Here’s everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, February 10th, 2026:
YOUTUBE SLOW WALKS THE ROLLOUT OF ITS NOT-SO-IMPRESSIVE MINI BUNDLES
In yesterday's newsletter, I mentioned the upcoming ten so-called "mini-bundles" that YouTube is rolling out, but at the time I didn't have much in the way of details. Today, YouTube has passed along some general details about five of the ten bundles and I have two basic takeaways: 1) These bundles are terrible deals for consumers, and 2) The fine folks at DirecTV should be really pissed.
First, I have a lot of sympathy for any company trying to sell anything resembling a smaller, mini-bundle of channels. Nearly all of your favorite channels are owned by a handful of large media companies, which insists on extracting every possible dollar from consumers by forcing cable TV providers to sign "all or nothing" carriage deals. So to get ESPN, you have to take everything from Freeform to the local ABC affiliates. And it's the same way with the Paramount Skydance channels, the Fox networks, etc. All of which means that truly offering a smaller bundle of channels is extremely difficult.
I have no idea what the terms of any carriage agreements YouTube has negotiated in recent years, but whatever they were, the result is that YouTube is rolling out a collection of bundles that is overpriced compared to others in the market and ultimately aren't saving consumers all that much money.
To be fair, YouTube has only released general info about five of their ten new mini-bundles. But so far, I found myself stunned by how terrible the bundles are for consumers.
Not that you would know that from some of the press coverage so far, like this breezy breakdown of the options in The Hollywood Reporter. But let's look at what YouTube is offering, and what you could get by contrast from some of its competitors. Also keep in mind that the current price for the full YouTube TV package is $82.99 a month.
Existing YouTube TV users can choose the sports-centric plan for $64.99 per month; newcomers get it for $54.99 for the first year. The plan gives a subscriber access to the major broadcast networks, as well as all of ESPN’s networks, streamer ESPN Unlimited (coming in the fall), FS1 and NBC Sports Network.
As I said, we don't know the precise lineup of channels that will be available on any of the YouTube mini-bundles. But as a comparison, DirecTV is offering its own mini sports bundle for $69 a month, with $10 off per month for the first two months. Here is that channel lineup:
This DirecTV package also includes an ESPN unlimited subscription. It's difficult to do a direct comparison without knowing the YouTube mini-bundle channel lineup. But at first glance, the two packages seem to be pretty similar?
But the non-sports packages are the ones that turn out to be terrible deals. For instance, this plan:
For news junkies, the Sports + News Plan at $71.99/month (or $56.99/month for new users for three months) is priced $11 less than the main YouTube TV plan. In addition to the components that make up the sports plan, the sports and news option tacks on CNBC, Fox News Channel, MS NOW, CNN, CSPAN, Bloomberg and Fox Business.
After three months, subscribers to this deal aren't saving much money. And I am assuming there are fewer channels that the main package, but at this point, we don't know for sure.
But if you are a news junkie (and don't care about so much about sports), the DirecTV MyEntertainment bundle includes 60+ channels for $34.99 a month. The lineup includes every major cable news network, a solid selection of entertainment channels as well as free ad-supported versions of the Disney+/Hulu bundle and HBO Max:
If you want sports, a bundle of ESPN DTC and Fox One is available for $39.99/month. So you could subscribe to that bundle, along with the $34.99 DirecTV MyEntertainment bundle and get both major sports apps, 40+ entertainment channels, and ad-supported tiers of Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max for a total of around $75. Which is close to the $71.99 cost for the YouTube Sports + News Plan, plus you're getting the three ad-supported streamers as well.
And then there is this mini-bundle:
Not into live programming whatsoever? YouTube TV’s Entertainment Plan ($54.99/month, or $44.99/month for new users for three months) includes the major broadcasters as well as “FX dramas” and “Hallmark classics,” the company says, also counting Comedy Central, Bravo, Paramount, Food Network and HGTV. The entertainment-only plan is also a frugal subscriber’s dream, costing $28 less than YouTube TV’s main plan.
Frugal subscriber's dream? That description reads more like PR than reporting. And let's be honest, we have no idea what what channels will be included.
But here are two entertainment options that sound similar and cost a lot less than $54.99 per month.
One option is the entertainment-centric platform Philo. Most of its major linear channels were added after several major media companies took a equity slice of the service when Philo launched. So its lineup is a bit quirky and mostly would work for viewers primarily interested in lifestyle, unscripted and some drama programming.
