The Best Live TV Streaming Services to Cut Cable in 2024
How would you feel if you had to go back to the era of landline telephones? Boring, right? In 2024, wires are so last season! So If you want everything to be wireless and cool, why stick with the cable boxes of your TV? Cutting the cord has never been this fun! It’s time to upgrade your TV-watching experience with your favorite shows, catching live sports and keeping up with breaking live news in a wireless setup. So ready to ditch those tangled wires and cable bills? I’m here to introduce you to the best live TV streaming services in 2024. Let’s cut cables with some style.
Best Live TV Streaming Service Overall - What to Look for?
Well, I’ll be sharing the best streaming services shortly. But you cannot have them all, can you? So you have to choose one from them which floats your boat. Need my help on that? Here are some things that you can focus on while going through each live TV streaming service – you’re welcome!
1. Is Streaming TV Better Than Cable TV?
Absolutely! Streaming TV is better than cable TV any day. It gives you more flexibility, cheaper price, and more importantly, more space to save from those clunky table boxes. What a buzzkill to your aesthetic home interior! You can watch what you want and when you want – of course it’s better than cable TV.
2. How Much Does a Live-streaming Service Cost?
Now that depends on your channel lineup. Just to give you a range – it’s somewhere between $20 to $100 per month. Want all the sports, movie and news channels? – pay more. Just need the basics? – there’s a budget plan for you too. So pick the live TV streaming service that aligns with your financial capability.
3. Can I Stream Live TV on Multiple Devices?
When you are a family, you must go for the service to stream live TV on multiple devices. You don’t want your kids to fight over the remote all the time, do you? – been there! The good thing is the best TV streaming services for 2024 allow simultaneous streaming. It means you stream on different devices like your TV, phone, tablet, laptop etc.
4. Do Live TV Streaming Services Support 4k or HDR?
If you are someone who likes to have a crystal clear TV streaming experience, you should make sure your live TV streaming service supports that. This feature is not a common one among all streaming services, so look for the one that supports 4k or HDR.
5. Can I Watch Local Channels on Live TV Streaming?
Yes, in most of the live TV streaming services, you can watch local channels. So pick a streaming service that won’t make you miss out on your favorite local show, news, regional sports, or weather.
6. Does It Have Enough Channels Including Sports Networks?
Are you a movie fanatic or a sports lover? Or you may be like my dad who’s always on the News channel. Whoever you are, live TV streaming services have a lot of channels for you. Live sport streaming is a big thing and you can get all the sports channels if you want.
7. Can I Customize My Channel Lineup?
Yes, you can pick your own set of channels depending on your taste. It’s like having your own customizable pizza – no unwanted toppings! This is the best thing about live TV streaming services. Do you need 100 channels that you will never watch? So, paying for a lot of channels is a waste of money. Just make sure you have all your favorite channels in your streaming service plan.
FuboTV: Best Live TV Service for Live Sports Fans in 2024
I can imagine you have this on if you are crazy enough to stream live sports all the time. FuboTV offers a mix of entertainment and news channels as well. But its selection of live sports channel lineup will definitely make any sports guy fall in love with this streaming service.
If you are a pro plan subscriber which is the basic plan, you’ll get 90+ channels. They’ll include sports channels like FOX Sports, CBS, ABC, ESPN, NFL Networks, and other local stations and cable Channels.
If you are more into entertainment channels, check out our Hulu review.
Fubo Pro
Try 7 days free
- 90+ channels
- Stream on 10 screens
- 1000 hours of cloud DVR
$94.99/month
FUBO Elite with Sports Plus
Try 7 days free
- 110+ channels
- Stream on 10 screens
- 1000 hours of cloud DVR
$114.99/month
Fubo Deluxe
Try 7 days free
- 120+ channels
- Stream on 10 screens
- 1000 hours of cloud DVR
$124.99/month
FuboTV's Channels and Contents
FuboTV has 3 different plans at different prices – pro, Elite with Sports Plus and Deluxe. All three plans include 7 local channels. The smallest plan or the pro plan has 19 top cable channels, while the other two plans have 35 of them.
Talking about sports channels, the pro plan has 17 of them. These include National Sports Channels, Regional Sports Network, Pro Sports Channels, College Sports Channel, and others. While the Elite with Sports Plus and Deluxe plans have 27 and 29 sports channels respectively.
