Streaming Live Tv Services Comparison
There is a long list of live TV streaming services available to help you cut the cord. That can be paused, fast-forwarded, or rewound compared to other services.
Use this info to find the best sources for movies and your favorite TV series
In the early days of video streaming services, your choice was simple: Get Netflix. It’s more complicated now, with Netflix battling other well-known subscription services, such as Amazon Prime and Hulu, as well as upstarts, including Acorn, DirecTV Now, Sling TV, and T-Mobile TVision Home.
If you watch only a few movies or shows each month, it probably makes the most sense to opt for a pay-per-view service, such as Amazon Video, FandangoNow, or Vudu.
But if you watch a lot of programs or movies, or you’re looking to cut back on—or cut off—your pay-TV service, subscription services may be the best deal. They offer an all-you-can-watch buffet of streaming content, often at a price well below what most of us spend each month for pay TV.
It’s not always easy to untangle your choices, though. This guide to the major video streaming services should help. (We have advice on choosing a smart TV or a streaming media device, too.)
Artcut software 2009. We’ll be adding new services as they emerge, so keep checking back for updates.
Acorn TV
Price: $5 per month or $50 per year.
Who it’s best for: Lovers of British TV fare. Goodies include TV dramas (“A Place to Call Home”), mysteries (“Agatha Raisin”), and comedies.
Latest news: Acorn TV is now available on Comcast’s Xfinity X1 cable box, accessible via Xfinity on Demand, and on the go via the Xfinity Stream app. Among the exclusives on the service is “Jack Irish,” an Aussie noir thriller starring Guy Pearce. Also in the mix: “The Witness for the Prosecution,” an original Agatha Christie movie with Kim Cattrall.
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Amazon Prime Video
Price: $119 per year or $13 per month, with free shipping. A video-only subscription costs $9 per month.
Who it’s best for: Anyone who’s already paying for an Amazon Prime membership. The service now has a solid roster of original shows, including “Z: The Beginning of Everything” and “The Grand Tour.” Amazon Prime has some exclusive series, such as “Downton Abbey” and “The Americans,” plus HBO’s back catalog of shows. You can add HBO, Showtime, and other premium channels for $9 to $15 per month.
Latest news: Amazon and Google have apparently ended their long-standing feud. As part of a new deal, Amazon Prime Video will soon be available on Google's Chromecast and Android TV devices. In return, Google's YouTube, Tube Kids, and YouTube TV will soon be available on Amazon's Fire TV devices.
A new Amazon original mystery series called “Homecoming” stars Julia Roberts as a former government caseworker struggling with the truth about her old job. You can also catch a 10-episode anthology series, “Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams.” The company has picked up the sci-fi epic “The Expanse” for a fourth season after its cancellation by the SyFy channel. But perhaps the biggest news is that the company is working on a new “The Lord of the Rings” prequel, which should hit Prime Video by 2021. Also on tap: “The Hunt,” from Oscar winner Jordan Peele, and “Utopia,” from “Gone Girl” author Gillian Flynn.
AT&T WatchTV
Price: Free for AT&T Unlimited and Unlimited Premium wireless subscribers, $15 per month for everyone else.
Who it’s best for: AT&T phone subscribers with unlimited plans—either Unlimited & More or Unlimited & More Premium—or those who don’t want to pay for sports and can get by with a limited channel lineup.
Latest news: AT&T WatchTV is the company’s newest streaming offering. (The company also offers the DirecTV Now streaming service.) It has about 30 live channels but no local broadcasts. In addition to Turner fare such as Cartoon Network, CNN, TBS, Turner Classic Movies, and TNT, the lineup includes AMC, A&E, Discover, Food Network, HGTV, IFC, and TLC. And AT&T says Viacom channels such as BET, Comedy Central, Nicktoons, and VH1 will be added soon. WatchTV also offers more than 15,000 TV shows and movies on demand.
CBS All Access
Price: $6 per month with ads or $10 per month ad-free.
Who it’s best for: Cord cutters looking for major-network fare without using an antenna. The service provides full-length episodes of CBS programs, plus live programming streams of local CBS affiliates in 124 markets. CBS All Access also includes complete back catalogs of most of its current series.
Latest news: CBS and the NFL have extended and expanded their deal, which now runs through 2022. As a result, CBS All Access subscribers will get the NFL on CBS schedule. And you’ll now be able to stream the games on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets.
Earlier, CBS executives said there would be six or seven new original series on CBS All Access in the next 12 months. And the company said that later this year it will launch two new streaming services, CBS Sports HQ and Entertainment Tonight.
The company reports that there are now a combined 5 million subscribers to its two paid streaming services, CBS All Access and Showtime, roughly split half and half. Some of the rising numbers can be traced to the series “Star Trek: Discovery.” That series started off free on broadcast TV, but the remainder of the episodes can be seen only on CBS All Access. In addition to “Star Trek: Discovery,” original series include “The Good Fight,” the sequel to “The Good Wife.”
The Criterion Channel
Price: $11 per month or $100 for an annual subscription.
Who it’s best for: Rising out of the ashes of the now shuttered FilmStruck, the Criterion Channel classic movie streaming service offers “constantly refreshed selections of Hollywood, international, art-house, and independent movies, plus access to Criterion’s entire streaming library of more than 1,000 important classic and contemporary films from around the world,” according to the company.
Latest news: The new service kicked off in early April. You can access the Criterion Channel via desktop, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku streaming players, plus iOS and Android mobile devices.
The stand-alone Criterion Channel is the result of a special deal with WarnerMedia, which shut down the FilmStruck streaming service late last year. The Criterion Collection film library, which had been part of that service, is also expected to be included in a new WarnerMedia streaming service later this year. (See below for more details.)
DirecTV Now
Price: $50 to $70 per month.
