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Live TV Streaming Services: A Rundown of 100 Top Channels

We evaluate and summarize the pricing and what’s offered on platforms like Fubo, YouTube TV and Sling.

If your budget has you rethinking your cable or streaming subscriptions, there are multiple options available that can give you what you want. Dropping regular cable to switch to a live TV streaming service can be less expensive each month. They offer a much wider selection of channels than an antenna, and you can stream on your phone or computer, too. 

DirecTV Stream, YouTube TV, Hulu Plus Live TVSling TV, FuboTV and Philo are the six primary services available today. Our live-TV streaming guide has all the details about prices and features of the various services, but really, it’s all about the channels. That’s why we combed through these services to bring you this list. 

Read more: Best Sports Streaming Service for 2023: FuboTV, DirecTV Stream, ESPN Plus and more

The Big Chart: Top 100 channels compared, updated March 2023

The main difference between the services is their channel lineups. All of them offer different slates of channels for various prices. 

Below you’ll find a chart that shows the top 100 channels across all six services, but note that not each service has a worthy 100. There are actually seven listed because Sling TV has two different «base» tiers, Orange and Blue. And if you’re wondering, I chose which «top» channels made the cut. Sorry, AXS TV, Discovery Life, GSN and Universal HD. 

Plenty of live TV streaming choices are available to anyone who wants to cut the cable. Hulu Plus Live TV now offers two price plans for service: $70 per month with ads and $83 without ads. Sling TV’s basic packages are $40 in most citiesDirecTV Stream expanded its PBS channel availability, and YouTube TV and Hulu added the Hallmark network. FuboTV upped the price of its base bundle to $75, and DirecTV Stream increased its plan subscriptions as well. Those changes are reflected in the chart below where applicable.

Some more stuff to know about the chart: 

  • Yes = The channel is available on the cheapest pricing tier. That price is listed next to the service’s name.
  • No = The channel isn’t available at all on that service. 
  • $ = The channel is available for an extra fee, either a la carte or as part of a more expensive package or add-on.
  • Regional sports networks — local channels devoted to showing regular-season games of particular pro baseball, basketball and hockey teams — are not listed. DirecTV Stream’s $100 tier has the most RSNs by far, but a few are available on other services. See our NBA and NHL streaming guides for details.
  • Local ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, MyNetworkTV and The CW networks are not available in every city. Since availability of these channels varies, you’ll want to check the service’s website to make sure it carries your local network.
  • Local PBS stations are only currently available on YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream. Again you’ll want to check local availability.
  • Sling Blue subscribers in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco must now pay $45 per month, but have access to local ABC, Fox and NBC channels. Customers in Fresno, Houston and Raleigh now have both ABC and Fox on their Blue or Orange-and-Blue subscriptions at no extra charge. This is not reflected in the chart.
  • Fubo subscribers may find that the ACC Network and SEC Network are included with their package at no extra cost. Check availability for your state.
  • The chart columns are arranged in order of price, so if you can’t see everything you want, try scrolling right.
  • Overwhelmed? An easier-to-understand Google Spreadsheet is here.

Philo vs. Sling TV vs. FuboTV vs. YouTube TV vs. Hulu vs. DirecTV Stream: Top 100 channels compared

Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($65) Hulu with Live TV ($70) FuboTV ($75) DirecTV Stream ($75)
Total channels: 43 24 35 78 74 57 62
ABC No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
CBS No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fox No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
NBC No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
PBS No No No Yes No No Yes
CW No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
MyNetworkTV No No No Yes Yes No Yes
Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($65) Hulu with Live TV ($70) FuboTV ($75) DirecTV Stream ($75)
A&E Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
ACC Network No $ No Yes Yes Yes $
Accuweather Yes No No No No Yes Yes
AMC Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Animal Planet Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
BBC America Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
BBC World News Yes $ $ Yes No No $
BET Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Big Ten Network No No $ Yes Yes Yes $
Bloomberg TV Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Boomerang No $ $ No Yes No Yes
Bravo No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($65) Hulu with Live TV ($70) FuboTV ($75) DirecTV Stream ($75)
Cartoon Network No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
CBS Sports Network No No No Yes Yes Yes $
Cheddar Yes No No Yes Yes Yes $
Cinemax No No No $ $ No $
CMT Yes $ $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
CNBC No No $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
CNN No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Comedy Central Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cooking Channel Yes $ $ No $ $ $
Destination America Yes $ $ No $ $ $
Discovery Channel Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Disney Channel No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Disney Junior No $ No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Disney XD No $ No Yes Yes Yes Yes
E! No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
EPIX $ $ $ $ No No $
ESPN No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
ESPN 2 No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
ESPNEWS No $ No Yes Yes $ $
ESPNU No $ No Yes Yes $ $
Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($65) Hulu with Live TV ($70) FuboTV ($75) DirecTV Stream ($75)
Food Network Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fox Business No No $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fox News No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
FS1 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
FS2 No No $ Yes Yes Yes $
Freeform No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
FX No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
FX Movies No No $ Yes Yes $ $
FXX No No $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
FYI Yes $ $ No Yes No $
Golf Channel No No $ Yes Yes Yes $
Hallmark Yes $ $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
HBO/HBO Max No No No $ $ No $
HGTV Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
History Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
HLN No $ Yes Yes Yes No Yes
IFC Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Investigation Discovery Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Lifetime Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
Lifetime Movie Network Yes $ $ No Yes No $
Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($65) Hulu with Live TV ($70) FuboTV ($75) DirecTV Stream ($75)
Magnolia Network Yes $ $ No $ Yes $
MLB Network No $ $ No No $ $
Motor Trend Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
MSNBC No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
MTV Yes $ $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
MTV2 Yes $ $ Yes $ $ Yes
National Geographic No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Nat Geo Wild No No $ Yes Yes $ $
NBA TV No $ $ Yes No $ $
NFL Network No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
NFL Red Zone No No $ $ $ $ No
NHL Network No $ $ No No $ $
Nickelodeon Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Nick Jr. Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes $
Nicktoons Yes $ $ Yes $ $ $
Olympic Channel No No $ Yes Yes Yes $
OWN Yes No No Yes Yes Yes $
Oxygen No No $ Yes Yes Yes $
Paramount Network Yes $ $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
Science Yes $ $ No $ $ $
Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($65) Hulu with Live TV ($70) FuboTV ($75) DirecTV Stream ($75)
SEC Network No $ No Yes Yes $ $
Showtime No $ $ $ $ $ $
Smithsonian Yes No No Yes Yes Yes $
Starz $ $ $ $ $ $ $
Sundance TV Yes $ $ Yes No No Yes
Syfy No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Tastemade Yes $ $ Yes No Yes $
TBS No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
TCM No $ $ Yes Yes No Yes
TeenNick Yes $ $ Yes $ $ Yes
Telemundo No No No Yes Yes Yes $
Tennis Channel No $ $ No No $ $
TLC Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
TNT No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Travel Channel Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes $
TruTV No $ Yes Yes Yes No Yes
TV Land Yes $ $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
USA Network No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
VH1 Yes $ $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
Vice Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
WE tv Yes $ $ Yes No No Yes
Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($65) Hulu with Live TV ($70) FuboTV ($75) DirecTV Stream ($75)

Sarah Tew/CNET

With an excellent channel selection, easy-to-use interface and best-in-class cloud DVR, at $65 per month, YouTube TV is the best cable TV replacement. It offers a $20 4K upgrade, but the downside is there isn’t much to watch at present unless you watch select channels. If you don’t mind paying a bit more than the Sling TVs of the world, or want to watch live NBA games, YouTube TV offers the highest standard of live TV streaming. Read our YouTube TV review.

Sarah Tew/CNET

series of price hikes has brought a number of additional channels, including access to Disney Plus and ESPN Plus in the $70 price. But despite all that, Hulu Plus Live TV is still second banana to our top live TV streaming premium pick, YouTube TV. Its channel selection still isn’t as robust as YouTube TV and FuboTV, yet it’s Hulu’s significant catalog of on-demand content which sets it apart. Exclusive titles such as The Handmaid’s Tale, The Orville and Only Murders in the Building give it a content advantage no other service can match. 

