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YouTube has been working on an online cable package since at least 2012, one of the people said, but these plans have taken on new urgency in the past few months. Christian Oestlien and Jonathan Zepp are among top YouTube executives working on Unplugged, the people added. Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. are working on similar proposals, while Dish Network Corp. and Sony Corp. have already introduced online TV services.

YouTube’s interest in a live TV package has been reported in the past, but this the first time the name and details of the plan have emerged. YouTube declined to comment.

“We aim to provide more choice to YouTube fans — more ways for them to engage with creators and each other, and more ways for them to get great content,” Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive officer, wrote in an letter to Alphabet shareholders last week. “We’ve started down this journey with specialized apps like YouTube Kids, as well as through our YouTube Red subscription service.”

Skinny bundle

YouTube has discussed different ways of packaging TV channels, the people said. In one scenario, it would build a bundle of channels with the four U.S. broadcast networks and a smattering of popular cable channels, a concept known in the industry as a skinny bundle. This is similar to a proposal Apple has discussed with media companies for some time.