Who it’s best for: Until recently, anyone who wants DirecTV but not the satellite dish. Thanks to recent plan revisions, it may have less universal appeal, given that some channels have been removed. (See below.) The $50-per-month DirecTV Now Plus has about 40 channels, and the $70-per-month DirecTV Now Max has about 50 channels, plus Cinemax and a number of sports channels, including regional sports. Both plans now also include HBO, which was previously a $5-per-month add-on. (AT&T now owns HBO as a result of its acquisition of Time Warner.) Both services include a cloud DVR with 20 hours of free storage and support two simultaneous users. You can add an additional user for an extra $5 monthly.
Latest news: In a surprise move that appears related to cost cutting, AT&T has let DirecTV Now and U-verse TV customers know it's dropping the NFL Network. It will continue to be available to regular DirecTV satellite TV subscribers.
This latest move follows a recent overhaul of the DirecTV Now streaming service, where AT&T is hiking rates by $10 per month, cutting the number of plan options, and pulling some popular channels from the lineup. Those who already have an older DirecTV Now plan get to keep it and their current channel lineup, but they’ll also get the $10 price hike.
With the revised plans, new DirecTV Now subscribers can choose between two options, down from five previously.
Though DirecTV is adding HBO to its packages, it's trimmed several popular channels from the new plans, including A+E Networks, AMC Networks, and Discovery Communications. But it just added Viacom networks, including BET, Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon, which had been missing from the new plans.
AT&T says it will have a total of five streaming services up and running by the end of this year, including a new Netflix-style service. One will reportedly be a beefier 4K version of DirecTV Now, with more channels and a lower price. But it looks like you’ll need an AT&T box, not an Apple TV or a Roku, to use it.
ESPN+
Price: $5 per month or $50 per year for the basic service. You can pay an additional $25 per month each for the full MLB.TV baseball and NHL hockey seasons.
Who it’s best for: Hardcore sports junkies looking to add out-of-market baseball and hockey games to their menus, college sports fans who want a broader assortment of collegiate sports than they can get with traditional TV, or those who have an interest in niche sports, such as rugby and cricket. It will also have documentaries and scripted series.
Latest news: ESPN+ just launched, and it’s now part of the main ESPN app. It’s available for Android and iOS mobile devices, Apple TV, and Chromecast media streamers. You can also watch it online at ESPN.com. We assume there will be more device support—smart TVs, and perhaps Roku and Amazon Fire TV media streamers—in the future. Some early shows include an original “30 for 30” film called “The Last Days of Knight,” about the Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight, and “Detail,” where Kobe Bryant gets into the minds of basketball players as he analyzes the previous day’s game.
FilmStruck
FilmStruck, which offered indie, art-house, and classic movies as part of a joint venture between Turner Classic Movies and the Criterion Collection, has now been closed. However, Criterion has launched its own classic-movie service, called the Criterion Channel. (See above for more details.)
FuboTV
Price: $55 per month for about 90 channels for the base package, up to $75 a month for an Ultra Plan with more than 110 channels.
Who it’s best for: Sports fans looking for a streaming alternative. This sports-centric service offers a mix of live and on-demand channels from broadcast networks (CBS, Fox, and NBC in most markets), cable channels (A&E, Bravo, FX, SyFy, and USA), and sports networks (BeIn Sports, FS1, Golf Channel, and NBA TV). With the addition of TNT and TBS from Turner, you also get NBA and NCAA basketball, Major League Baseball, and PGA golf. There's also a robust roster of regional sports networks—including those from NBC, Fox, and Yes—for local-team action, including MLB and NHL games. The service comes with a free cloud DVR, plus a 72-hour “look back” feature that lets you replay most programs that appeared in the previous three days.
Latest news: With Fubo adding channels from AMC, Turner (Cartoon Network, CNN, TBS, and TNT), and soon Viacom (BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon), the company is hiking the price of its base plan by $10 to $55 a month for new subscribers.It provides more than 90 channels, a cloud DVR with 30 hours of storage, and up to two simultaneous users.
Fubo also raised the monthly price to $55 for current subscribers who didn't get an increase in 2019. (Those who got new plans last year already received a price hike.) At that price, subscribers also get more cloud DVR storage—500 hours—and access to the service for three simultaneous users.
Fubo also offers three bundle plans, all with 500 hours of cloud DVR storage. With the $60-a-month Family package, you get about 90 channels and three simultaneous users. The Entertainment plan costs $70 a month and adds nine Showtime channels, but you're limited to streaming on two devices at one time. With the $80-a-month Ultra plan, you get three simultaneous users, the Showtime channels, plus 20 additional entertainment channels and 18 more sports channels.
Right now, Fubo is giving new subscribers a $10 discount on the first month of service.
In other news, Fubo is beta-testing 4K with high dynamic range (HDR10) streaming. The company recently expanded the list of supported 4K streaming players to include Amazon Fire TV 4K and Amazon Fire TV Cube, Apple TV, Chromecast Ultra, and Roku’s Premier, Premier+, and Ultra models. Fubo recommends broadband speeds of 30 to 40 megabits per second for top-quality video.
HBO Now
Price: $15 per month.
Who it’s best for: HBO fans who don’t want to pay for cable. Sign up to get all the network’s series, movies, specials, and documentaries. If you already get HBO through your cable package, remember that the HBO Go app lets you watch HBO on your phone, tablet, and other devices.
Latest news: HBO Now has passed the 5 million subscriber mark, and it’s now available on more devices, including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Microsoft Xbox, Roku, Samsung TVs, and PlayStation Vue. It’s also available via a growing number of cord-cutting streaming services, including DirecTV Now, and as part of Amazon Channels.
Hulu
Price: $6 per month with ads or $12 per month without ads.
Who it’s best for: Cord cutters who don’t want to miss out on broadcast TV. Hulu has current shows from ABC, Fox, and NBC; older ones from CBS; plus the “Seinfeld” library. Original content includes “The Path” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
Latest news: Hulu is cutting the price of its least expensive ad-supported service, from $8 to $6 a month. The ad-free version remains unchanged, at $12 a month. (The company also just raised the price of the Hulu With Live TV cable-style service, listed below.)
