Sports fans who want to catch every last game and news junkies who want to watch network news as it unfolds have two main options: cable or a live TV streaming service. Cable or satellite service often requires extra equipment and convoluted contracts. Live TV streaming services only require an internet connection and a smart TV. These plans used to be cheaper and more user-friendly, too, but price hikes, media consolidation and contract disputes are starting to change the value a bit. We tested out all the major players to compare what you get and help you make sense of the options out there. Here are the best live TV streaming services, according to our testing.<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s note<\/strong>: YouTube TV announced in December it will start offering genre-specific plans in early 2026. We still don\u2019t have word on the pricing or specifics, but will update this guide when we do. The blackout of NBC channels on Fubo\u2019s service continues as negotiations drag on. That means fans hoping to catch the Super Bowl on Fubo will need to look elsewhere.<\/p>\n YouTube TV<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Price<\/strong>: $83\/mo. and up | Simultaneous at-home streams<\/strong>: 3 | Total channels<\/strong>: 100+ (base plan) | DVR limits<\/strong>: Unlimited, 9 mo. expiration | Multiview<\/strong>: Yes (select programming) | Contract<\/strong>: No | Free trial<\/strong>: Yes (length varies)<\/p>\n In mid-December of 2024, subscribers got a bummer of an email letting them know the price of YouTube TV would be going up yet again, this time to $83, which is a $10 hike from the last increase of $8 in March of 2023. Even still, Google\u2019s option makes a strong case for delivering the best streaming service for live TV.\u00a0<\/p>\n Compared to our top pick for sports, YouTube TV covers major and minor teams, regional games and national matchups almost as well. It gives you clear navigation, a great search function, unlimited DVR and broad network coverage. But, even beyond the price increase, YTTV is financially precarious if you’re not great at resisting temptation.<\/p>\n Upon signup, you\u2019re presented with nearly 50 different add-ons, including 4K resolution, premium channels and themed packages. Even if you fight the urge to roll Max, Shudder and AcornTV into the mix at signup, the enticement remains as it\u2019s dangerously easy to add more to your subscription \u2014 when I searched for a program on a network I didn\u2019t have, I was prompted to add it. And of course, you can also rent or buy movies that aren\u2019t currently showing on any channels, just like you can via YouTube. While it\u2019s convenient to be able to order up anything I might want on a whim, I could easily see this pushing one\u2019s bill far above Google\u2019s listed price per month.<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s nice to have all your entertainment in one place. And if you only<\/em> want the add-ons, you can actually subscribe to most of the standalone networks without paying for the base plan. Either way, you get a familiar user experience, with navigation you\u2019ll recognize if you\u2019ve spent any time on regular ol\u2019 YouTube. Unsurprisingly, Google\u2019s search function was the best of the bunch, finding the shows and games I searched for quickly and giving me clear choices for how to watch and record.<\/p>\n At signup, you\u2019ll also pick the shows, networks and teams you like, which are added to your library. YouTube TV then automatically records them. You get unlimited cloud DVR space (though recordings expire after nine months) and it\u2019s dead simple to add programming to your library. Like a real cable experience, YouTube TV autoplays your last-watched program upon startup by default, but it was the only service that allowed me to turn that feature off by heading to the settings.<\/p>\n Searching for and recording an upcoming game was easy. Once the game was recorded, I had to hunt a little to find it in my library (turns out single games are listed under the Events heading, not Sports). But after that, playback was simple and included a fascinating extra feature: You can either play a recorded game from the beginning or hit Watch Key Plays. The latter gives you between 12 and 20 highlight snippets, each about 10 seconds long. It focuses on the most impressive shots in an NBA bout and includes every goal in an MLS matchup. The feature was available for NCAA basketball and in-season major American leagues (hockey, soccer and basketball at the time of testing). Foreign and more minor games didn\u2019t have the feature.