YouTube TV is starting to let some users build their own multiview grids, a long-promised change that could replace the preset channel bundles the live streaming service has used until now. The new option appears to be rolling out in a small test, with one Reddit user, Chief_Wahoo_Lives, saying they saw the feature and a couple of others reporting the same.
The new selection process appears to open up all channels, with sections for recommended, sports, news, movies, shows and others. Users who see it can open a livestream, press the down button on a remote or tap the player on mobile, and then choose the new “Add to multiview” option to add up to three additional channels. That creates a grid with two to four live streams at once, on TV or on mobile.
That matters because multiview has been one of YouTube TV’s most useful but most limited features. The service, Google’s live streaming product that carries cable and local content, has previously picked the channel combinations for viewers. YouTube had said a fully customizable version was coming soon, and this rollout looks like the first public sign that the promise is moving from announcement to product.
The change also gives viewers in sports-heavy markets more freedom to mix local and national coverage. In Philadelphia, for example, users could pair local RSNs with national broadcasts under the new system, something that was not possible when the service controlled the lineup. The streams are still merged on YouTube’s servers and delivered as one livestream, which means this is not a change in how the feature works behind the scenes so much as who gets to decide what fills the grid.
Rollouts like this are often tied to accounts rather than devices, so one user may see the option while another on the same model of TV does not. That suggests the feature is still in a limited stage, even as more users begin spotting it. For now, the clearest sign of what comes next is simple: YouTube TV is finally testing whether its most popular viewing mode can become truly user-controlled.
