How to use YouTube TV multiview to watch four streams

YouTube TV is one of the best choices for streaming live sports, and a major reason is due to its multiview feature.

You can watch up to four games simultaneously with multiview. Although this might seem overwhelming if you’re not a sports enthusiast, it’s one of the few methods to ensure you won’t miss any action from your favorite sports leagues. YouTube TV broadcasts games from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and Premier League soccer, among others.

It also offers exclusive access to NFL Sunday Ticket, which has every NFL game.

With YouTube TV multiview, you can watch your preferred event while even the kids enjoy the Disney Channel or your spouse streams their favorite show. YouTube TV is already an excellent choice for anybody who wants live TV without a traditional cable commitment, but here’s how to use multiview to get the most out of your subscription.

What is YouTube TV?

YouTube TV is a live TV streaming service offered by YouTube, a subsidiary of Google.

It provides live TV from over 85 popular broadcast, cable, and regional sports networks, as well as offers on-demand content. In addition to traditional TV channels, subscribers get access to cloud DVR with unlimited storage and can watch on various devices like smartphones, tablets, computers, and smart TVs. It’s separate from the regular YouTube platform and is aimed at those looking to replace traditional cable or satellite TV services.

What is YouTube TV multiview and can anyone use it?

Multiview allows you to watch between two and four streams on YouTube TV at the same time. It splits your TV screen into quartered sections. It’s not available through every version on the YouTubeTV app, however.

Requirements

YouTube TV’s multiview feature is only available in the YouTube TV app on streaming boxes like Roku, Fire TV, and Apple TV. It won’t work on mobile devices and laptops. It’s also unavailable on most YouTube smart TV apps. So, if you’re wondering why you can’t find any multiview options on your YouTube TV, you might not have the right device.

How to watch multiple streams with YouTube TV multiview

If you go to the home screen on the YouTube TV, there are three ways to find channels currently offering multiview experiences. You’ll see any available multiview streams at the moment listed in the “For You” section on the home screen. There’s a “Watch in Multiview” section with all the latest multiview streams also on the home screen.

Easiest method

The easiest way to watch multiple events in multiview is by finding any stream you’d like to watch and start watching it. Then, press down on your remote while the content is playing to get the multiview button to appear on the bottom left of screen. Select it to see a menu with all the available multiview options. It will appear to the right of the stream.

1. Start watching any stream of your choice.
2. While the content plays, press down on your remote.
3. Look for the multiview button at the bottom left of the screen.
4. Select it to access the menu with available multiview options (it will appear to the right of the stream).

How YouTube TV multistream works

When multiview is in use, all your streams will appear sectioned on your screen. The audio will play from the stream in the top left corner or left of the screen (depending on how many streams you’re watching at once). You can move the audio from stream to stream by using the directional pad on your remote. The channel with the audio playing will be highlighted by a white box around it. You can also go to full screen on a specific stream – by clicking on it while its audio is selected. That will close the other channels and go back to normal single-channel viewing mode.

Can you watch anything with YouTube multiview?

The most common complaint with multiview is that you can’t select which channels or programs you want to watch. Instead, you choose from preset content options that support the multiview feature. So, there may be times when you can’t find all four of the NFL games you want to watch. Or there may be times you want to split screen and catch a game while your spouse watches her favorite show – only to find out both aren’t available together in multiview.

Google explains why it can’t offer a fully customizable multiview on its multiview FAQ page: “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 the processing of video feeds on our servers to make multiview possible.”

What channels are available on YouTube TV multiview?

There are four basic multiview categories that are always available with several channel options each.

• Sports: ESPN, ESPN 2, Fox Sports 1, NBC Golf Channel
• News: BBC News, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC
• Business News: CNBC, Fox Business Network
• Weather: Fox Weather, The Weather Channel

How to get the most out of YouTube TV multiview as a sports fan

If you’re looking to get the most out of YouTubeTV’s multiview feature, then you’ll want to make sure you connect the best sports packages YouTube has to offer, such as add-ons like NFL Game Pass and NBA League Pass.

There’s also a YouTubeTV Sports+ package you can add to your base YouTube TV subscription, but we’d recommend looking into channels first. Currently, the NFL and NBA are the only two major sports leagues offering access to every game through YouTubeTV. But you have to subscribe to NFL Game Pass and NBA League Pass.

You can get NFL Game Pass right in the YouTubeTV app, but NBA League Pass must be purchased through the NBA app and linked to your YouTube TV account. If you’re a fan of either league, YouTubeTV with multiview is a great way to watch the upcoming seasons. You can stream four games at once without hooking up four TVs.