Live TV subscribers also receive unlimited DVR that includes fast-forwarding and on-demand playback — at no additional cost. It’s a move that may align Hulu with its competitors in terms of features, but the channel lineup is still a deciding factor. In short YouTube TV is a better TV streaming service choice than Hulu Live TV and costs $5 less to boot. Read our Hulu Plus Live TV review.

Sarah Tew/CNET

If you want to save a little money, and don’t mind missing out on local channels, Sling TV is the best of the budget services. Its Orange and Blue packages go for $40 per month, and you can combine them for a monthly rate of $55. The Orange option nets you one stream, while Blue gives you three. Rather than run a free trial, Sling offers a 50% discount for your first month. It’s not as comprehensive or as easy to navigate as YouTube but with a bit of work, including adding an antenna or an AirTV 2 DVR, it’s an unbeatable value. Read our Sling TV review.

Sarah Tew/CNET

DirecTV Stream is tied for the most expensive at $75, beating Hulu Plus Live TV and YouTube TV. The service does have its pluses, though — for example, it includes the flipper-friendly ability to swipe left and right to change channels. Additionally, it includes some channels the other services can’t, including nearly 250 PBS stations nationwide. The $75 Entertainment package may suit your needs with its 75-plus channels. But for cord-cutters who want to follow their local NBA or MLB team, DirecTV Stream’s $100 Choice package is our live TV streaming pick because it has access to more regional sports networks than the competition. Nonetheless, you’ll want to make sure your channel is included here, and not available on one of our preferred picks, before you pony up. Read our DirecTV Stream review.

Ty Pendlebury/CNET

There’s a lot to like about FuboTV — it offers a wide selection of channels and its sports focus makes it especially attractive to soccer fans or NBA, NHL and MLB fans who live in an area served by one of FuboTV’s RSNs. It’s also a great choice for NFL fans since it’s one of three services, alongside YouTube TV and Hulu, with NFL Network and optional RedZone. In 2023, Fubo will offer 19 Bally Sports RSNs with a new package that includes the lineup. The biggest hole in Fubo’s lineup is the lack of Turner networks, including CNN, TNT and TBS — especially since the latter two carry a lot of sports content, in particular NBA, NHL and MLB. Those missing channels, and the same $75 price tag, makes it less attractive than YouTube TV for most viewers. Read our FuboTV review.

Sarah Tew/CNET

At $25 Philo is still a cheap live TV streaming service with a variety of channels, but it lacks sports channels, local stations and big-name news networks — although Cheddar and BBC news are available. Philo offers bread-and-butter cable staples like AMC, Comedy Channel, Nickelodeon and Magnolia Network, and specializes in lifestyle and reality programming. It’s also one of the cheapest live services that streams Paramount, home of Yellowstone, and it includes a cloud DVR and optional add-ons from Epix and Starz. We think most people are better off paying another $15 for Sling TV’s superior service, but if Philo has every channel you want, it’s a decent deal. Read our Philo review.

Technologies

The Black Friday Gaming Deals You Want Are Already Here, Including PlayStation, Xbox and Alienware

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Technologies

The Black Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 Is at a Record $443 Off at Amazon for Black Friday

A Galaxy Z Fold 7 price war between Amazon and Samsung gives us a record-low deal for one color.

If you’re looking for a foldable iPhone, you’re gonna need to wait until 2026, but if you’re looking for the best foldable phone of 2025, there are great deals on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 right now at both Amazon and Samsung, with the former dropping the black version of Samsung’s foldable phone to a record-low $1,557. All other models are $1,600 at both Amazon and Samsung, a $400 discount.

