At The Streamable, one of the ways we track which Live TV Streaming Service gives the most value is by calculating just how many Top 35 Cable Channels are included at a given price.
At this point, most Live TV Streaming Services are made up of channels from AMC, A+E, Discovery, Disney, NBCU, WarnerMedia, ViacomCBS, and Crown Media (Hallmark). While most services don’t offer all of them, nearly all of them offer most of them.
When it comes to those bigger bundles that start at $65 a month, they more or less all include channels from Disney (including ESPN), NBCU, Discovery, and ViacomCBS. But who includes the most?
If you want to compare all channels include locals, sports, premiums, and more – view our streaming service channel comparison guide. You can also add your favorite channels to our Streaming Matchmaker to compare channels across services.
Last week, Hulu Live TV and ViacomCBS reached a deal that will see 14 ViacomCBS stations, previously not available added to the service. Hulu subscribers will soon be able to live stream BET, BET Her, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, MTV Classic, MTV2, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Paramount Network, TeenNick, TV Land, and VH1.
With the addition of channels like BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, and VH1 – Hulu + Live TV ($65) will offer 32 of the Top 35 cable channels. The service will just be missing AMC, WE tv, and Hallmark.
YouTube TV ($65) includes 31 of Top 35 channels – missing A&E, History, Lifetime, and Hallmark channel. fuboTV ($65) includes 30 of the Top 35 channels – missing TNT, TBS, CNN, Cartoon Network, and truTV.
While it is $5 more than the others, AT&T TV's ($70) new “no contract” plans includes 34 of Top 35 channels on their “Entertainment Plan” (only missing Travel Channel). If you upgrade to their $85 “Choice” plan, you will get your local RSN (including Fox Sports RSNs), Travel Channel, and more.
When it comes to skinny bundles – Philo and Sling TV offer great value for the number of channels you get.
At just $20, Philo offers 18 of the Top 35 channels – including those from A+E, Hallmark, Discovery, and ViacomCBS – but are without those from NBCU, WarnerMedia, or Disney.
Sling TV ($30) splits channels across plans. Sling TV Orange offers 16 of the Top 35 Cable channels – since it doesn’t have channels from Fox and NBCU. Their Sling TV Blue plan is more comprehensive with 25 of the Top 35 Cable channels, since it swaps out Disney-owned networks (except for FX), for those from NBCU, Fox, and adds more channels from Discovery and ViacomCBS.
While the channels a service carry isn’t the only thing that matters, it is what you are paying for. If you want to see if if a service carries the channels you care about, you can use our Streaming Matchmaker.