For $28 a month, you get the channels below. Which does include several networks you won't find elsewhere (AMC, BBC America, the Hallmark Networks), along with the Paramount-owned kids networks. But no news channels, none of the NBCU-owned networks like Bravo or E!. And while the old Scripps Networks channels are available, the old Turner linear networks such as TBS are not.
A second option for niche live and on demand TV platform Frndly TV is another option. It includes the Hallmark channels as well as the AMC Networks channels and the Weather Channel. But most of the rest of its lineup is comprised of a lot of smaller digital-only networks. Frndly TV costs $7.99 month, billed annually for the basic tier, which includes unlimited DVR recording that is saved three months and two simultaneous screens. The Premium tier costs $9.99 month, billed annually, which includes unlimited DVR recording that is saved nine months and four simultaneous screens.
This all might be more information than you need. But I wanted to show that - despite what you are reading elsewhere today - YouTube didn't invent the mini-bundle. And with the exception of its sports mini-bundle, its options are much more expensive than its competitors.
I'M NOT SURE THAT A COLLECTION OF AFFILIATE LINKS REALLY QUALIFIES AS 'AWARD WINNERS,' BUT MAYBE THAT'S JUST ME
PARAMOUNT SKYDANCE OFFERS A 'TICKLING' FEE TO CLOSE MERGER WITH WBD
I will give David Ellison credit. He doesn't take no for an answer.
Late Monday, Paramount Skydance sweetened their offer for Warner Bros. Discovery slightly, in what the company refers to as a "tickling fee." (Eeew?) The offer promises WBD shareholders an additional $0.25 per share for each quarter in which its proposed deal hasn’t closed by December 31st, 2026. The company also said it will pay Netflix’s $2.8B breakup fee itself and will also eliminate WBD’s potential $1.5B financing cost associated with a debt exchange that would make the merger possible with Paramount Skydance.
I don't think this will change many minds on the WBD board. And as I mentioned before, it doesn't address the less-appreciated aspect of the Netflix/WBD merger: that deal allows current WBD executives and institutional investors to take advantage of some obscure tax breaks.
THE SUPER BOWL LATENCY DELAY
Provider Stats Perform continued its annual Super Bowl latency testing, which measured how close live streams of the game on different apps were to on-the-field action, or the lag time behind it – also known as latency. As an example, if you were watching the game on Hulu Live TV, what you saw on your television actually happened 53 seconds earlier than if you were in the stadium watching it live:
ODDS AND SODS
* White With Fear is premiering Tuesday, March 24th on PBS. Here is the official logline: "The documentary pulls back the curtain for a first-hand look at the strategies and tactics that have shaped some conservative political playbooks for decades. The film explores how divisive narratives and policies were strategically implemented by some politicians and media outlets to earn power and profit. Tracing the strategy from former President Nixon’s call for “law and order” during his 1968 presidential campaign, through 9/11, various other presidential campaigns, hate crimes and the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, the film includes the voices of Steve Bannon, Hillary Clinton, former Fox News reporter Carl Cameron, The Lincoln Project founder Stuart Stevens, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Rick Gates, former Breitbart writer Katie McHugh, and many more."
* There is nothing more on-brand for Jimmy Fallon than that his Super Bowl Puppy Predictors made the wrong call this weekend - for the fifth year in a row.
* Sen. Ted Cruz is chairing a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Tuesday morning focused on current media ownership rules which limit any company from owning stations that reach more than 39 percent of the U.S. viewing audience. Not surprisingly, National Association of Broadcasters CEO Curtis LeGeyt will be there speaking in favor of raising the cap, a move which would help companies that own a large number of local stations, such as Sinclair and Tegna.
WHAT'S COMING TODAY AND TOMORROW
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10TH:
* Chef's Kiss (The Roku Channel)
* Frontline: Crisis In Venezuela (PBS)
* Katt Williams: The Last Report (Netflix)
* Motorvalley Series Premiere (Netflix)
* The Artful Dodger (Hulu)
* This Is I (Netflix)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH:
* Cross Season Two Premiere (Prime Video)
* Kohrra (Netflix)
* Lead Children Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Love Is Blind Season Premiere (Netflix)
* Nova: Mammal Origins (PBS)
* Riot Women Season One Finale (Britbox)
* State Of Fear (Netflix)
SEE YOU WEDNESDAY!