’t going away.) From the company’s announcement via the YouTube Official Blog:

Our goal is to let you tailor your subscription with more options. Whether you stick with our main YouTube TV plan with 100+ channels, focus on sports, combine sports and news, or select a plan centered on family and entertainment content, subscribers will be able to easily choose the plan that works best for them.

YouTube has not yet revealed the official list of genre packages and what they will include with one exception. It revealed what sports fans can expect. The YouTube TV Sports Plan “will offer fans access to all the major broadcasters as well as sports networks like FS1, NBC Sports Network, all of the ESPN networks, as well as ESPN Unlimited.” It will also let subscribers add extras, such as NFL Sunday Ticket and RedZone, all while maintaining viewing options like “unlimited DVR, multiview, key plays, and fantasy view.”

Will this model prove successful? Or will customers ultimately prefer to have access to everything under one single package? We’ll worry about that next year. Right now we’d like to enjoy streaming news that doesn’t involve a price hike.