YouTube plans online TV service -Bloomberg

By Reuters May 4, 2016 | 05:41 pm PT

YouTube's ThinkTank host Hannah Cranston arrives at the Google, HBO and the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum “Celebration of Creativity” cocktail party to celebrate the White House Correspondents' Association dinner weekend in Washington, U.S., April 29, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Alphabet Inc's YouTube is working on a paid subscription service called Unplugged that would offer customers a bundle of cable TV channels streamed over the Internet, Bloomberg reported.

The project is slated to debut as soon as 2017, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the plan. (http://bloom.bg/1NWzyDn)

YouTube has discussed these plans with most media companies, including Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal, Viacom Inc , Twenty-First Century Fox Inc and CBS Corp , but has yet to secure any rights, according to Bloomberg.

Comcast, Twenty-First Century Fox and Viacom could not immediately be reached for comment.

Alphabet and CBS declined to comment on the story.

YouTube already offers a $9.99-a-month subscription service called YouTube Red in the United States that allows viewers to watch videos without interruption from advertisements.