Whether you’re thinking about parting ways with cable TV or you’ve already cut the cord, it’s always a good time to consider your options when it comes to accessing your favorite channels. You could hook up an antenna, but live TV streaming services offer a much wider selection of channels, plus perks like streaming on your phone or computer.
Six major services are available today: AT&T’s DirecTV Stream (formerly AT&T TV, AT&T TV Now and DirecTV Now), Google’s YouTube TV, Disney’s Hulu Plus Live TV, Dish Network’s Sling TV, FuboTV and Philo. Our full live-TV streaming guide has all the details about prices and features of the various services, but really, it’s all about the channels.
Read more: NFL 2021 streaming: How to watch football without cable
Watch this: Live TV streaming services for cord cutters: How to choose…
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The big chart: Top 100 channels compared (updated January 2022)
The main difference between the services is their channel lineups. All of them offer different slates of channels for various prices.
Below you’ll find a chart that shows the top 100 channels across all six services. There are actually seven listed because Sling TV has two different “base” tiers, Orange and Blue. And if you’re wondering, I chose which “top” channels made the cut. Sorry, AXS TV, Discovery Life, GSN and Universal HD. The most recent additions to the list are the Olympics Channel, which replaces the now-defunct NBC Sports Network, and Magnolia Network, which reflects DIY’s rebrand.
The past year has been very busy for live TV streaming. December had YouTube TV locked in a carriage dispute with Disney and 18 channels were blacked out for one day, but all were restored. In November DirecTV Stream launched its first PBS channels and YouTube TV added the Hallmark network (just in time for the holidays) while in October YouTube TV renewed a deal to keep NBC channels. September saw AT&T spin off AT&T TV as DirecTV Stream. Those changes are reflected in the chart below where applicable.
Hulu Plus Live TV increased its price by $5 — and threw in Disney Plus and ESPN Plus. It also added OWN to its channel lineup in 2022.
Some more stuff to know about the chart:
- Yes = The channel is available on the cheapest pricing tier. That price is listed next to the service’s name.
- No = The channel isn’t available at all on that service.
- $ = The channel is available for an extra fee, either a la carte or as part of a more expensive package or add-on.
- Regional sports networks — local channels devoted to showing regular-season games of particular pro baseball, basketball and hockey teams — are not listed. DirecTV Stream’s $85 tier has the most RSNs by far, but a few are available on other services. See our NBA and NHL streaming guides for details.
- Local ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, MyNetworkTV and The CW networks are not available in every city. Since availability of these channels varies per service, you’ll want to check the service’s website to make sure it carries your local network.
- Local PBS stations are only currently available on YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream. Again you’ll want to check local availability.
- Fubo subscribers may find that the ACC Network and SEC Network are included with their basic package at no extra cost. Check availability for your state.
- The chart columns are arranged in order of price, so if you can’t see everything you want, try scrolling right.
- Overwhelmed? An easier-to-understand Google Spreadsheet is here.