In other news, Hulu's deal with Viacom brings the full run of MTV’s animated sitcom “Daria,” and several other shows and movies, to the streaming service. Also part of the deal are TV shows such as “Nathan for You” from Comedy Central, MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16,” and Nickelodeon’s “Every Witch Way.” Movies include “School of Rock.” The deal is for Hulu, not the cable-style Hulu With Live TV streaming service.
Hulu also has a deal with DreamWorks Animation for the exclusive streaming rights to future DWA feature films, as well as catalog titles, including “Shrek,” “Shrek 2,” and “Shark Tale,” and new kids’ series it will develop. Starting this year, the service will also get new theatrical releases, including “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” and “Trolls 2.” Hulu also signed a deal with Sony for the on-demand streaming rights to “The Good Doctor.” And it signed on for a third season of “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
Additionally, Hulu has teamed up with the music service Spotify to offer a combined bundle to college students for just $5 per month. Because Spotify Premium for Students usually costs $5 per month, it’s like getting the basic Hulu service free.Hulu also hasan exclusive deal with Magnolia Pictures to stream the company’s films after their theatrical release.
Hulu With Live TV
Price: $45 per month.
Who it’s best for: Cord cutters who want yet another option. Hulu With Live TV, which is now live, offers about 60 channels, including the major broadcast channels—ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC—albeit only in a handful of markets right now. You also get cable channels such as A&E, the Cartoon Network, CNN, Disney, Fox News, FX, TBS, and TNT, among others. The lineup includes CBS Sports, ESPN, and Fox Sports, plus some regional sports networks.
Latest news: Although like other services Hulu hiked monthly subscriptions by $5 a month earlier this year, Hulu has now cut the price of several add-ons. For example, both the enhanced cloud DVR, with more storage, and unlimited screens at home, which each cost $15 a month, are now priced at $10 each per month. A combination of the two, which was $20 a month, now costs $15 per month.
With its monthly price hike in February, Hulu With Live TV now cost $45 a month.
A second option, without ads, went up to $51 a month, a $7-a-month increase. Both services combine everything you get with the regular Hulu plan with the additional channels available on Hulu With Live TV.
A recent deal with Discovery brings several new networks (Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC) to the service. Hulu's deal with DreamWorks Animation gets it the exclusive streaming rights to future DWA feature films, as well as catalog titles. Hulu also has a deal with Sony for the on-demand streaming rights to “The Good Doctor.”
Hulu With Live TV is now available on most Roku streaming players and all Roku TVs, as well as many LG and Samsung smart TVs. It is also supported on Amazon Fire TV devices, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, PlayStation and Xbox game consoles, and Android and iOS mobile devices. Hulu is now supported by Amazon’s Alexa digital voice assistant, so you can use voice commands on Alexa-powered devices to watch shows on Hulu. It continues to add local TV affiliates, but right now the service doesn’t include AMC or Viacom (Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon).
The service’s basic plan lets you create six separate profiles—though only two people can use the service at a time—and includes a cloud DVR with 50 hours of recording time. The $10-a-month enhanced DVR gets you 200 hours of recording time, plus the ability to skip through commercials. For another $10 per month, the service will support unlimited users in the home, plus three mobile users. A bundle of these two options costs $15, a $5 discount off the cost of purchasing them separately.
Netflix
Price: $9 per month for standard-def video on a single screen; $13 per month for high-def video on up to two screens; $16 per month for 4K Ultra High Definition video on up to four screens.
Who it’s best for: Everyone. Netflix is still the king of binge. It has a vast library of movies and TV shows, plus now-classic original shows (“House of Cards,” “Orange Is the New Black”) and newer hits (“Stranger Things”). It even has original movies (“Beasts of No Nation”). A deal with Marvel has spawned “Daredevil” and “Jessica Jones.” Netflix subscribers currently have access to some Disney titles, but Disney will be pulling those films later in 2019, along with Pixar movies and some Marvel titles, when it launches its own streaming service, Disney+.
Latest news: Netflix upped its subscription rates, its biggest increase ever and its first since 2017. Its most popular plans will now cost $2 a month more, while the basic one-user plan gets a $1-a-month hike. The price increase was effective immediately for new customers, and then rolled out to current subscribers.
Earlier, Netflix updated its home screen, which now has a left-hand navigation bar that makes it easier to search for and view new content. It’s also easier to locate the shows and movies you’ve bookmarked for later viewing in My List.
In other news, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is about to start production on an animated feature film, “Pinocchio,” which will be a stop-motion musical. It’s his first movie since winning an Oscar for “The Shape of Water.” Netflix is also co-financing and distributing Michael Bay’s next film, “Six Underground,” which stars Ryan Reynolds. It’s the first time either has worked with Netflix. The movie is expected to appear on Netflix in 2019.
The company says it spent about $8 billion on content in 2018 and will probably spend even more in 2019 as it fends off competition from new services from Apple, Disney, and Warner NewMedia.
Philo
Price: $16 per month for 43 channels; $20 per month for 55 channels; $4 more for an add-on channel pack.
Who it’s best for: Viewers who don’t care about sports and don’t want to subsidize those who do. Philo is a sports-free streaming service backed by several cable networks, including A&E, AMC, Discovery, Scripps, and Viacom.
Its lineup now includes 40 channels from those and other cable networks, so you get A&E, AMC, BBC America, Cheddar, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Food Network, HGTV, History, Lifetime, MTV, Nickelodeon, TLC, Travel Channel, and others.
A $4-per-month add-on pack includes nine additional channels: the American Heroes Channel, BET Her, the Cooking Channel, Destination America, Discovery Family, Discovery Life, Logo, MTV Live, and Nicktoons.