FuboTV's Features and Supported Devices
FuboTV is one of the best live TV streaming platforms with some great features. Some of the most impressive ones are having Unlimited Cloud DVR for you to record and store anything for 9 months. You can stream a collection of on-demand shows and movies on 4K. Besides, you can have simultaneous streams on 12 streaming devices at home and 2 devices when out.
Talking about streaming devices, FuboTV is supported on smart TVs like Android TV, and Samsung Smart TV. You can also stream FuboTV on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, and others. Using a mobile device? It’s supported on Android, Apples iPhones, Laptop, Macs, PC almost everything. Except for PlayStation or Nintendo-type devices.
Sling TV: Best Live TV Streaming Option for an All-rounder Experience
If you have members with different watch habits in your family, Sling TV should be your pick. It is mostly popular for its great balance between entertainment, sports, and news channels. This streaming service lets you watch live TV shows and movies at a price comfortable to your wallet.
Sling TV offers customizable channel packages at different prices. You’ll get to watch some popular channels that some other services can’t offer at such an affordable price.
Sling Orange
Get 50% OFF
- 30+ Channels
- ESPN, Disney, Freeform, CNN, TNT, AMC, Comedy Central
$40/month
Sling Blue
Get 50% OFF
- 40+Channels
- FOX, NBC, NFL Network, FX, Bravo, USA, CNN, AMC
$40/month
Sling TV’s Channels and Content
Sling TV has three main subscription packages – Sling Orange, Sling Blue, and Sling Orange + Blue. The Sling Orange package offers live streaming of 31 channels including sports, news, and entertainment. However, this package doesn’t have any local channel to stream.
On the other hand, the Sling Blue package offers 40 live TV channels including local channels as well. The Sling Orange + Blue package has 47 mix channels for your whole family.
Sling TV's Features and Supported Devices
A unique feature of Sling TV is it doesn’t require any long-term contract from you. Got bored with the channels? – terminate any time! This streaming service focuses a lot on on-demand content for you.
About the cloud storage, you can record and store 50 hours of total content without any extra cost. The Sling Blue supports simultaneous streaming of 3 devices. On the other hand, the Sling Orange doesn’t have any features like that. You can only stream on 1 device at once.
This streaming service is supported on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, Apple iPhones, iPads, Android TV, Android Phones, Windows, Mac, New Smart TVs, and Xbox. You cannot stream live TV on PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, older Smart TVs, and some Blu-ray players.
Wanna know more about this? Check out our Sling TV review.
Hulu: The Best for a Mix of Live and On-demand Streaming Content
Are you a fan of Grey’s Anatomy? Then Hulu should be a well-known name for you. Watch live and on-demand TV on Hulu, one of the best live TV streaming platforms out there. Hulu original shows are very popular along with Hulu’s live TV and on-demand streaming shows. It allows you to watch popular movies, kids’ content, TV series, live sports streams, and many more.
Hulu + Live TV
Try 30 days free
- With Ads
- Stream on two devices simultaneously
- No offline downloads
$9.99/month
Hulu + Live TV (No ads)
Try 30 days free
- No Ads
- Stream on two devices simultaneously
- Has offline downloads
$18.99/month
Hulu's Channels and Content
A subscription to Hulu + Live TV channels and content gets you 65 channels to stream. These channels include family entertainment, kids’ content, news, sports, and of course reality TV shows. With the TV channels come dozens of Hulu originals for you to stream.
Hulu's Features and Supported Streaming Devices
Hulu’s unique feature is that it has great DVR support. You guessed it right! Hulu + Live TV comes with unlimited hours of recording space. So you can record any live TV shows without worrying about running away from cloud storage. You can stream on two devices at the same time with this streaming service.
Like previous streaming services, Hulu is supported on plenty of streaming devices. You can enjoy your favorite Hulu show on Apple TV, Android TV, Smart TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Mac, Windows, Android phones, Apple iPhones, Ipads.
Interested in getting Hulu+ live TV? – check out our complete Hulu review to know all the details.
