Gotta get those viewership numbers up somehow.
It was a big Sunday in sports yesterday, with Sunday Night Football featuring a matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets, while the MLB had the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets facing off in game 6 of the NLCS for a trip to the World Series and the WNBA Finals featuring a game 5 matchup between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty.
But as fans settled in to watch, it seems that a lot were only interested in two of the three games.
Now obviously there’s been a lot more interest in the WNBA this season thanks to rookies like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. But with both of their teams out of the playoffs, interest has dipped significantly in the WNBA Finals. So fans weren’t exactly thrilled when they turned on YouTube TV and tried to watch football and baseball at the same time, only to find that they would have to watch the the WNBA if they wanted to watch both at the same time.
There’s no denying that YouTube TV’s multiview feature has been one of the best things to happen for sports fans since the NFL launched Sunday Ticket. Being able to watch multiple games at once is a gamechanger.
But there are still some features that fans have been asking for, including the ability to personalize your multiview to show the games you want to watch. And it’s gotten better this season, with the streaming service now allowing fans to build their own multiview, but the options are still sometimes limited (no doubt due to contracts with the TV networks and all that BS).
Well last night fans were trying to build a multiview with just the NFL and MLB – but that wasn’t an option. The only way to watch both at the same time was to add the WNBA onto the screen at the same time. And a lot of fans weren’t happy:
This is BS @YouTubeTV
Why can’t I multiview without basketball?
I don’t watch professional basketball. pic.twitter.com/WUzymi1xl5
— Billy Bearcat (@BearcatOnBeer) October 21, 2024
.@YouTubeTV is forcing @Mets / @nyjets fans to watch WNBA game in Multiview… seriously? I don’t want that garbage clogging up my screen. Talk about being desperate for ratings…
— Brenden Bishop (@BBish937) October 21, 2024
Insane move by the woke mob at YoutubeTV to force the WNBA into the multi-view so that I can watch SNF and the NLCS pic.twitter.com/gQwLZ7m49b
— Gordon Gekko (@GordonGekko420) October 21, 2024
Good evening @YouTubeTV – respectfully can we get a multiview with just MLB and NFL? Respectfully
— Kenny Manzardo (@KJRedhawks) October 21, 2024
To the people at @YouTubeTV,
Why can't I watch the Mets and Jets on a multiview that doesn't involve the WNBA? Have I committed a crime? Why would you do this?
Respectfully,
Whiplash Willie— Willie Gingrich, Esq. (@WhiplashWillie) October 21, 2024
@YouTubeTV forcing you to watch the @WNBA in multiview when all you want to do is watch Sunday Night Football and the MLB Playoffs. pic.twitter.com/wExBYu29gA
— HopperNation (@HopperNation) October 21, 2024
.@YouTubeTV I want the NLCS and SNF games on multiview, but the only way to do so is with the WNBA finals in the third box. I don’t like this.
— Erik Lutz (@eriklutz) October 21, 2024
Diabolical move by @YouTubeTV forcing everyone to have the wnba in their multiview. By diabolical I mean bullshit
— Brian (@Brian_Aves) October 21, 2024
Found it interesting that YouTube TV would not let you build a Multiview lineup WITHOUT the WNBA game. Now I see their sponsorship on the court. Padding stats I presume pic.twitter.com/9Z3WOGo1Dd
— STL Dolphan (@STLdolphan) October 21, 2024
YT T.V. Wants me to watch #WNBA on the multi-view option in order to watch NLCS and SNF .. They literally have to force their ratings 😂😂 #nothanks pic.twitter.com/EnEvO7R7iv
— BlueCollarBaller (@DatMattGuy3_0) October 21, 2024
There were so many complaints that YouTube TV even issued a response to the criticism:
“We’re sharing curated multiview streams from YouTube TV for now, but are working to improve flexibility & introduce more options in the future. We’re all ears if you have something you’d like to see, drop it in the Send Feedback tool.”
“Choose your multiview” is present as an option, but it’s not yet a reality. https://t.co/XYBacNpoPG
— PlunderTheUnder (@PlunderTheUnder) October 21, 2024
Of course it’s a smart strategy to get the ratings up for a WNBA Finals that are no doubt going to be disappointing when going up against the NLCS and the NFL. And YouTube TV was also a presenting sponsor of the WNBA Finals, so it’s no wonder they wanted to get as many people to tune in as possible – even if they weren’t actually watching.
But can’t we just get an option to watch whichever games we want in multiview? At this point I would vote for any presidential candidate who could make that happen.