<\/p>\n Sports fans will also appreciate the new multiview feature that YouTube TV added mid-2024 that lets you pick up to four sports, news and weather channels from a select list and view them all at the same time on your screen. If you find yourself constantly flipping back and forth between games, this could save you some hassle.<\/p>\n YouTube TV also gives you the most in-app settings. You can add parental controls to a profile or pull up a stats menu that shows your buffer health and connection speeds. You can lower playback resolution for slow connections and even send feedback to YouTube. It was also the best at integrating VOD and live programming. For example, when I searched for a show that happened to be playing live, a red badge in the corner of the show\u2019s image let me know it was on right then. I know it makes no difference whether I watch an on-demand recording or a live show, but I like the imagined sense of community knowing someone else might be watching this episode of Portlandia<\/em> too.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Fubo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Price<\/strong>: $74\/mo. and up | Simultaneous at-home streams<\/strong>: 10 | Total channels<\/strong>: 213 (base plan) | DVR limits<\/strong>: Unlimited, 9 mo. expiration | Multiview<\/strong>: Yes (select programming) | Contract<\/strong>: No | Free trial<\/strong>: Yes (length varies)<\/p>\n You may have heard about the announcement of the merger between Fubo and Hulu + Live TV and find yourself wondering how that\u2019ll affect the two services. For now, the companies plan to operate as separate entities, but will use their combined power to leverage carrier and content deals.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, Fubo hasn\u2019t begun to wield that leverage when it comes to contract negotiations with other media organizations. Beginning in November 2025, Fubo lost access to NBC Universal properties including local NBC affiliates (meaning no Sunday Night Football) as well as Bravo, USA Network and Telemundo. A prior dispute with Warner Bros Discovery removed channels like HGTV, Discovery, Food Network, TNT and TBS. For that reason, Fubo has changed its pricing; Its cheapest plan now goes for $74.<\/p>\n The discount makes Fubo $9 cheaper per month than YouTube TV and $16 cheaper than Hulu+ Live TV. So you could<\/em> use the savings to sign up for Peacock ($11 or $17 monthly) to get the missing NBC sports and entertainment. If you\u2019re willing to add the extra subscription to your life, you\u2019ll find a lot to like with Fubo\u2019s service \u2014 particularly for sports fans. When you first sign up, it asks which teams you follow across all kinds of associations. Pick teams from in-season leagues and you\u2019ll quickly have DVR content to watch. That\u2019s because Fubo records every game your chosen teams play as long as it\u2019s aired on a supported channel \u2013 and its sports coverage is vast.<\/p>\n I tested out the top-tier package and had around 100 sports networks to choose from. In addition to the usual suspects from ESPN, Fox and CBS, you can watch motorsports, international leagues, adventure sports and even poker. Add-ons give you NBA TV, NFL Red Zone and MLB Network.<\/p>\n Fubo even has its own sports channels. And in August 2025, Fubo added access to ESPN+ for subscribers to its Pro and Elite plans. It does require setting up a MyDisney account, which you can learn about here.<\/p>\n The UI designers obviously put effort into making content easy to find with endless categorization, including breaking down sports offerings by type, giving lots of filtering options for live guide and on-demand content, as well as including interesting groupings on the home page.<\/p>\n Fubo also makes finding and recording your favorite games easy. Searching for an upcoming match was simple, as was sifting through the ample amount of recorded games I ended up with. I particularly liked FanView for live games, which inserts the video into a smaller window and surrounds that window with continually updating stats plus a clickable list of other games currently airing. But, unfortunately, the feature isn’t currently available. Hopefully Fubo will bring it back, as it was a differentiating perk for the service.<\/p>\n Fubo did recently expand its multiview feature, letting you watch up to four live channels at once. This feature used to only be available on Apple TV boxes and only with sports fare, but I used it in January 2025 with a Roku device and was able to have two NCAA men\u2019s games, my local evening news and CSI Miami from ion Mystery all up on the screen at the same time.<\/p>\n Fubo delivers on the live TV experience as well. The guide was impressive in the number of ways it let you organize live TV, yet everything felt clean and uncluttered. The Home, Sports, Shows and Movies pages were filled with recommendations and many iterations of categories, with almost all suggestions being live TV.