In May, YouTube announced it was planning a paid TV subscription service, called Unplugged, that would include a bundle of cable TV channels, but it provided little in the way of details. Following the annual Sun Valley tech conference last week, The Information shared new details about YouTube’s plans for Unplugged.

For example, the new OTT subscription service will include Disney’s ABC and ESPN along with other major networks, including CBS. YouTube did not offer a release date for Unplugged, but the product is expected to launch in six to nine months. For niche viewers, Unplugged may not include cable favorites like HGTV, but it may perhaps create its own channels with similar content, said Digital Trends.

In May, Bloomberg reported that YouTube wants to offer the package for less than $35 a month, but it has to cover its costs for licensing agreements with each channel. YouTube did not offer additional price information at the conference.

The Information cited two primary issues with the new service. First, there is a lot of competition from similar services including Sling TV, Hulu and Sony’s PlayStation Vue who do or will offer a primary bundle with the ability to purchase add-on channels. YouTube will have to differentiate itself from the other services, including its own YouTube Red, to attract subscribers.

Second, YouTube Red does not appear to be a hit, according to The Information. Though no subscriber data has been released by Google-owned YouTube, YouTube continues to offer promotions like three months for $0.99 to attract new subscribers.

Digital Music News wrote this in a May 25 article about the streaming music price war:

“Is this a race to the bottom? Now, YouTube is tossing one of the sweetest offers in the pot, a play to spike numbers and hopefully roll music fans into paying accounts.”

So even though YouTube Red includes an ad-free streaming video experience AND streaming music, it may not be converting its huge viewership into a paying audience.

Insider Take:

Too little is known yet for us to get excited about YouTube’s Unplugged product. It sounds very similar to other products. Sling TV, for example, launched in early 2015, and it continues to evolve, offering skinny bundles, add-ons and now live broadcast TV.

One advantage YouTube has over all other OTT providers is that it has a huge audience of more than a billion users, and its mobile app alone reaches more 18 to 34 and 18 to 49 year olds than any cable network in the U.S.

The key here is for YouTube to convert some of those viewers into paying subscribers. It does not seem to have had much success in doing so with YouTube Red yet, so we aren’t sure how Unplugged is going to help the problem. It seems like YouTube is throwing different products and pricing at the wall to see what sticks. That’s not a winning strategy.

A better approach, and one that’s utilized by many subscription companies, is to test individual products and price points with specific market segments. Once patterns and tangible data emerge, the companies can tweak their offering and, once they’ve got the product and price nailed, they can then promote it and scale their subscription products for the masses. YouTube doesn’t seem to be close yet with Unplugged, but they’ve got six to nine months to get there.