YouTube TV set to expand into 10 more markets

After launching in the five biggest U.S. TV markets over the spring, YouTube has deployed its virtual MVPD service in a second tier of major cities. 

YouTube TV is set to deploy in Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Dallas-Fort Worth; Detroit; Houston; Miami-Fort Lauderdale; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, Florida; Phoenix and Washington, D.C.

YouTube TV launched in April in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

The service is based on delivery of the four major broadcast networks, even more so than rival vMVPDs like Sling TV and DirecTV, given that it lacks access to major cable conglomerates, including Viacom. 

This has curtailed, to some degree, YouTube TV’s rollout strategy, with YouTube launching the service only when it has locked up distribution on all available owned and operated and affiliate stations for each of the Big Four. 

RELATED: Sling TV now has more than 2M subscribers, comScore says

It is unclear as to how many subscribers YouTube TV has signed up in its first two-plus months of operation. 

According to statistics on over-the-top viewing released last week by comScore, the combined forces of Sling TV, DirecTV Now and PlayStation Vue control 54.6% of usage. Netflix alone controls 17%, while Hulu accounts for 8% and YouTube tallies 7.1%.