<\/p>\n The focus on live TV can make the VOD and DVR playback functions feel second-rate. The search function wasn\u2019t the best at finding the shows I looked for, and navigating available VOD content wasn\u2019t as breezy as browsing through live programming. The lack of a pop-up preview window as you fast forward or rewind through recordings makes it tough to gauge where you are in a show.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that a lapsed Fubo subscription will let you access a truncated version of the service for free. When my subscription expired after testing, I received an email detailing the content I could still watch without re-upping my payments. It\u2019s similar to other free ad supported TV streamers, with a limited channel selection through the same Fubo interface.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Hulu<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Price<\/strong>: $90\/mo. and up | Simultaneous at-home streams<\/strong>: 2 | Total channels<\/strong>: 95+ (base plan) | DVR limits<\/strong>: Unlimited, 9 mo. expiration | Multiview<\/strong>: No | Contract<\/strong>: No | Free trial<\/strong>: Yes (3 days)<\/p>\n In what seems to be a yearly tradition, the price of Hulu+ Live TV has gone up again. In October 2023, the lowest tier jumped to $77 per month. In October the following year, it went to $83. And in the blessed year 2025, Hulu+ Live TV subscriptions nudged up to $90 per month (for reference, the service was $40 monthly when it debuted in 2017).\u00a0<\/p>\n Those price jumps are a little easier to take when you consider that you get a lot of content you can\u2019t find elsewhere; the service comes bundled with Disney+, ESPN+ and includes Hulu\u2019s original programming. So if you\u2019re already a Hulu and Disney+ subscriber, it probably makes the most sense for you to go with Hulu\u2019s live component. Note that $90 gets you that content with ads \u2014 for ad-free Disney+ and Hulu, it\u2019s $100 monthly.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no telling if pricing will change further when Hulu undergoes expected changes. First, there was the announcement of the merger between the service and Fubo. Then in August 2025, Disney shared its plans to combine the on-demand Hulu with Disney+ in 2026. For now, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV and Disney+ will all operate as separate entities, but Variety<\/em> reported on plans for Hulu+ Live TV to also be rolled into Disney+ at some point next year.<\/p>\n As it stands now, Hulu + Live TV carries your local affiliates and most of the top cable channels. For sports, you get all available ESPN iterations plus FS1, FS2, TBS, USA, NBC Golf, the NFL Network and TNT (Turner Network Television). You can also add on premium VOD channels like Max and Showtime, and it\u2019s the only provider that includes Disney+ at no extra cost.<\/p>\n Navigation isn\u2019t as smooth as most of the other options \u2014 as I used Hulu + Live TV, it felt like the live component had been shoehorned into the standard Hulu app. But for viewers who are already comfortable with (and paying for) Hulu and Disney+, this might be the best pick for your live TV subscription.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n DirecTV<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Price<\/strong>: $0 – $90\/mo. and up | Simultaneous at-home streams<\/strong>: Unlimited | Total channels<\/strong>: 105 (free), 9 – 185 (paid) | DVR limits<\/strong>: Unlimited (9-month expiration, maximum of 30 episodes per series) | Multiview<\/strong>: Yes (select mixes) | Contract<\/strong>: No | Free trial<\/strong>: Yes (5 days)<\/p>\n In mid-April, DirecTV Stream rebranded. Streaming is now the company\u2019s primary offering and is simply called DirecTV. Customers looking for the original satellite TV service can still find it, but it\u2019s nested within the streaming option on the website, with a disclaimer that states the dish-enabled plan is only for those who don\u2019t have high-speed internet at home. It\u2019s interesting to see a more traditional satellite provider shift its focus to streaming \u2014 a move that\u2019s clearly intended to better compete with YouTube TV and other similar services.<\/p>\n The good news is that streaming with DirecTV requires no contract (the satellite plan still assesses a $20-per-month early termination fee). There\u2019s no special equipment involved unless you want to get the Gemini Air streaming device. The HDMI streaming dongle supports 4K resolution, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and HDR10+, similar to the 4K streaming sticks from Roku or Amazon that cost around $50. But you can\u2019t buy the Gemini Air. Instead, you lease it for $10 per month, which, after five months or so, might start to feel like a bad deal.