YouTube TV NBA Finals fail raises serious questions about NFL Sunday Ticket

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By Henry T. Casey
last updated

YouTube TV bricked its shot during a huge moment

Youtube TV app on Apple TV home screen
(Image credit: Henry T. Casey / Tom's Guide)

With YouTube TV's logo emblazoned on the NBA Finals court for the Heat vs. Nuggets, you might think that was the best place for cord-cutters to watch the NBA Playoffs live streams. Unfortunately for some, that was not the case. 

A series of angry tweets from YouTube TV subscribers show that the service cut out during the last minute of the NBA Finals. As you'll see below, users posted the 'rainbow bars' color testing grid pattern to report YouTube TV's feed of Game 5 briefly dying during the pivotal minute. This incident raises concerns about whether YouTube TV will be able to handle NFL Sunday Ticket, which Google is taking from DirecTV. 

As someone who switched from YouTube TV to Hulu + Live TV, I feel a little relief at having dodged this bullet (as I was watching the game). Glitches like these unfortunately tend to just happen (I certainly saw them on Sling TV). These are three of the best cable TV alternatives, but the more glitches you get, the more you'll think about going elsewhere.

This issue seems to have been somewhat isolated, however, as one Tom's Guide staffer who was watching the game on YouTube TV notes he didn't see this error. The below footage (h/t @thomaschung408) is not the kind of thing anyone would want to see, though, especially when the Nuggets and Heat were separated by a mere point with less than a minute left.

Here's video footage of the glitch, which shows the feed returning during an instant replay with 24.7 seconds left in the game. At that moment, Denver's Kentavious Caldwell-Pope headed to shoot free throws, after making a huge steal that those experiencing the glitch missed live.

Prior to that steal, the Nuggets had just missed, and the Heat needed to score at least one point to send the game to overtime and avoid elimination. Based on the above video and the tweet embedded below, it seems as if the feed cut out for around half of a minute.

User @scooterstakes noted that this glitch came after YouTube TV's recent price hike:

Analysis: Is YouTube TV ready for NFL Sunday Ticket?

A big question bought up by one user shouting at YouTube TV (replying to the service's official Twitter account) is what do these glitches mean for YouTube TV's upcoming NFL Sunday Ticket offering. @Timme_Duncan pondered "Just imagine when NFL starts & they’re trying to stream 8 games at once on this 'tv service.'"

A Tom's Guide reader writing in reminds us, though, that DirecTV wasn't a great Sunday Ticket host either. In the past, DirecTV had to refund money for its fails.

Sports blog Saturday Down South found more folks curious about YouTube TV's ability to handle Sunday Ticket, including @Herschal, who wrote "how are you planning to compensate everyone that has had multiple games throughout this NBA Playoffs cut out, stop working altogether or just not show up in the app anymore? Are you kidding me? You’re not ready for the NFL Sunday Ticket."

We still see YouTube TV as one of the top cable TV alternatives, thanks to YouTube TV's key plays and its multiview. But issues like this glitch need to be ironed out so they don't ruin other elimination moments in future NFL live streams.

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Henry T. Casey
Henry T. Casey
Managing Editor (Entertainment, Streaming)

Henry is a managing editor at Tom’s Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past seven years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.

1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • vandamage
    "how are you planning to compensate everyone that has had multiple games throughout this NBA Playoffs cut out, stop working altogether or just not show up in the app anymore? Are you kidding me? You’re not ready for the NFL Sunday Ticket."
    there is no compensation or nobody has been authorized to give out any - I contacted them yesterday about the nba outages, shows and vods missing and issues Im having with the stream quality defaulting to the lowest setting and many channels not available in hd at all and was offered no compensation - the only way you can get any money out of them is to cancel and they will refund your last month - at least according to the guy I chatted with
    Reply