Latest news: Philo just added the Hallmark Channel, along with Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and Hallmark Drama, to its lineup. That will give the service 22 new Christmas-themed movies on Hallmark Channel this season. Earlier, Philo added apps for Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV streaming devices. The service also works on a variety of devices, including computers, Android and iOS phones and tablets, and Roku players and Roku TVs.
The service will support up to three simultaneous users, and you get a cloud-based no-size-limit DVR for recording shows (which you can keep for up to 30 days). You can watch a show from the beginning if you join late, and a 72-hour “look back” feature lets you view any show that appeared within the previous three days. You can now can share your favorite shows by sending them to friends, right from within the platform.
PlayStation Vue
Price: $45 to $80 per month, depending on the package.
Who it’s best for: Those who are looking for a real cable TV-style programming package and are willing to pay for it. You also get local channels in many major markets—on demand in others—plus a cloud DVR for recording shows.
Latest news: Sony has raised the price of each of its service tiers by $5 per month, so the basic live TV service, Access, will now cost $45 per month. Core TV, which adds sports channels, will be $50 per month, while the Elite plan, which adds movies, will be $60 per month. The top-tier Ultra plan, which includes premium channels, will cost $80 per month.
In other news, Sony has been unable to reach a deal with Sinclair to carry Sinclair affiliates in local markets, so those stations currently aren’t available to Vue subscribers. Instead, they’ll be getting on-demand programming from the broadcast networks—ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC—though viewers will be without local news and live sports that air on these channels.
Also new to the service is mobile sign-up, so new users can sign up and start watching the service directly from mobile phones, tablets, or PCs, even when they’re outside the home. Another change is that you can access favorite local teams on regional sports networks (such as Fox Sports and NBC Sports), even if you are traveling to another city. You can also watch local broadcast channels that are available when traveling.
PS Vue continues to add affiliate broadcast networks. It just added ABC in 11 major markets, plus four NBC affiliates. Late last year Vue added several channels, including BBC America, NBA TV, and Vice, but lost Viacom stations, such as Comedy Central, Spike, and MTV. It also added support for Apple TV last fall.
Showtime
Price: $11 per month, or $9 per month when purchased through certain services, such as Amazon Prime and Hulu.
Who it’s best for: Showtime fans. Like HBO Now, this service lets you watch a cable network without the cable. You get all of Showtime’s movies, plus original shows such as “Billions,” “Homeland,” and “The Affair.” If you subscribe to Showtime through your cable provider, Showtime Anytime lets you watch Showtime fare on your phone, tablet, and other devices.
Latest news: Showtime has had to delay the debut of “Purity,” a 20-episode drama starring Daniel Craig, until next year because Craig is reprising his role as James Bond in a new film. The network is now showing the documentary “Eric Clapton: A Life in 12 Bars,' which was released theatrically in 2017, as well as “Patrick Melrose,” a new original series starring Benedict Cumberbatch, based on the semi-autobiographical novels by Edward St. Aubyn.
Sling TV
Price: Sling Orange costs $25 per month; Sling Blue costs $25 per month. A combined package costs $40 per month. Add-on packs cost $5 to $10 extra per month.
Who it’s best for: Cord cutters. With Dish’s Sling TV, you don’t get individual shows; you get channels. The Orange package comes with about 30 cable offerings, including Disney and ESPN, plus A&E, the Food Network, and TBS, but limited broadcast TV. You can get Fox and NBC in some markets, plus Univision, as part of the Blue package. ABC and Univision are available in some markets for both the Orange and Orange-and-Blue plans as part of the $5-per-month Broadcast Extra add-on pack. You can add premium channels, such as HBO and Showtime, for an extra $10 to $15 per month.
Latest news: Sling TV has added nine Discovery networks to its domestic and Spanish-language services. Discovery Channel, Investigation Discovery, and TLC are now part of the Sling Blue base service, while the Orange plan gets Investigation Discovery and MotorTrend. Other channels appear on add-on packs, and Discovery en Español and Discovery Familia are available in 'Best of Spanish TV' base or add-on Extras.
Earlier, Sling TV raised the price of its Orange service by $5, to $25 per month. The service is also enticing lapsed customers with a new offer that lets them watch free, on-demand content, purchase à la carte channels, and view pay-per-view movies and events without signing up for a base subscription. The program kicks off for those using Roku devices but will be rolled out to other devices soon.
The list of à la carte channels that can be purchased without a Sling TV subscription includes Showtime ($10 per month), CuriosityStream ($6 per month), and NBA League Pass ($29 per month).
In addition to NBA League Pass, Sling now also has NBA Team Pass, a separate plan that lets you get out-of-market games for a single NBA team. Team Pass costs $18 per month on top of a Sling Orange, Sling Blue, and/or Spanish-language services plan. Sling TV’s latest promotion is a free Roku TV Express when you prepay for two months of Sling service.
Sling TV is now supported by more devices, including Amazon Fire TV, Android TV devices, Apple TV, Roku and Roku TV, and Xbox One. A $100 AirTV box combines Sling TV channels and free over-the-air broadcasts in one device.
Starz
Price: $9 per month.
Who it’s best for: Like HBO and Showtime, you can now get Starz without a pay-TV subscription. Content includes such shows as “Outlander” and “Power,” plus movies, including “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
Latest news: The Starz streaming service is newly available on DirecTV Now for $8 per month. The much-anticipated series “American Gods,” based on the Neil Gaiman book, is now available on the service. Newer original series include “Sweetbitter,” about a 22-year old arriving on the New York’s restaurant scene, and “Vida,” about two wildly different Mexican-American sisters returning to their old neighborhood.
T-Mobile TVision Home
Price: $90 per month for 150-plus channels (at launch).
Who it’s best for: Seemingly, those who really hate their cable company and the add-on fees that come with most pay-TV services, because many subscribers to T-Mobile TVision Home might not save much money. The service is now live in eight metro areas—Chicago; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Longmont, Colo.; Los Angeles; New York City; Philadelphia; San Francisco; and Washington, D.C. It will roll out to other markets later this year. You get more than 150 channels, plus local broadcasts and regional sports, and you can add premium channels for an extra monthly fee. The service will support 4K video when it’s available. Family members get their own profile and DVR, with a shared 1TB of storage. The company says it will use artificial intelligence to make personalized recommendations.
