How To Record Programs On YouTube TV So You Never Miss A Show

YouTube TV has become a popular way for many cord cutters to watch live TV, which makes sense, as Google initially launched the service explicitly for that internet-savvy demographic. Nearly eight years since its launch, YouTube TV has become a mainstream option for watching everything from news to sports to shows like "Law & Order: SVU" and "Abbott Elementary" — as of February 2024, the platform has over 8 million subscribers.

If you don't have cable (or a high-quality indoor TV antenna), YouTube TV is an easy way to experience live TV, but the service can also be used to watch programs after they've aired. That's because — since its launch — one of the biggest selling points of the service is that it's, in effect, a digital DVR. Just like TiVo and the DVR set-top boxes that spawned in its wake, YouTube TV can be used to schedule and record shows so that you'll never miss an episode. Since the platform currently offers access to over 100 different live TV channels — including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, AMC, E!, SyFy, CNN, ESPN, and more, as well as optional add-ons like HBO Max and BET+ — you'll be able to use this feature on many of your favorite programs. (Keep in mind that the channel list and what devices offer the YouTube TV app are subject to change, due to occasional contract disputes.)

Google isn't shy about raising the subscription cost of YouTube TV — currently, it's $82.99 per month, plus tax. If you're already subscribed and are having trouble figuring out how this useful feature works, or you're checking to see how simple or complicated the process is before signing up with the service, the following is a short and simple guide to how you can record programs on YouTube TV.

You can use the DVR feature included with YouTube TV not just on episodes of your favorite dramas and comedies, but for other events as well, such as political debates, parades, or live sports. Recording your favorite shows is actually very simple. Here's how you do it:

1. Open YouTube TV. You can do this on your browser or through a YouTube TV app on compatible devices, such as smart TVs or tablets.
2. Select the program you'd like to record. You can search for it directly, or browse the channel list for current and upcoming airings and choose the program from there.
3. Tap, click, or press the Add icon beside that program.

Once you do that, you're finished. All current and upcoming airings of that program will automatically record and be added to your Library, allowing you to watch them at your convenience. If a show or event is currently airing when you add it, it will only record from the time you clicked Add. However, the next time that episode airs as a rerun, a recording of the full episode will replace the partial recording.

If you're wondering what the limit is when it comes to how many episodes or total shows you can record, the good news is there is none. The digital DVR keeps everything in the cloud, and a YouTube TV subscription comes with unlimited storage space. Even though space isn't a concern, you may want to remove a show from your recording schedule to declutter your library. To do so, simply follow the steps above, but click or tap Remove rather than Add. Doing so will remove all current and upcoming airings from the recording schedule. Any recorded programs will remain available until they expire.

For cord cutters who are also sports fans, YouTube TV can be invaluable. After all, you can always wait to watch a TV show later, but it's very rare that you'd want to watch a baseball game or soccer match weeks or months after it's aired. You may still want to take advantage of using the DVR feature to record these games, however. You may be at work and want to watch them later, or you may want the ability to rewind and create your own instant replays while you're watching a game mostly live-ish.

One nice feature is that you can choose a specific team and record all games available to you. Instead of searching a TV program, search the name of the team, then click or tap Add just like you would with another televised event. YouTube TV will then record all current and upcoming games in your market featuring that team, with any games in progress recording from the moment you tap Add.

One caveat to this is if you have NFL RedZone as a YouTube TV add-on, which typically brings you the highlights of all NFL games being played on a given Sunday. You won't be able to select and record NFL RedZone content from a specific game or team — instead, your only option is to add NFL RedZone to your DVR schedule and record the entire 8-hour block. Another useful YouTube TV feature that enhances live sports is the ability to view real-time stats, scores, and league standings for the game you're watching, as well as track and watch key plays. You can even link your existing fantasy football account and view your team/league performance while watching NFL in real time.

You might be interested in only watching new episodes of a given television show. For example, you may be a fan of a show like "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," the hit FX comedy that has well over 150 episodes and is constantly airing at different time slots in syndication. However, you may only want to watch new episodes of the show, without the DVR of your YouTube TV account constantly recording the syndicated reruns.

Unfortunately, there is currently no way to do this on the YouTube TV platform. Instead, your only option is to select the show using the steps above, which will record all upcoming episodes, whether they are brand new or 20-year-old repeats. Like with any other title you add to your list of recorded shows on the platform, you'll then be able to access and watch any of these recorded episodes in your DVR library. There may be third-party apps or plug-ins that can get around this and allow you to only record new episodes of a given show, depending on the device your YouTube TV app lives on, but these would be unofficial methods not designed by Google.

One advantage to using a DVR to record live television and watch it later is the ability to pause and rewind programs, as well as fast-forward them. The latter is especially helpful if you have little-to-no tolerance for commercials and prefer to skip over them rather than use the time to grab a snack or use the restroom. It would be nice if, when recording a show on YouTube TV, there was a setting you could enable to automatically leave the commercials out of the recording, so that you wouldn't need to fast-forward past each ad break.

Unfortunately, there is no such setting, and any recording of a live event you make will include the commercial that aired with it. Obviously, if you're watching something live in real time, you also won't be able to fast-forward past commercials — as that would literally involve time travel. You can, however, pause the live program, then resume it a few minutes later and watch it a little behind so that you can fast-forward commercials up until you've caught up to the live action.

Besides live commercials, you may get other ads embedded in YouTube TV programs — especially if you're watching on demand programs or YouTube videos. You can reduce these types of ads by subscribing to YouTube Premium, which is a completely different service than YouTube TV. Any ad preferences you've chosen on your YouTube or YouTube Premium account will also apply to those seen on YouTube TV (not counting live commercials).

These are the various ins and outs of recording programs on YouTube TV. If the interface and available options aren't for you, you may want to go with another similar service, including one of the cheaper YouTube alternatives available.