We’ll help you find the best live TV streaming service based on your budget, and ensure you have all your favorite channels and ample DVR storage to meet your or your family’s needs. Let’s jump into the details of some of the best services in the industry. You’ll find your well-known sports channels in the entry-level plan, such as ESPN, Big Ten Network, FOX Sports, and NFL Network. And you could say the Elite and Ultimate plans are for the sports megafans who don’t want to miss an Ole Miss college game or Rafael Nadal tennis match. Some sports channels in these packages include the following: fuboTV’s channel lineup includes the following channels: You won’t be able to watch New Girl on TBS and you can’t get political news through CNN with fuboTV, but you get to enjoy Hallmark Channel and MSNBC. If you’d like to delve into lots more details about fuboTV, check out our full review. But one of our favorite parts about YouTube TV’s channel lineup is you get NFL Network, NBA TV, SEC Network, and ESPNU. Sure, you can get these channels with fuboTV, but you’d have to pay $20 more per month. We named YouTube TV the second-best streaming service for sports because it has those sports channels along with nine others for $65/month. (And this service will be home to NFL SUNDAY TICKET as of the 2023 season.) Other great channels in YouTube TV’s channel lineup include the following: Record all of The Office episodes, NFL games, and The Price Is Right every day, and still have space to record more. We just have to warn you that your recordings will be deleted after nine months. So you won’t be able to record The Hobbit and save it in your library indefinitely to watch today and in a year from now. But if you plan on deleting your recorded TV episode after watching it, you don’t have to worry about YouTube TV’s ninth-month-deleting spree. Why do we ask? Because both ESPN+ and Disney+ are now included with Hulu + Live TV! So enjoy The Mandalorian or the Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans game with the family, then watch one of the great Hulu Originals afterward. Other TV shows you can stream on Hulu Live include the following: If you’d like more than two simultaneous streams for the family, you’ll get the option to pay an extra $10 per month for unlimited streams. Right about now, we used to bash on Hulu Live’s 50-hour DVR storage. (Can you imagine?) Now, the whole family gets to enjoy unlimited DVR storage like you can with YouTube TV. Here are a few other popular channels you’ll be missing out on:
BBC America Comedy Central Hallmark Channel PBS PBS Kids Paramount Network
You won’t have to give up on TV altogether. Thanks to Sling, you won’t have to break the bank. Just try not to spend that extra money you’ll be saving on online shopping (or maybe that’s why you’re making cuts elsewhere in your life). If you have kids, you’ll want Sling Orange. You’ll get Cartoon Network and Disney Channel for the little ones, and ESPN and Food Network for you. If you love news channels, get Sling Blue. You can watch FOX News, MSNBC, and NBC. But if you want them all, Sling Orange + Blue is for you. If you want to know more about the difference between Sling Orange and Sling Blue, check out our comparison piece where we break down which package has which channels. You’ll absolutely find a lot of popular channels in their packages (the reason it makes the low price so great), but you won’t get your ABC, The CW, Nickelodeon, or Telemundo. As for the sports channels … let’s just say Sling tends to the less than average sports fan. Sling offers the following sports channels: You have the choice to upgrade to a 200-hour DVR storage for an extra $5 per month to make your monthly bill $45–$60. Oh, and just a heads up: when your DVR storage is full, and you happen to record another show, your old or already-watched recordings will erase in your library (without warning). When you get the ULTIMATE package, you’ll get STARZ channels in your channel lineup. Or upgrade to PREMIER to get HBO, STARZ, SHOWTIME, and CINEMAX. In short, DIRECTV STREAM isn’t messing around. They tend to the fans of Outlander and Billions. But wait, there’s even more entertainment. With DIRECTV STREAM’s device ($5/month), you’ll be able to stream Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, and more. If you upgrade to CHOICE, you’re going to get MLB Network, Nick Jr., and the Tennis Channel. The ULTIMATE will give you all of the sports channels DIRECTV STREAM offers, including the Golf Channel and NHL Network, and all of the STARZ channels. And lastly, the PREMIER package will give you the most channels you can possibly get with DIRECTV STREAM, including four premium channels. To put it in perspective, DIRECTV STREAM averages a little over $1 per channel. YouTube TV is 65 cents per channel, and fuboTV is about 46 cents per channel. We hope DIRECTV STREAM will decide to lower its prices one day.