Latest news: Compared with other streaming services, TVision Home is pricey. For a limited time, it will cost $90 per month for all subscribers, but after a promotional period, only T-Mobile mobile customers will pay that price; others will pay $100 per month. There’s also a $10 monthly fee for each additional TV you want to connect.
At launch, you’ll need a TVision Home box to get the service, though the company says it will support third-party devices at a later date. The service will initially come with apps for Xumo, CuriosityStream, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and a few other niche services, but Amazon Prime, Netflix, and YouTube apps are on the way, according to T-Mobile. TVision supports both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, so you can use voice to control TVision Home.
YouTube TV
Price: $50 per month.
Who it’s best for: Cord cutters looking for a different option. YouTube TV offers access to more than 70 networks, including all the major local networks. It supports up to three simultaneous users. You get a cloud DVR—a virtual recorder that stores programs for you on YouTube’s servers—that lets you save as many shows as you want for up to nine months before they’re deleted.
Right now the service’s biggest limitation is that it isn’t supported on Amazon Fire TV streaming players. But apparently, Google and Amazon have ended their feud, so YouTube TV, along with YouTube and YouTube Kids, will soon be available on Amazon Fire devices.
YouTube TV has a nice selection of channels, including AMC, Bravo, Disney, ESPN, FX, Fox News, Fox Sports, MSNBC, National Geographic, Turner, USA, and some regional sports networks. You also get access to the original programming on YouTube Red, usually $10 per month. Showtime, Starz, and a few other channels can be added for an additional fee. However, the service lacks programming from Viacom (Comedy Central, MTV), though it just added some Discovery channels (see below).
Latest news: Like other cable-style streaming services, YouTube TV got a price hike, to $50 per month. Current subscribers, who are either paying $35 or $40 per month, depending on when they first signed up, will start paying the higher price starting in May. Those who get YouTube TV through Apple iTunes will be paying $55 monthly.
YouTube just signed a deal with Major League Baseball to bring 13 live MLB games exclusively to both YouTube and YouTube TV during the back half of the 2019 season. You won't be able to see those games elsewhere. The move comes after YouTube TV added eight channels from Discovery, including Discovery Channel, HGTV, and Food Network. Also new is Cozi TV, which airs older TVs shows such as 'Frasier' and 'The Office.'
Full details on its price hike and new channels are available on the YouTube TV blog.
YouTube TV is now available nationwide, including all the local broadcast stations in almost all U.S. markets. The streaming service has been experimenting with new features, such as the augmented reality ads it ran during last year’s World Series as part of its sponsorship of the event. Augmented reality was used to create a large virtual video screen above the Green Monster seats at Fenway Park that looked onscreen like it was a part of the stadium.
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The Best Alternatives to Cable: Video Streaming Services
Streaming services started as an add-on to DVD and digital download offerings with a trickle of second-run movies and TV shows. They were supplements to the programs you watched on their first (and second) runs on cable TV. But speedier internet connections and an abundance of video streaming devices have accelerated the decline of traditional cable. More and more viewers are cutting the cord entirely in favor of dedicated streaming alternatives.
Entertainment and tech giants are not blind to the threat, however, and the media landscape is rapidly changing. Consolidation and curation (that is, owning the most media properties and serving the best content) seem to be the overarching goals of the players involved.
For instance, AT&T's (which operates live TV service DirecTV Now) purchase of WarnerMedia and all of its subsidiaries (including CNN, Crunchyroll, the CW, DC Comics, and HBO) has now cleared its last legal hurdle. Disney purchased 21st Century Fox and is launching its own video streaming service, called Disney+, later this year. Disney also now has full operational control of Hulu. Viacom owns the free, ad-supported Pluto TV service. On the tech side, Apple recently overhauled the Apple TV app and unveiled Apple TV+, its forthcoming premium video streaming service.
As mentioned, a video streaming service's success largely depends on what its library offers. That's why so many services are investing heavily in developing high-quality original content. Consider, for example, Netflix's Stranger Things, Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, all of which are Emmy-winning shows. Although these services compete more on their original offerings than their resold broadcast content and post-theater-run movies, several platforms have also saved popular shows from the grave. Without these hooks, standalone video streaming services would likely be unable to compete with existing entertainment behemoths.
Apart from on-demand video streaming services, complete cable-replacement services with live broadcasts are becoming increasingly viable and attractive options. Some of the best services, for example, such as fubo, Hulu, Sling TV, and YouTube TV, offer robust channel collections with excellent DVR functionality. Even DirecTV Now and PS Vue are more practical now, as they no longer require specific hardware to use.
Smaller and sometimes cheaper options also exist with a more limited focus. For example, Philo primarily offers entertainment content, while ESPN+ is best suited for sports fans. Crackle, Pluto TV, Mubi, and various anime-streaming sites attract certain audiences as well. Although it is not what typically comes to mind, Vimeo also offers a small selection of indie films and video projects via its On Demand section. Plex is yet another option for streaming your local media content as well as a platform for free over-the-air cable (provided you have the right hardware). If you want to watch people play games, Twitch is your best bet.
You should use a virtual private network (VPN) for all your internet-related tasks, but VPNs are particularly useful for streaming services since they can sometimes grant access to region-locked content. For example, if you connect to a VPN server in the UK from a device in the US, you may be able to watch free content from BBC TV. That said, streaming services are cracking down on VPN usage, so we recommend signing up for a trial to test your network setup before fully committing to a service. Make sure to check out our guide on how to unblock Netflix with a VPN as a starting point.
If you want to cut the cord, here's our rundown of what you can expect from the most popular services. You shouldn't fall into the trap of paying more for video streaming services than you did for cable, so make sure to only sign up for those that offer the content you actually want to watch. If we missed your favorite option, make sure to let us know in the comments.