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still the service that most closely resembles cable, complete with numbered channels and somewhat confusing plan structures. You can go for Signature packages, which range from $85 per month to $170 per month \u2014 those are most comparable to YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and Fubo. Or you can sign up for one of the four Genre Packs which cost $35, $40 or $70 monthly. These slimmed-down channel lineups focus on sports, entertainment, news or Spanish language stations. The entertainment pack reminds me of Philo and the sports offerings have a whiff of Sling\u2019s Orange and Blue plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company recently announced that subscribers to any DirecTV Signature Package or the MySports Genre Pack will gain access to the of ESPN’s service at no extra charge. DirecTV customers who pay monthly for the Gemini device will also get access to the Disney+ and Hulu basic bundle.<\/p>\n Regardless of which plan you end up going with, it\u2019s all based on the DirecTV streaming app, which you can download and watch for free, (like Tubi or Pluto TV), but once you add a plan or pack, the channels you paid for are unlocked.<\/p>\n Comparing the $85-per-month Entertainment Signature Package (not to be confused with the $35 MyEntertainment Genre Pack) to YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV\u2019s $83 base plans, the offerings are pretty similar. You get your area\u2019s five major local channels (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS), nearly all of the 20 most popular channels (with the exception of Ion and the History Channel), sports channels that include ESPN, TNT, and FS1, plus unlimited DVR space with a nine-month expiration.<\/p>\n The navigation and performance of the service remains largely unchanged from when we first started recommending it. I like the experience of flipping from one numbered channel to the next \u2014 it reminds me of watching TV as a kid, plus it\u2019s great for serendipitously finding something to watch when you\u2019re bored. The top navigation is pretty simple, with options for search, home, the live TV guide, your DVR library and on-demand content. The guide doesn\u2019t split the channels into a ton of categories, just recent, sports, kids, movies and TV shows. There\u2019s also a favorites channels list, which you can add to from the guide.<\/p>\n There\u2019s still no way to stop whatever is playing as you browse the guide \u2014 something I find irritating, but it might not bother everyone. As you watch a show in the live guide, you can press your remote\u2019s right D-pad button to advance to the next numbered channel and hitting the left button takes you to the preceding channel. If you want to rewind or fast forward, you have to first hit the center\/enter\/OK button and then you can control playback. That took me a minute to get used to, but wasn\u2019t a huge learning curve. Pressing up shows you a few recent channels and the down button creates an inset of the show you\u2019re watching alongside some suggested similar programming, popular channels, your continue-watching content and more browsing categories.<\/p>\n A new multiview feature lets you pick from seven \u201cmixes,\u201d each of which contains four channels that you can watch all at once in a grid on the same screen. There\u2019s a mix for sports, news, business, kids, local and more and it\u2019s available to subscribers to the Signature packages and the MySports genre pack.<\/p>\n I found it pretty simple to navigate DirecTV once I got the hang of it. That simplicity extends to the way it looks as well, with plain grids in grey and blue tones. Some might find that minimalism refreshing and clean. I found it a little uninspired \u2014 I wasn’t as excited to browse as I\u2019ve been with other apps. Navigation is also a little slow. Compared to watching other live content (on the same TV with the same internet connection), DirecTV channels always took a second or two longer to load.<\/p>\n The search function requires you to input your entire query then hit Done to see your results. Other services start showing findings as you type. Again, the results are organized into three categories: shows, movies or all. If there\u2019s something on a channel you\u2019re not subscribed to, it\u2019ll prompt you to go online and sign up for the channel. You can\u2019t do it through the app, like you can with some services. You might find that annoying or be thankful for the slight bit of friction it adds to spending more money.