During early access, some members will begin to see an option to watch up to four pre-selected, different streams at once in their “Top Picks for You” section.
YouTube TV is launching a new “multiview” feature that will allow subscribers to watch multiple streams at once. Initially, only select users in the US will gain access to multiview on TV devices.
During early access, some members will begin to see an option to watch up to four pre-selected, different streams at once in their “Top Picks for You” section.
After selecting multiview, viewers will be able to switch audio and captions between streams, and jump in and out of a fullscreen view of a game.
“Multiview joins our suite of features for sports fans and we’re looking forward to continuing to improve the experience and introducing it to all YouTube TV subscribers over the next several months,” YouTube wrote in a blog post.
“We’ve been thinking about how to deliver this particular feature for some time. Typically, multiviewing requires a high-powered device, which means it is often limited to users who have specific equipment,” it said.
According to YouTube, when building this feature, the goal was to ensure that it is accessible to users across all TV devices, regardless of their equipment.
“We moved the processing requirements to happen on YouTube’s servers. This allows all subscribers to use the feature, regardless of their home equipment, because when it’s streamed to them, their device sees only one live feed, instead of two or four,” German Cheung, Engineering lead, YouTube TV said.
“Instead of building something totally new from scratch, we could use what the Live team had already created and make adjustments from there for the YouTube TV platform and bring the feature to market faster,” Cheung added.
It also brings new opportunities to make the live experience even better for creators, opening the door for new features like adding commentary to videos.
The streaming giant said that it is introducing multiview gradually and collecting feedback from subscribers along the way. YouTube has also confirmed the access date for NFL Sunday Ticket, which will start from September 10.
“Over time, we’ll refine and add more functionality to multiview, including the option to customize your own multiview streams,” the company said.