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Best Video Streaming Services Featured in This Roundup:
Netflix
$8.99 per month
Netflix is the standard-bearer of streaming. It hosts an impressive selection of content at all times, with new titles exchanged for older ones monthly. And then there's Netflix constantly growing library of premier original programming, which currently outclasses every other streaming service. Netflix's impressive catalog includes shows such as Altered Carbon, Black Mirror, Bojack Horseman, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,The Crown, Lost in Space, Mindhunters, Narcos, Orange is the New Black, Santa Clarita Diet, and Stranger Things. Netflix is expected to spend somewhere in the range of $15 billion on original content this year, so it will likely retain its advantage for the foreseeable future. Netflix also currently offers the most high-quality movies of any streaming service, eclipsing competitors such as Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO.
Netflix recently raised the price of each of its subscription plans. For $8.99 per month (up from $7.99), you can stream unlimited standard-definition content on a single device. The Standard tier, which now costs $12.99 per month (up from $10.99), unlocks HD content and supports streaming on two devices simultaneously. The top-of-the-line Premium plan costs $15.99 per month (up from $13.99). This tier gives you four concurrent streams and access to 4K content where available. You can download Netflix on a variety of devices, from your PC and tablet to the Chromecast and game consoles.
Alongside Amazon Prime Video, Netflix is one of the few streaming services that supports both offline downloads and 4K streaming. And yes, Netflix's DVD mailing service still exists if you want newer releases, though streaming is clearly its primary focus going forward.
YouTube TV
$49.99 per month
YouTube TV offers an excellent selection of live sports and news channels, as well as many popular entertainment options. A few of the top networks available include ABC, AMC, CBS, CNN, ESPN, FX, and NBC. It recently added content from the Discovery network too, with channels such as Animal Planet, Food Network, HGTV, and Travel Channel. If YouTube TV's library of over 70 channels still doesn't meet your needs, you can also add other packages, such as NBA League Pass, Showtime, and Starz to your subscription. The service also now claims to cover over 98 percent of households in the US.
With YouTube TV, you get unlimited cloud DVR storage. The service will keep your recordings for nine months and you can stream your content from anywhere in the US. One YouTube TV membership supports up to six accounts, so you can share with family or roommates, though note that you can only stream from three accounts simultaneously.
YouTube TV's apps look and work great across a variety of platforms. Its capable search tools and solid streaming performance in our testing establish it as one of the best cable replacement services for general audiences. Make sure that the service is available in your location before you consider it as an option.
Hulu
$5.99 per month; $44.99 for live TV service
Hulu impresses as one of the best all-in-one options for cord cutters, given its diverse set of streaming options. In addition to quality original programming, a strong library of classic shows, and a good selection of anime series and movies, Hulu now offers a robust live TV option (more than 60 channels of news, sports, and entertainment programming). Still, Hulu trails some top competitors, given its limited HD and 4K selections. Hulu subscribers also cannot currently download content for offline viewing (an ad-supported solution is supposedly in the works.) However, unlike Netflix and Amazon, which typically get new TV series months or even a year after their TV debuts, Hulu gets some content almost immediately after airing on TV thanks to its big studio backers.
Hulu's basic on-demand streaming plan now only costs $5.99 per month, but the ad-free version will run you $11.99 per month. The Hulu + Live TV plan costs $44.99 per month and combines Hulu's live TV service with the ad-supported streaming plan. For $50.99, you get the ad-free version of Hulu's on-demand service along with the Live TV functionality. Premium Spotify subscribers can now get Hulu's ad-supported streaming plan for free, too.
You can add Enhanced Cloud DVR (increases the available DVR storage to 200 hours from 50) or the Unlimited Screens package (allows an unlimited number of concurrent device streams in your home and up to three outside of it) to your plan for $14.99 per month each or $19.99 for both. If you want even more options, you can add HBO or Showtime for $14.99 and $8.99 per month, respectively.
Hulu supports an impressive range of gadgets, but you can only stream to one device at a time with the basic accounts. Make sure to check out Hulu's latest redesign across all of its platforms; it features elegant navigation menus and a glossy aesthetic, though the new layout admittedly makes it more of a pain to discover content.
Disney now controls Hulu and is set to launch Disney+ later this year, so we can't predict Hulu's future. Will Disney+ absorb Hulu's on-demand library and maintain the existing cable-replacement service? Maybe Disney will just shutter the Hulu branding for good. Regardless of what happens, Disney clearly sees Hulu as a major part of its video streaming strategy.
Sling TV
$25 per month
Sling TV is probably as close to the traditional TV experience as you can get online. For $25 per month, Sling TV offers live access to channels like AMC, TBS, The Food Network, CNN, TNT, and more.
As you add more services, though, Sling TV can add up. There's the basic Sling Orange plan with support for one stream at $25 per month, Sling Blue with support for three simultaneous streams for $25, or both with support for four simultaneous streams at $40.
Live Tv Streaming Services Comparison Chart
Why would you want both? Some channels on Sling Orange are not available on Sling Blue and vice versa. The Disney Channel, for example, is only on Sling Orange, while Fox Sports is only on Blue.
Live Tv Streaming Services Channel Comparison
Sling also offers extra add-ons for $5 per month each. A Comedy extra adds MTV, Spike, Logo, and more, while a Kids extra offers channels like Teen Nick and Disney Junior—none of which are available via Sling Orange or Blue.
Another $5 extra is cloud DVR, which supports up to 50 hours of content. You can record multiple programs simultaneously and watch on Amazon, Android, Apple TV, Roku, and Xbox One devices. Cloud DVR is not currently supported for Disney and ESPN or on-demand channels like Newsy and Local Now.