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Sling TV<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Price<\/strong>: Free, $30\/mo. and up | Simultaneous at-home streams<\/strong>: 1 (Orange), 3 (Blue), 3 (Select) | Total channels<\/strong>: 600+ (free), 10 – 50 | DVR limits<\/strong>: 50 hours | Multiview<\/strong>: No | Contract<\/strong>: No | Free trial<\/strong>: No<\/p>\n To me, the idea of spending time fine-tuning channel choices sounds exhausting. But if you\u2019re the type who wants to get exactly what you want without paying for too much of what you don\u2019t, may be your best bet. It breaks its base plan into three packages, Blue, Orange and Select, with different channels on each.<\/p>\n Unlike most providers, Sling didn\u2019t change its pricing structure in 2025. Instead, it introduced that let you watch channels on the Orange plan for just $5. There are also to choose from, so if there\u2019s just a game or two you want to watch, this could be the cheapest way to do it \u2014 just make sure Sling Orange includes the channels that air what you want to watch.<\/p>\n The Orange plan includes ESPN, TNT and HGTV along with about 24 other channels. Blue includes the NFL Network, Fox News and USA plus 35 more. Both carry CNN and TNT. The $30 monthly Select plan includes National Geographic, FX, the NFL Network, FS1, Fox News and a couple others. In some markets, subscribers will also get their local ABC, NBC and Fox stations.<\/p>\n After picking a plan, you can choose from add-on packages including blocks extras including a sports extra, news extra, and entertainment extra. Premium offerings, including HBO, AMC+, Starz and Paramount+ with Showtime. Sling has pay-per-view movies, too.<\/p>\n As far as local coverage, Sling Blue grants access to ABC, Fox and NBC local affiliates in about 20 of the larger US markets including Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas, NYC, Miami and DC.<\/p>\n Sling now offers . You’ll need a Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV device that supports 4K (and a compatible TV) but for no extra charge, you’ll get to see certain sports events with a bump in resolution.<\/p>\n Sling’s navigation is speedy and the interface is nicely organized, putting an emphasis on what you like to watch, with recommendations that are pretty accurate. The UI also makes the add-ons you\u2019ve chosen easy to find. In my tests, though, the app froze a number of times as I navigated. While most services froze once or twice, it happened enough times with Sling to frustrate me. I had to force quit or back out of the app and start over five or six times during the three weeks of testing. Compared to others, Sling\u2019s DVR allowance is on the stingy side, only giving you 50 hours of recordings, though they won’t expire. You can pay for more DVR storage, but that will increase your overall costs.<\/p>\n I tried not to wander too far off-path during testing, but I feel it\u2019s my duty to inform you that Sling has an Elvis channel, a Bob Ross channel and ALF TV (yes, an entire station devoted to the \u201880s sitcom starring a puppet). There\u2019s also a Dog TV network intended to be played for your dogs when you leave the house, which you can add to Sling or get as a standalone app for $10 per month.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Philo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Price<\/strong>: $28\/mo. and up | Simultaneous at-home streams<\/strong>: 3 | Total channels<\/strong>: 70+ (base plan) | DVR limits<\/strong>: Unlimited, 1 yr. expiration | Multiview<\/strong>: No | Contract<\/strong>: No | Free trial<\/strong>: Yes (7 days)<\/p>\n Philo held out at $25 monthly for a few years but increased to $28 in 2024 and added add AMC+ to lessen the blow (and it has some good shows!). Then in late 2025, the price went up again \u2014 this time to $33 monthly \u2014 but added access to the ad-supported tiers of HBO Max and Discovery+. Users will be able to watch those channels through the HBO or Discovery app, using their Philo account for access.<\/p>\n Despite the bump, it\u2019s still one of the cheapest ways to get a cordless live TV experience. Philo\u2019s free offerings recently increased as well, bumping up to more than 100 channels.<\/p>\n The biggest caveat is that you won\u2019t find any local stations or sports programming on Philo. If that\u2019s not an issue, the service is great, with a clean, streamlined interface and generous DVR limits.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a fan of minimalist design, so I appreciated presentation of the menus and guide. There are just four top navigation headings: Home, Guide, Saved and Search. And instead of the usual guide layout that stretches out or shortens a show\u2019s listing to represent its air time, Philo\u2019s guide features monospaced squares in chronological order with the duration of the program inside the square. Another nice touch is when you navigate to a square, it fills with a live video of the show or movie.