Best TV Streaming Services: Live & On-Demand Services

All the cord-cutters need the best TV streaming services to fill up their quota of entertainment. Before deciding which streaming service to choose, you need to learn everything there is to know about these TV Streaming services. The best part about cutting the cord is that you won’t have to stay stuck in one place while watching your favorite shows and movies. The best live TV streaming services offer you a wide range of live channels, you can access those channels via your mobile application and Live TV service. In this article, we have compared the best TV streaming services.

What Is Live Streaming TV?

Live streaming TV services are ideal to replace traditional cable TV packages. They allow users to watch live TV without the help of a cable TV box and TV. Live TV streaming services are also mostly cheaper than cable or satellite TV plans. Now that’s something to wonder about, you can watch channels of your preference without worrying about being stuck in one place. 

Live streaming TV services carry Television over the internet instead of using traditional cable or satellite connections. It’s the same programming that’s happening live right now on your preferred channels. You can call it “internet TV” if you want, but a Live TV streaming service sounds just better. There are certain ways that live streaming TV is different from cable and satellite TV.

• The channel grid looks mostly the same as cable TV or Satellite TV service. Live streaming TV providers simply use an application or a streaming device such as Roku, Apple TV, & Amazon Fire TV instead of a physical cable box. Less equipment in your entertainment center is always better.
• There are no channel numbers on the Livestreaming application. That may be the toughest thing you would have to adapt to after cutting the cord. But once you get a hang of it, it doesn’t actually matter, TNT is still TNT, with or without a channel number.
• There’s no single live TV streaming service that covers all the channels. You may have to get a combo of two different services, which still may be cheaper than the top cable and Satellite TV packages. We’ve ranked these streaming services based on the features they offer.

1. YouTube TV: Best Overall

YouTube TV offers just one package, a $82.99-a-month plan that delivers almost all the local channels in more than 100 markets. It also offers on-demand capability where only limited channels are unavailable, such as The CW. YouTube TV is also the only live-streaming service that carries PBS and PBS Kids. It also offers 13 premium add-on channels, ranging from HBO Max to Fox Soccer Plus.

As for the Sports channel lineup, you get ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, FS2, NBC Sports Network, CBS Sports Network, and Big Ten Network, which are all included with YouTube TV. YouTube TV also carries regional sports channels, in addition to MLB Network and NBA TV.

YouTube seems too good to be true, and it offers solid coverage. Its entertainment lineup isn’t that great, it lacks channels like A&E, Lifetime & Hallmark. All these channels are the life and blood of your entertainment lineup. 

YouTube TV also hiked up its prices from $49.99 per month to $64.99 per month which irritated a lot of customers. This price hike wasn’t in vain, you get 12 additional channels with that. YouTube TV has its downsides but all of them are trumped by the unlimited cloud DVR Storage that you get with YouTube TV. 

2. Hulu + Live TV: Best Value

The brand name Hulu is mostly associated with “The Handmaid’s Tale” or “Palm Springs”. However, most users forget the fact that Hulu also offers a Live TV streaming service. Hulu has recently become a part of the live TV streaming world. For $54.99 per month, you can get access to over 60 live cable channels, and depending on your area, an almost complete local network lineup. You won’t find The CW but the shows on The CW are available through the Hulu On-Demand network.

All this sounds great at first until you scan the channel list and find out that fan favorites like Comedy Central, VH1, AMC, Animal Planet, Discovery, and Nickelodeon are nowhere to be found. Multiple streaming services lack these channels too. We recommend making up the difference with the Philo Streaming service that carries almost all entertainment channels for just $20/mo.

Hulu + Live TV offers a brilliant sports lineup and is treated to ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, FS2, and NBC Sports Network, you also get access to TBS and TNT. It seems great but there are some drawbacks to the service. Hulu + Live TV Cloud DVR offers you 50 hours of space but you can’t record a single episode, you have to record the whole season. You can’t also fast forward through the advertisement unless you pay $14.99 per month extra on your plan.

3. Cheapest Streaming Service: Philo

Philo streaming service has just one package, which carries over 60 channels for $20 a month. Philo basically includes all your favorite entertainment channels such as A&E, AMC, BBC America, Comedy Central, Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, VICE & Hallmark. Hallmark is one of the rarest channels to find in the streaming service. It’s not that hard to understand that most of these channels are missing from other services. 

The only reason, Philo can provide all these channels is because it’s owned by four production houses. With a few exceptions, these production houses make sure to keep these channels exclusive to Philo only. Philo is a brilliant service that you can use to combine with other services for a complete channel lineup. 

As great as Philo sounds, there are some drawbacks to the service. The sole reason why Philo is priced so low is that there are zero local channels that you can stream. There aren’t any sports channels as well, as they are expensive. Philo simply carries lifestyle and entertainment channels. If you want more than that, you have no option other than to combine it with another streaming service.