In a bold move to enhance its growing dominance on larger screens, YouTube is reportedly gearing up for a significant redesign of its TV app that will draw inspiration from streaming giants like Netflix, according to a recent report by The Information. The updated design, expected to roll out “in the next few months,” aims to seamlessly integrate paid content from various streaming services directly onto the app’s homepage—an ambitious step to merge YouTube’s vast library of user-generated content with premium subscriptions.
YouTube has long been a go-to platform for casual viewing, but its role as a primary entertainment hub on TVs has skyrocketed in recent years. The company announced last month that TVs have surpassed mobile devices as the “primary device” for watching YouTube, underscoring the need for a more polished and intuitive TV app experience. The forthcoming redesign appears to be a direct response to this shift, aiming to cater to viewers who increasingly turn to YouTube not just for short-form videos, but for long-form shows, movies, and serialized content.
At the heart of the redesign is YouTube’s plan to better showcase its Primetime Channels feature, which it launched in 2022. This feature allows users to explore and subscribe to third-party streaming services—like Paramount Plus, Max, and Crunchyroll—directly through YouTube, with the platform taking a cut of the subscription fees, similar to Amazon’s Prime Video model. However, the current setup relegates this paid content to the relatively obscure Movies and TV tab, making it harder for users to discover. According to The Information, YouTube has struggled with integrating these services into its homepage and even paused adding new services to the Primetime offering as a result. The redesign aims to fix this by prominently displaying paid subscriptions on the homepage, blending them seamlessly with YouTube’s free, creator-driven content.
Beyond paid content integration, the redesign will reportedly introduce features to make YouTube feel more like a traditional streaming service. Creators will gain the ability to organize their videos into seasons—a functionality YouTube previously announced for channels—while the app will also automatically play previews of shows to entice viewers. “The vision is that when you come to our [TV] app and you’re looking for a show, it’ll just blend away whether that show is from a Primetime Channel or that show is from a creator,” Kurt Wilms, YouTube’s senior director of product management, told The Information. This approach signals YouTube’s intent to blur the lines between its diverse content offerings, creating a unified viewing experience.
YouTube’s focus on its TV app comes after several design tweaks over the past year, reflecting the company’s recognition of its evolving role in the living room. The platform has already become a hit on TVs, with viewership stats showing it’s now even bigger on TVs than on phones—a trend that’s only expected to grow. While details about the exact launch date remain under wraps, the redesign could position YouTube as an even stronger competitor in the streaming wars, challenging Netflix and others by combining the best of free and paid entertainment in one sleek package. For now, viewers and creators alike are eagerly awaiting what promises to be a transformative update to the YouTube TV experience.
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