<\/p>\n Philo doesn\u2019t limit the amount of programming you can DVR and lets you keep recordings for a full year, which is more than the nine months other providers allow. Like all live TV streamers, Philo won\u2019t let you fast forward VOD programming. If skipping commercials is important to you, I recommend taking advantage of that unlimited DVR policy and hitting \u201cSave\u201d on any show or movie you think you may want to watch, then fast forwarding it on playback (you can do this with all the services we tried).<\/p>\n As far as channels, Philo covers many of the top cable networks, with notable exceptions including Fox News, CNN, ESPN and MSNBC. Anyone looking for great news coverage should look elsewhere anyway, but the lack of a few must-have entertainment outlets like Bravo and Freeform was a little disappointing.<\/p>\n The 100 or so channels in Philo\u2019s free service are baked into the paid plan, bringing the total to 170, which is a pretty good deal for under $30 monthly.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n This year, the Super Bowl will take place on Sunday, February 8, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. NBC has the rights to air the broadcast, which means you can watch it with a live TV streaming subscription to YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV or DirecTV. Sling Blue plans include NBC in certain markets only. NBC channels are dark on Fubo as the company and NBC are still in negotiations. The traditional streaming service Peacock, which is owned by NBC, will also air the game. Those plans start at just $8 per month, which is nearly the cheapest way to watch. However, if you have a digital antenna, you can pick up the game\u2019s broadcast signal from your local NBC affiliate for free.<\/p>\n If you have a digital antenna hooked up to your TV, you can grab games that are broadcast over the airways for your region by tuning into your local CBS, Fox, NBC and ABC stations. You can buy a digital antenna for between $20 and $60.<\/p>\n Alternatively, you can check out your local sports bar and watch the game for the price of a soda and maybe some nachos. As it turns out, bars and restaurants that provide those games to customers have to pay a ton of cash to do so, so you may as well take advantage of the opportunity.<\/p>\n Yes. Peacock is owned by NBC Universal, which holds the rights to stream the big game this year. The Super Bowl will stream on both Peacock (all tiers) and local NBC stations (Premium Plus tier). The cheapest tier of Peacock’s service starts at $8 per month.<\/p>\n September 5, 2025 marked the first time YouTube was an official live NFL broadcaster when it aired the Friday night, week-one game of the 2025 NFL season from S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil. It pit the Los Angeles Chargers against the Kansas City Chiefs (LA won 21-27) and aired worldwide on YouTube for free as well as for subscribers to YouTube TV.<\/p>\n There are no other plans for YouTube to air live NFL games for the 2025-6 season for free.<\/p>\n There are loads of ways to get free TV these days. To start, many standard streaming apps have added live components to their lineups \u2014 even Netflix. Peacock Premium Plus subscriptions include regional NBC stations. Paramount+ Premium subscribers can watch on-air CBS programming. The new Fox One service includes multiple live Fox stations. True, if you\u2019re already paying for a service it\u2019s not technically \u201cfree\u201d but at least the live content isn\u2019t extra.<\/p>\n The smart TV operating system (OS) you use likely provides free live content too: Amazon\u2019s Fire TV, Google\/Android TV, Roku\u2019s built-in Roku Channel and Samsung\u2019s TV Plus all have hundreds of live channels and original programming. Some of the paid services we recommend above have a free version \u2014 namely Sling Freestream, Fubo Free (available after you cancel) and DirecTV\u2019s MyFree. But if you\u2019re looking for more, here are the best free ad-supported TV (FAST) apps with live TV that we tried:<\/p>\n Tubi<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Local channels<\/strong>: A few | Sports coverage<\/strong>: Replays and shows about sports | On-demand<\/strong>: Yes | Total channels<\/strong>: 260 | Profiles per account<\/strong>: 1<\/p>\n You can watch Tubi without signing up, but doing so lets you make lists, add your favorite shows and channels, and remember where you left off in a program. There are a couple hundred live channels including dozens of regional Fox stations (which ones you see will depend on your location). You also get news-stream channels like NBC News Now, Fox Live Now and ABC News Live. Fox is Tubi\u2019s parent company so there are picks like Fox Sports on Tubi, Fox Soul and Fox Weather as well. Around a dozen sports channels, channels devoted to true crime, dramas, comedy and lifestyle shows round out the complete lineup.