PHILO VS. SLING TV VS. FUBO VS. YOUTUBE TV VS. HULU VS. DIRECTV STREAM: Top 100 channels compared
| Channel | Philo ($25) | Sling Orange ($35) | Sling Blue ($35) | YouTube TV ($65) | FuboTV ($65) | Hulu with Live TV ($70) | DirecTV Stream ($70) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total channels: | 42 | 25 | 36 | 79 | 59 | 73 | 62 |
| ABC | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CBS | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fox | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| NBC | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PBS | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| CW | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MyNetworkTV | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Channel | Philo ($25) | Sling Orange ($35) | Sling Blue ($35) | YouTube TV ($65) | FuboTV ($65) | Hulu with Live TV ($70) | DirecTV Stream ($70) |
| A&E | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| ACC Network | No | $ | No | Yes | $ | Yes | $ |
| Accuweather | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| AMC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Animal Planet | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| BBC America | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| BBC World News | Yes | $ | $ | Yes | $ | No | $ |
| BET | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Big Ten Network | No | No | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | $ |
| Bloomberg TV | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Boomerang | No | $ | $ | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Bravo | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Channel | Philo ($25) | Sling Orange ($35) | Sling Blue ($35) | YouTube TV ($65) | FuboTV ($65) | Hulu with Live TV ($70) | DirecTV Stream ($70) |
| Cartoon Network | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| CBS Sports Network | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | $ |
| Cheddar | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | $ |
| Cinemax | No | No | No | $ | No | $ | $ |
| CMT | Yes | $ | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CNBC | No | No | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CNN | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Comedy Central | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cooking Channel | Yes | $ | $ | No | $ | $ | $ |
| Destination America | Yes | $ | $ | No | $ | $ | $ |
| Discovery Channel | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Disney Channel | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Disney Junior | No | $ | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Disney XD | No | $ | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| E! | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| EPIX | $ | $ | $ | $ | No | No | $ |
| ESPN | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ESPN 2 | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ESPNEWS | No | $ | No | Yes | $ | Yes | $ |
| ESPNU | No | $ | No | Yes | $ | Yes | $ |
| Channel | Philo ($25) | Sling Orange ($35) | Sling Blue ($35) | YouTube TV ($65) | FuboTV ($65) | Hulu with Live TV ($70) | DirecTV Stream ($70) |
| Food Network | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fox Business | No | No | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fox News | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FS1 | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FS2 | No | No | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | $ |
| Freeform | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FX | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FX Movies | No | No | $ | Yes | $ | Yes | $ |
| FXX | No | No | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FYI | Yes | $ | $ | No | No | Yes | $ |
| Golf Channel | No | No | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | $ |
| Hallmark | Yes | $ | $ | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| HBO/HBO Max | No | No | No | $ | No | $ | $ |
| HGTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| History | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| HLN | No | $ | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| IFC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Investigation Discovery | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lifetime | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Lifetime Movie Network | Yes | $ | $ | No | No | Yes | $ |
| Channel | Philo ($25) | Sling Orange ($35) | Sling Blue ($35) | YouTube TV ($65) | FuboTV ($65) | Hulu with Live TV ($70) | DirecTV Stream ($70) |
| Magnolia Network (formerly DIY) | Yes | $ | $ | No | $ | $ | $ |
| MLB Network | No | $ | $ | Yes | $ | No | $ |
| Motor Trend | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MSNBC | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MTV | Yes | $ | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MTV2 | Yes | $ | $ | Yes | $ | $ | Yes |
| National Geographic | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Nat Geo Wild | No | No | $ | Yes | $ | Yes | $ |
| NBA TV | No | $ | $ | Yes | $ | No | $ |
| NFL Network | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| NFL Red Zone | No | No | $ | $ | $ | $ | No |
| NHL Network | No | $ | $ | No | $ | No | $ |
| Nickelodeon | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Nick Jr. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | $ |
| Nicktoons | Yes | $ | $ | Yes | $ | $ | $ |
| Olympic Channel | No | No | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | $ |
| OWN | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | $ |
| Oxygen | No | No | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | $ |
| Paramount Network | Yes | $ | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Science | Yes | $ | $ | No | $ | $ | $ |
| Channel | Philo ($25) | Sling Orange ($35) | Sling Blue ($35) | FuboTV ($65) | YouTube TV ($65) | Hulu with Live TV ($70) | DirecTV Stream ($70) |
| SEC Network | No | $ | No | Yes | $ | Yes | $ |
| Showtime | No | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ |
| Smithsonian | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | $ |
| Starz | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ |
| Sundance TV | Yes | $ | $ | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Syfy | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tastemade | Yes | $ | $ | Yes | Yes | No | $ |
| TBS | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| TCM | No | $ | $ | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| TeenNick | Yes | $ | $ | Yes | $ | $ | Yes |
| Telemundo | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | $ |
| Tennis Channel | No | $ | $ | No | $ | No | $ |
| TLC | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| TNT | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Travel Channel | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | $ |
| TruTV | No | $ | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| TV Land | Yes | $ | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| USA Network | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| VH1 | Yes | $ | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Vice | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| WE tv | Yes | $ | $ | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Channel | Philo ($25) | Sling Orange ($35) | Sling Blue ($35) | FuboTV ($65) | YouTube TV ($65) | Hulu with Live TV ($70) | DirecTV Stream ($70) |
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Sarah Tew/CNET
For $7 a month (with ads), Hulu is a perfect complement and counterpoint to Netflix. This channel lineup has a huge variety of familiar shows from networks like ABC, Fox and NBC that you can watch soon after they air (unlike on Netflix), as well as a growing catalog of its own critically acclaimed original series like The Handmaid’s Tale and PEN15. If you have $7 per month to spare and don’t mind trading a few ads for a wealth of TV options, Hulu is a no-brainer. You’ve also got the option to upgrade to a no-ads plan for $13 a month, or add on live TV streaming for $70 a month for a full cable replacement.