Amazon Prime Video
$8.99 per month
Amazon offers access to its video content in one of two ways: a standalone Amazon Video subscription or an Amazon Prime subscription. An Amazon Video subscription costs $8.99 per month and only includes access to Amazon's streaming video library. An Amazon Prime account, which includes Prime Video content and a ton of other shipping and shopping perks, costs $12.99 per month (or $119 per year). Amazon refers to its video streaming service as Amazon Prime Video in most of its support documentation.
In recent years, Amazon has focused on curating a wide range of original shows, such as Bosch, Catastrophe, Electric Dreams, Homecoming, The Man in the High Castle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, One Mississippi, Patriot, Red Oaks, Sneaky Pete, The Grand Tour, The Tick, and Transparent. Many of these shows are excellent and on par with Netflix's offerings, though the latter has a much deeper content library. Prime Video also hosts top shows from other networks, including HBO, at no additional cost, though you can add a Prime Channel subscription to your account for full access to the libraries of HBO, Starz, Showtime, CBS All Access, and Cinemax.
Amazon's video library also includes tons of popular movies available for streaming at no additional cost. Users have the option to purchase or rent movies and TV shows as well, similar to Apple's iTunes, Google's Play Movies and TV Shows, and Microsoft Store's Movies and TV section.
Prime Video is notable in that it supports 4K and HDR streaming as well as downloads for offline viewing. Amazon's video service works on a web browser, as well as Android and iOS devices, Fire devices (TV, TV Cube, TV Stick, phones, and tablets), game consoles (PlayStation, Xbox, and Wii), Smart TVs, and set-top boxes (Apple TV 4K, Roku, Google TV, TiVo, and Nvidia Shield), though it does not natively support Chromecast devices. With Prime Video, you can stream up to three titles at the same time from the same account, but it limits you to streaming the same title to two devices simultaneously.
DirecTV Now
$50 per month
The DirecTV Now streaming service offers dozens of channels of live TV without installing a satellite dish or running cables. The service features excellent picture quality and plenty of connectivity options, and subscriptions start at $50 per month.
DirecTV Now offers five main plans (up from four), ranging from the $50-per month Plus plan (40 channels) to the $135-per-month Ultimate package (125 channels). Prices for the service have significantly increased across the board recently, in some cases nearly doubling.
HBO is now included in DirecTV Now's base plan, while Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz can each be added for $11 per month. DirecTV Now also offers 20 hours of DVR storage for free and supports simultaneous streaming on up to three devices.
fuboTV
$54.99 per month
fuboTV is a great option for any cord-cutting sports fans. This 'sports-first, but not sports-only' service offers extensive live sports and entertainment content for all your devices. Whether you want to watch NFL games on Sunday, catch up an MLB game that aired during the day, or even stream a movie on-demand, fuboTV has you covered.
Its base subscription plan, simply called fubo, does cost $54.99 per month, but it grants you access to 85+ television channels. For the national sports events, there's NBC, CBS, FOX, NFL Network and NBA.TV. For international sports, you get channels from the beIN network and Univision. And if you're ever not in the mood for sports, fuboTV offers a wide variety of entertainment channels such as AMC, BBC America, CNBC, The Food Network, FX, National Geographic, SYFY, and USA, to name just a few. fuboTV recently added Viacom channels to its base plan, including BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., and VH1. You not only get to watch live events and programs from these channels, but also a ton of on-demand shows and movies.
fuboTV offers some cheaper plans aimed at international markets, including fubo Latino for $17.99 per month and fubo Portugues for $19.99 per month. You can also supplement any base plans with add-on content, including the Sports Plus ($8.99 per month) and Adventure Plus ($4.99 per month) options. fubo Extra, which includes 90+ channels to watch, costs $49.99 per month.
To top it all off, fuboTV offers excellent DVR capabilities and Lookback, a feature that lets you watch anything you may have missed up to 72 hours after it first aired. fuboTV also recently introduced Startover, which enables viewers to watch currently airing events from the beginning no matter when they tune in. Enjoy solid streaming performance via its web interface or dedicated apps for Android, iOS, Apple TV, Roku, and Fire OS devices.
PlayStation Vue
$44.99 per month
Sony's PlayStation Vue live-streaming service is an excellent option for anyone who wants to get rid of their cable bill, not just PlayStation owners. The basic Core plan starts at $44.99 per month offers a good range of news and entertainment channels, but it is a little light on sports coverage. More expensive packages expand on this coverage and are worth a look for fans of movies, sports, and other premium content providers, such as HBO and Showtime. You can augment any tier with add-ons, such as the Sports Pack or Español Pack. PlayStation Plus subscribers get discounts on some of these packages.
PlayStation Vue's DVR functionality is top-notch. For channels that allow recording, users can record an unlimited number of episodes of up to 500 shows for up to 28 days. Since the service supports up to five simultaneous streams at once, we also like that you can set up profiles for each user. This helps PlayStation Vue better tune its recommendations. We do wish it offered parental control options though.
In addition to the PlayStation 3 and 4, you can use the service on a variety of devices, such as your web browser, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Chromecast, and iOS or Android devices—provided you have internet access. PS Vue's mobile apps are notable in that they are highly customizable. PlayStation Vue's streaming performance was excellent across all the platforms we tested.
CBS All Access
$5.99 per month
While it might seem rather limiting to pay for on-demand access to just one broadcast TV channel, CBS does have a popular lineup of TV shows, and CBS All Access is the only place you can watch The Good Wife spin-off The Good Fight, Star Trek: Discovery, and The Twilight Zone reboot. You can also watch NFL games that are broadcast in your local market, including Thursday Night Football on CBS (though you can't watch on a mobile phone because of a deal Verizon has with the NFL).
For $5.99 per month, you can tap into 8,500 episodes; stay up to date with shows currently on the air or catch up with old favorites like The Twilight Zone, Taxi, and every Star Trek you could hope for. New episodes are available the next day, and it supports live TV streams in over 200 markets.
Like Hulu, the $5.99 plan includes commercials, but you can ditch the ads with CBS All Access Commercial Free for $9.99 per month (with the exception of live TV and select shows). TV classics are ad-free on both plans.