<\/p>\n The live TV category lives in the side rail navigation, along with tabs for on-demand movies, TV shows, kids stuff and a categories section. Those sub-categories are lengthy with topics like Actors Turned Directors, Martial Arts Mayhem and Werewolf Mysteries. Within the live TV tab, the channels are also divided into categories so you can find news, sports and local fare along with genres like comedy, drama and sci-fi channels. Navigation is speedy and settings include useful features like parental controls, autoplay options and closed captioning modifiers. It\u2019s an overall smooth experience \u2014 the only mild irritants I found is that the TV guide only stays open for 10 seconds if you\u2019re not actively clicking around and your current show keeps playing as you browse the guide.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Plex<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Local channels<\/strong>: No | Sports coverage<\/strong>: Replays and shows about sports | On-demand<\/strong>: Yes | Total channels<\/strong>: 800+ | Profiles per account<\/strong>: 15 (with a free Plex Home acct)\u00a0<\/p>\n is not just an expansive FAST service with more than 500 live TV channels in most areas \u2014 it\u2019s also a great tool for your other streaming pursuits. The search function will tell you which other services currently carry a particular title. I searched for Dept. Q<\/em>, High Potential<\/em>, Sinners<\/em> and Willow<\/em> and found I could watch those shows and movies with a subscription to Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and Disney+, respectively. You can also search for content by actor or director and rent movies directly from Plex.<\/p>\n In 2024, Plex culled from other Plex users and professional critics \u2014 users can even share their reviews with friends on the service, creating a -like social media element. The search function can be slow (though it has improved over time) and, from what I\u2019ve seen, it accurately directs you to the correct provider. It\u2019s a thoroughly great live TV service too, with plenty of channels, good organization and an easy to navigate interface.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Sling<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Local channels<\/strong>: A few | Sports coverage<\/strong>: Replays and shows about sports | On-demand<\/strong>: Yes | Total channels<\/strong>: 400+ | Profiles per account<\/strong>: 4 (with sign-up) |<\/p>\n Like DirecTV, Prime Video and Fubo, Sling offers a no-cost version of its paid service within the same app. If you pay for Sling, you won\u2019t see the Freestream framing, but the channels are still available. Without a subscription, you can access more than 400 channels of free stuff, including news networks like BBC News, CBS News 24\/7, ABC News live, Bloomberg and Cheddar news, along with a slew of regional Fox and CBS news stations. The sports offerings are pretty slim, but there are plenty of entertainment channels, AMC content, true crime stations and lots of channels devoted to a single show (Doctor Who<\/em>, Farscape<\/em>, Portlandia<\/em> and Kim\u2019s Convenience<\/em> to name a few).<\/p>\n The navigation is a little clunkier to navigate than other services, with a mix of nested vertical and horizontal menus and different functions for your remote\u2019s buttons depending on what screen you\u2019re on. Whatever you\u2019re watching pops up in a small picture-in-picture window when you go to the guide \u2014 and I particularly appreciate that the window is easy to close so you can browse in peace.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Pluto TV<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Local channels<\/strong>: A few | Sports coverage<\/strong>: Replays and shows about sports | On-demand<\/strong>: Yes | 4K live streams<\/strong>: No | Total channels<\/strong>: 250+ | Profiles per account<\/strong>: 1 | Picture-in-picture<\/strong>: No | Best live TV streaming services for 2026<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
How to watch the 2026 Super Bowl with a streaming service<\/h2>\n
How can I stream NFL games for free?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Will Peacock stream the Super Bowl?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Can you stream live football on YouTube?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Best free live TV streaming services for 2026<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n