Upfront/WATCH
YouTube on TV: What to Know, What to Watch
Don’t overlook these intriguing new entertainment options
HOW BIG has YouTube become? The answer is half-the-planet big. That is, 52 percent of internet users worldwide access YouTube’s repository of an estimated 1 billion videos at least once a month, making it the second-most-used search engine in the world, after Google (which, by the way, owns it). And yet, how many of us tap intoYouTube’s countless and often surprising entertainment choices to watch on our televisions? It’s not just for cat videos anymore! Here’s some advice to get started.
Connecting shouldn’t be hard ...
Assuming you have a smart TV, there are a few ways to connect. Many new televisions have a YouTube app already loaded that immediately links you to its library. Or you can link your smartphone, tablet or computer to your TV and use that as your source. You can also hook up YouTube to your TV with devices like an Amazon Fire TV Stick or Apple TV.
... but finding what to watch might be.
YouTube is like a massive public library: Random browsing can be overwhelming. To make your visit effective, you need to have some inkling of what you want to watch and how to find it. The finding isn’t hard: You type in the name or info, as you would on any internet browser, then either choose from what the site surfaces or refine your search terms. As for what to watch, use your imagination. Any movies, concerts, old shows, topics or how-tos come to mind? YouTube has built up an impressive library of rotating longform video content, from TV’s The Dick Van Dyke Show to movies like Moonstruck and The African Queen. There are also listings out there; for example, each month, Rotten Tomatoes posts 100 free YouTube movies currently available. Or you can follow your passions: A search on “Miles Davis full concert,” for example, brings up several archival jazz concerts from the 1960s onward.
Basic YouTube is free ...
The catch is that you’ll have to deal with commercials. Often you can click off an ad after the first five seconds. Want to bypass ads completely? You can pay for ad-free YouTube Premium ($14 per month, after a one-month free trial), which lets you download videos to watch later, or stream tunes on the YouTube Music app.
... but it also offers a streaming service ...
YouTube.TV bundles more than 100 channels (including local ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox stations), much as cable and satellite providers do. It’s $73 per month—less expensive than cable packages in many regions. And unlike with cable, you can stream up to three shows simultaneously and get unlimited DVR storage in the cloud to record programs to watch on your own time.
... and other for-fee programming.
YouTube TV’s NFL Sunday Ticket costs $349 to $489 for the season. —Thom Geier
FREE NOW ON YOUTUBE
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