Watch on your mobile device (iOS, Android), PC, or Android TV, or stream to your TV via Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, PS4, Xbox 360, or Xbox One. CBS All Access now allows you to download shows for offline viewing on mobile devices.
ESPN+
$4.99 per month
ESPN+ offers a respectable lineup of live and on-demand sports programming for only $4.99 per month (or $49.99 per year). It's not a replacement for ESPN's regular channels, but it might be just enough for cord-cutting sports fans. With the service, you can watch a selection of live sports events on a daily basis, including many from the MLB, NHL, MLS, PGA Tour, and various college sports leagues. Unfortunately, neither ESPN's Monday Night Football nor its live NBA coverage are part of this subscription.
You can also dive into ESPN's on-demand archive of premier shows such as 30 for 30,E:60, and SC Featured. It doesn't, however, include flagship ESPN shows, such as Around the Horn, First Take, NFL Live, Outside the Lines, Pardon the Interruption, SportsCenter, and SportsNation.
ESPN+ is available via the web or via the ESPN app on Android and iOS. App performance is solid, and you won't have any trouble streaming from your mobile devices. Chromecast, FireTV, tvOS, and Roku users can also join in on the fun and take advantage of ESPN+'s generous support for up to five concurrent streams.
HBO Now
$14.99 per month
HBO Now delivers an impressive catalog of new on-air original content, including Westworld and Game of Thrones, in addition to beloved older series such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Deadwood, Girls, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Six Feet Under, and The Wire. On top of that, HBO's on-demand streaming service includes a collection of popular movies across a wide range of genres including action, comedy, drama, family, horror/sci-fi, Latino, romance, and suspense. That said, HBO Now works best in conjunction with another streaming service that offers a live TV component or a larger and more diverse content library. In fact, many other streaming services offer HBO Now as an add-on, which helps streamline the billing and account management process.
In testing, all of HBO Now's apps look modern and streaming performance is excellent across the board. In addition to the web, HBO Now is available on Android, Chromecast, Apple TV, iOS, PS4, Roku, and the Xbox One, just to name a few. Still, HBO's service costs more than many competitors without being as technically advanced. For example, HBO Now does not feature any 4K or HDR content, nor does it let subscribers watch shows offline. These omissions are not deal breakers, though, and HBO Now could still be a valuable addition to your streaming lineup based on the quality of its content alone.
Philo
$20 per month
Philo is an affordable video streaming service that offers a good mix of live and on-demand content. For just $20 per month, you get 58 channels, including AMC, Animal Planet, BBC America, BET, Cooking Chanel, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Food Network, HGTV, SCI, and the Travel Channel. Philo's less expensive $16-per-month plan will soon be unavailable to new subscribers. Philo focuses on entertainment and lifestyle content, so consumers who primarily want to watch news and sports should look elsewhere.
Philo takes a novel approach in a few different areas. For example, although Philo's sign in process is not a true two-factor authentication set up, it is very convenient. Users sign in with their phone number and a six-digit verification code sent via text, which is easier than typing in an email and password. Furthermore, Philo allows users to save the entire available catalog of a show for on-demand viewing, instead of just a single episode. Philo keeps saved shows for 30 days but does not impose any storage limits. Philo also plans to integrate social features, such as synchronized streaming, in future updates.
Despite some layout issues on the web and its lack of a dedicated Android app, Philo is still highly usable and performs well on the platforms we tested it on. Both live and saved content stream without any lag. Philo allows up to three concurrent streams.
Showtime
$10.99 per month
Showtime's original programming includes current titles such as Black Monday, Billions, Homeland, Kidding, The Chi, Shameless, and Ray Donovan. It also boasts a library of slightly older shows including Dexter, House of Lies, Penny Dreadful, and Twin Peaks: The Return. In addition, Showtime offers live streams of Showtime East and Showtime West, as well as a decent selection of movies. Most people will find something worthwhile to watch on Showtime, but whether the subscription is worth it, in the long run, depends on the quality of content it offers going forward. English conversation practice grant taylor pdf free.
Showtime is one of the more expensive standalone options we've tested at $10.99 per month, but know that you can get a deal on pricing if you bundle it with CBS All Access. You can also add in on to other video streaming services, such as Hulu, Prime Video, and YouTube TV. Subscribers can access Showtime on Android and iOS devices; Roku devices; Oculus Go and the Xbox One; and via a web browser.
Showtime's extra capabilities are about average for the category. For example, you can download content for offline viewing with the Android or iOS app, but the service limits the resolution to a disappointing 720p. Showtime also supports ratings-based restrictions for shows and movies, but it doesn't let you create separate profiles, which makes these rules more difficult to manage on a per-user basis.
Starz
$8.99 per month
If you are a big fan of Starz shows, such as America to Me, American Gods, Boss, Counterpart, Liberty City, Outlander, and Survivor's Remorse, you should consider subscribing to its dedicated video streaming service. Note that Starz's original shows are generally not as numerous, popular, or prestigious as those available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or HBO Now.
That said, Starz is a great destination for films. As of the time of our last review, the service hosts over 1,200 streaming-ready titles. These entries are not obscure either; popular movies such as 2012, 27 Dresses, Independence Day, Juno, Jumanji, RV, Spiderman: Homecoming, Surf's Up, The Social Network, and Up are just a few examples.
Starz costs $8.99 per month, which is reasonable, but only if you don't already subscribe to several other video streaming services already. For the cost, Starz does allow users to stream on up to four devices simultaneously, which is convenient for households. Parents should take some time to configure parental controls for individual profiles as to prevent kids from stumbling upon inappropriate content.
Starz also lets users download shows and movies on mobile devices for offline viewing, which is a great feature to have for frequent travelers or anyone who doesn't want to rack up exorbitant data costs while roaming. The service does not, however, support 4K or HDR content, which Netflix and Amazon Prime do.