One of YouTube TV’s most popular features is the ability to watch multiple channels at once with multiview. With this feature, you can watch up to four channels at once, meaning you can catch four sporting events or four newscasts at once. The one downside has been the fact you can’t pick what channels you want in your multiview but YouTube has always said a customizable feed is the goal.
A customizable multiview on YouTube TV is the most requested feature according to our readers. Now more than ever demand for this feature has grown as football season gets underway.
One example of YouTube TV confirming hope for this feature is YouTube’s official X account say this is “we’re only sharing curated multiview streams from YouTube TV for this initial launch, but we’re hoping to make this customizable for you in the future”
YouTube TV staff has also said they hope to make customizable multiview possible including Christian Oestleien, the Vice President of Product Management at YouTube TV.
For now, this is just a goal as YouTube TV’s official help page says at this time, customizable multiview is not possible. Here is what YouTube TV says about how its multiview works:
No. Our goal with multiview is to make it available to everyone with a television. Since most devices don’t have the hardware to support multiview, we have to do all of the processing of video feeds on our servers to make multiview possible.
This means that every unique combination watched in multiview uses limited data center and computational resources. Because each region has unique, local content, we are especially constrained on the number of combinations we can create that include local feeds. We try to select the best combinations based on expected popularity, and are always improving our processes.
The good news is that YouTube TV hopes to offer a customizable multiview. The bad news is, for now, that is unlikely to come anytime soon.
Still have questions about Multiview? Here is YouTube TV’s official FAQ:
When will I have access to these new multiview streams? We’re in the process of gradually rolling this out to all subscribers over the summer. There’s no way to opt in for early access, but I’ll confirm on this thread once the rollout is complete.
Where can I find these new multiview streams? You’ll see multiview stream options in the “Watch in multiview” section on your Home tab.
Which devices can I watch these multiview streams on? Multiview is currently only supported on living room devices. We’ll let you know if this changes!
Can I choose my own multiview streams? We’re currently only offering pre-selected multiview streams.
Will I have access to multiview streams during NFL Sunday Ticket? Yes! You’ll have access to multiview streams for NFL Sunday Ticket. We’re working on some improvements, so stay tuned for specific updates as we get closer to the start of the season.