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Sarah Tew/CNET
With an excellent channel selection, easy-to-use interface and best-in-class cloud DVR, at $65 per month, YouTube TV is the best cable TV replacement. It offers a $20 4K upgrade, but the downside is there isn’t much to watch at present unless you watch select channels. After YouTube TV’s carriage dispute with Disney resulted in a one-day blackout of 18 channels, they reached a new agreement to restore access for customers. If you don’t mind paying a bit more than the Sling TVs of the world, or want to watch live NBA games, YouTube TV offers the highest standard of live TV streaming. Read our YouTube TV review.
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Sarah Tew/CNET
If you want to save a little money, and don’t mind missing out on local channels, then Sling TV — in particular the Sling Blue package for $35 a month — is the best of the budget services. It’s not as comprehensive or as easy to navigate as YouTube but with a bit of work, including adding an antenna or an AirTV 2 DVR, it’s an unbeatable value. Read our Sling TV review.
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Ty Pendlebury/CNET
There’s a lot to like about FuboTV — it offers a wide selection of channels and its sports focus makes it especially attractive to soccer fans or NBA, NHL and MLB fans who live in an area served by one of FuBoTV’s RSNs. It’s also a great choice for NFL fans since it’s one of three services, alongside YouTube TV and Hulu, with NFL Network and optional RedZone. The biggest hole in Fubo’s lineup is the lack of Turner networks, including CNN, TNT and TBS — especially since the latter two carry a lot of sports content, in particular NBA, NHL and MLB. Those missing channels, and the same $65 price tag, makes it less attractive than YouTube TV for most viewers.
Top channels not available in base package: Cartoon Network, CNN, MLB Network, TBS, TNT, TruTV. Read our FuboTV review.
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Sarah Tew/CNET
At $25 Philo is still a cheap live TV streaming service with a variety of channels, but it lacks sports channels, local stations and big-name news networks — although Cheddar and BBC news are available. Philo offers bread-and-butter cable staples like AMC, Comedy Channel, Nickelodeon and Magnolia Network (formerly DIY), and specializes in lifestyle and reality programming. It also includes a cloud DVR and optional add-ons from Epix and Starz. We think most people are better off paying another $10 for Sling TV’s superior service, but if Philo has every channel you want, it’s a decent deal. Read our Philo review.
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Sarah Tew/CNET
Now on its fourth name in three years, DirecTV Stream ties for most expensive at $70 (the other is Hulu Plus Live TV). The service does have its pluses, though — for example, it includes the flipper-friendly ability to swipe left and right to change channels. Additionally it includes some channels the other services can’t, including PBS in some cities. For cord-cutters who want to follow their local NBA or MLB team, DirecTV Stream’s $85 Choice package is our live TV streaming pick because it has access to more regional sports networks than the competition. Although you’ll want to make sure your channel is included, and not available on one of our preferred picks, before you pony up.
Top channels not available in base package: MLB Network, NFL Network, Travel Channel. Read our DirecTV Stream review.