Samsung’s unique foldable phones had an awkward adolescence, but after getting her hands on the new lineup, CNET reviewer Abrar Al-Heet confirms that the latest Z Fold 7 «just feels right.» For one, it’s incredibly sleek at just 8.9mm thick when closed or 4.2mm thick when open, which is so thin you may even forget that it’s foldable.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

Despite weighing just 215 grams, this foldable features some serious hardware. It has a 6.5-inch cover screen and an 8-inch interior display with a fluid 120Hz refresh rate. It’s equipped with a cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and 12GB of RAM to support tons of helpful AI features and functions, and comes with Android 16 and Samsung One UI 8 right out of the box.

The camera system is also pretty impressive, boasting a 200-megapixel rear camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide shooting and a 10-megapixel front camera on both the cover and interior screens. Plus, it’s equipped with a 4,400-mAh battery for all-day use.

Why this deal matters

With an unbelievably sleek design and cutting-edge hardware, the impressive Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is our favorite foldable phone on the market. But it also comes with a staggering $2,000 price tag, and if you’re hoping to get your hands on one, this $443 discount is a way to rack up some serious savings and help cushion the blow of its considerable cost. Just be sure to get your order in soon, as we doubt this deal will remain live for long.

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I Almost Missed This Deal Within a Deal for Baseus’ Bose-Infused Headphones and Earbuds

Baseus’ new Inspire XH1, XP1 and XC1 models with Sound by Bose are 23% to 33% off for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But Baseus throws in its BC1 clip-on earbuds or other «free» bonus items to make the deal even sweeter.

I gave CNET Editors’ Choice awards to Baseus’ Bose-infused Baseus Inspire XH1 headphones and Inspire XP1 earbuds because they’re well designed and sound decent for what they cost. I also liked Baseus’ Inspire XC1 clip-on earbuds, which have dual- drivers and earned a spot on CNET’s best clip-on earbuds list

Last week all three models were selling for around $110 (though they have higher list prices), but they’re now discounted to around $100 for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. That’s a deal I’d highlight on its own, but if you click through to any of those models’ Amazon product pages an look closely you’ll see that each is eligible for «one free item» with purchase. 

Read more: Best wireless earbuds of 2025

You have to click the «how to claim link» and then add one of the three products to the your cart. Once one of the headphones or earbuds is added to your cart, you can click a button on the left side of screen (above the stars for average ratings) that switches the view from «qualifying items» to «benefit items.» You can then add Baseus’s BC1 clip-on earbuds, which list for $40, to your cart as a free item. Baseus’ step-up Basues MC1 Pro ($48 for Black Friday) and Inspire XC1 clip-on buds sound better, but the BC1 are fine for casual use.

If the BC1 earbuds option doesn’t thrill you, there are other freebies you can opt for. Just go back to the Amazon product page for the Inspire XH1, XP1 and XC1 and you’ll see options for one free item with $100, $90, $51 and $46 purchases. The $90 benefit item is a 30W dual-port fast charger (list price $20), which is decent, and the $51 benefit item is a retractable USB-C cable ($19 list) that’s useful. Don’t bother with the $46 benefit item. 

You can read my full reviews of the Inspire XH1 headphones here and the Inspire XP1 earbuds here. And here’s my quick take of the Inspire XC1 earbuds:

Like Baseus’ noise-isolating Inspire XP1 earbuds that I rated highly, the Inspire XC1 feature «Sound by Bose» and a more premium design than earlier Baseus earbuds. The XC1 don’t sound as good as the XP1, but they sound good for open earbuds and are equipped with dual drivers, one of which is a Knowles balanced-armature driver that helps improve treble performance. While they don’t produce as much bass as noise-isolating earbuds like the Inspire XP1, their bass performance is better than I expected. The buds’ sound is pretty full, especially in quieter environments, though they do better with less bass-heavy material (I did notice a bit of distortion at higher volumes with certain tracks with harder driving bass).

While I prefer the design and fit of Bose’s Ultra Open Earbuds (as well as the design of their case) and think the Bose buds sound more natural and a tad better overall, the much more affordable Inspire XC1 fit comfortably and offer top-tier sound for clip-on open earbuds (and they play louder than the Bose), as well as decent voice-calling performance with good background noise reduction.

Read more: Best Black Friday headphones deals  

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