Youtube TV to get new Channels from certain outlets

YouTube’s livestreaming TV service is looking to add channels from multiple digital media publishers, including Cheddar, Tastemade and The Young Turks Network. These channels would join E.W. Scripps-owned Newsy as some of the first channels from digital-first media companies to be available on YouTube TV.

According to multiple sources with direct knowledge of YouTube’s plans, YouTube is testing as many as six new channels from digital publishers on YouTube TV, its fledgling livestreaming TV service that offers more than 50 linear broadcast, cable and regional TV channels for $40 per month. Digital publishers working with YouTube include the business news network Cheddar, food and lifestyle publisher Tastemade and progressive news outlet The Young Turks Network. It’s unclear on when these channels will launch, as YouTube is still in the testing phase, but it could be as early as in a couple of weeks, sources said.

YouTube declined to comment about potential YouTube TV deals with digital publishers. Representatives for Tastemade and TYT Network also declined to comment. The usually chatty Cheddar CEO Jon Steinberg has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

YouTube launched YouTube TV a year ago as part of a wave of legacy and tech companies launching streaming pay-TV services. With cord cutting on the rise, others including Hulu, DirecTV and Dish Network are hoping to appeal to customers with cheaper TV bundles that also let them watch programs across different connected screens.

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Why it matters: Cheddar is one of the few news outlets that focuses specifically on live news for streaming audiences. While its exact audience numbers are unknown, it is hoping partnerships like the one announced today will help broaden its reach amongst news consumers that are "cutting the cord," or ditching their cable packages for cheaper, digital bundles.

"With the launch of Cheddar Big News, we now have a national news and a business news network," says Cheddar President Jon Steinberg.
"Our competitors are Fox with Fox News and Fox Business, and NBCU with MSNBC and CNBC. We are a peanut compared to these mighty peanut trees, but then again we are only two years into this. And platforms like YouTube TV mean the playing field is now open to new athletes like us," he added.

Cheddar Big News will launch on YouTube TV and head later to Dish's Sling TV and Philo. It will have several new content partners — AccuWeather for weather and Stadium, VSiN, and FanSided for sports — and a major advertising sponsor, The Coca-Cola Company.

Cheddar is currently available on most major digital video distribution channels, including Sling TV, Amazon, Comcast X1, Facebook and Twitter. The network says it reaches 60% of smart TVs in the U.S.

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