Philo: The Cheapest Live TV Streaming Service
If you wanna budget your expenses on live channels, but still wanna enjoy popular cable or satellite TV, you should take a live TV subscription to Philo. They are known as the cheapest live TV streaming options only at $28 a month. This service offers 70+ channels mainly focusing on entertainment and news – sorry for the sports enthusiasts!
Well if you are into sports a lot, check out our FuboTV review – I’m pretty sure you’ll have it.
Philo Base Plan
Free trial available
- Unlimited DVR stored for up to 1 year
- Stream on up to three screens simultaneously
- Access to 70+ channels, including movies and TV shows
- 7-day free trial for new users
$28/month
Philo's Channels and Content
Philo has 70+ Top Cable Channels. Some of them are Paramount Network, MTV, TLC, Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, History, Nickelodeon, etc. Unfortunately, it offers no Local channels and sports channels. I mean what can you expect from the cheapest live TV streaming service out there? It already offers so many channels for only $28/month.
Philo's Features and Supported Devices
Being so cheap, Philo surprisingly offers Unlimited DVR with 12 months of storage. You can also simultaneously steam on 3 devices with Philo. About the video quality, you can stream videos at 720p resolution.
Philo-supported smart TV or streaming devices are Samsung Smart TV, Sony Smart TV, and Vizio Smart TV. If you only have an LG smart TV, don’t get the Philo live TV plan. Other supported devices are Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, Android TV, Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, and Android Phone.
DirecTV Stream: The Live Streaming Service for the Rarest Regional Sports Networks
DirecTV Stream offers a great mixture of entertainment, news, and sports channels for everyone in your family. But its specialty is the regional sports cable networks. Besides, DirecTV Stream has many rare channels some other services can’t provide in this cord-cutting era.
Unlike other competing services, it has a full list of popular local broadcast networks. Though it’s comparatively more expensive than other streaming services, it’s still one of the best for its great features. You can try its free trial to see if it’s worth it for you or not.
Can’t afford to have this expensive streaming service? – no worries! Check out our full Philo review, which is the most affordable one on today’s list.
Entertainment Plan
Try 7 days free
- 90+ channels
- 31 of the top 35 cable channels
- Unlimited Cloud DVR
- Stream on 20 devices at home, 3 on the go
$79.99/month
Choice Plan
Try 5 days free
- 167+ channels
- Includes Entertainment Plan
- Regional sports (no extra fees)
- NFL, MLB, NBA, college sports
$108.99/month
Ultimate Plan
Try 5 days free
- 195+ channels
- Includes Choice Plan
- More movie channels (FX, Starz Encore)
- Spanish-language channels
$119.99/month
Premier Plan
Try 5 days free
- 200+ channels
- Includes Ultimate Plan
- All premium channels (HBO, Showtime, STARZ)
- Unlimited Cloud DVR
$164.99/month
DirecTV Stream Channels and Content
This streaming service has the most versatile live TV plans – DirecTV Steam Entertainment, DirecTV Stream Choice, DirecTV Stream Ultimate, and DirecTV Stream Premier. They offer 90+, 167+, 195+, 200+ live channels respectively.
These include local channels, regional sports networks, and other kind of cable channels. This is undoubtedly the largest channel lineup compared to any competitor in the market. Interested to know in detail? Check out the DirecTV Stream review.
DirecTV Features and Supported Devices
DirecTV Stream offers simultaneous streams of 3 devices outside which I think is a bit less compared to the price. You can stream on 20 devices at home though. It offers unlimited Cloud DVR with a 90-day expiration date. This service offers video streaming at 1080p. However, it will depend on the internet speed.
Like other great live streaming options, DirecTV Stream is supported on most of the devices. These include Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Smart TVs like Samsung TV, and Android TV, and mobile devices like iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows, etc.
Conclusion: The Best Live TV Streaming Service
There you go! You have known about the best live TV streaming services available out there. One has more features, one is filled with a lot of channels, and one is more affordable – all are unique with their unique advantages. Now which is really the best live TV streaming service? – sorry, I can’t give you a straightforward answer. I know which one I use but I can’t speak for you.
So think about what exactly you need from your live TV streaming services. Align them with your budget and you’ll get the best one for you. After getting the service, you may hear your TV screen whispering ‘One more episode!’. If you got glued to your TV screen for hours by that, please don’t blame me!
