TV Answer Man, I am a big baseball fan and I love YouTube TV but now that they lost the MLB Network, I may switch to another streamer. Do you know which streamers have the MLB Network and how much is it? Do you have to pay extra to get it? You didn’t for YouTube TV. — Dewayne, Akron, Ohio.
Dewayne, YouTube TV on Tuesday informed subscribers today in an e-mail that it will no longer carry MLB Network.
“We have been working hard to renew our deal with the MLB Network to continue carrying their content on YouTube TV,” the e-mail states. “However, we have been unable to reach an agreement.”
The news came as a surprise to YouTube TV subscribers, particularly baseball fans who are salivating for the start of the 2023 MLB season on March 30. MLB Network airs live spring training and regular season games as well as studio shows dedicated to the game.
There’s no indication that the dispute is short-term so if you’re thinking of jumping ship for another streamer, here are your options:
DIRECTV Stream carries the MLB Network in its Choice plan and above, which starts at $99.99 a month. Sling TV has MLB Network in its Sports Extra add-on package, which is $11 a month in addition to the base $40 a month package. And FuboTV has MLB Network in its Sports Plus plan, which is $11 a month in addition to its base plan, which starts at $74.99 a month. FuboTV also has the MLB Network in its FuboTV Extra add-on plan, which costs just $7.99 a month for 44 channels.
If you want to pursue a cable or satellite subscription, MLB Network is available on Altice (Optimum), AT&T U-verse, Charter Communications (Spectrum), Comcast, Cox Communications, DIRECTV, Dish, and Verizon Fios, among others.
Dewayne, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman
I switched back to DirecTV Steam yesterday upon this news. I had moved over to YTTV this fall in order to get NFL RedZone. I really liked the YTTV interface and was hoping I could keep it for baseball season by either a change to the blackout rules promised by Manfred or I somehow got my NordVPN to work. I’m an Astros fan living in Arkansas so I am in No Man’s Land with RSNs and MLB.tv, but DTVS carries the Astros on AT&T Sports. Losing my daily Mad Dog fix was the last straw and I went ahead and switched back now and gave up hope on the other stuff being sorted by April.
After a day, I’m pretty happy. Really the only thing better about YTTV was the interface. Picture quality (still have YTTV so I can compare) is better on DTV and the DVR is less quirky. Still, I hope they add NFL RedZone and start offering 4K or I may have to do this all over again this fall. I’m getting really tired of switching back and forth all the time but I still do not miss cable yet. That wound is far deeper.
This is reminiscent of when HD came out back in the aughts and we had to switch satellite providers and add antennaes in our attics to get the sports we want with a decent picture on our new plasma screen TV’s. Seems like that all got sorted out faster than streaming/4K.