Hulu + Live TV’s channel lineup should please most general audiences, with a deep selection of content across news, entertainment, and sports. News channels include ABC News, CBS News, CNBC, CNN, CNN International, Fox Business, Fox News, and MSNBC. Entertainment coverage is similarly varied, with options such as Animal Planet, Cartoon Network, Discovery, Disney, Food Network, FX, HGTV, National Geographic, SYFY, TBS, Travel Channel, TLC, and TNT. You also get the movie channels, FXM and TCM. In addition to live feeds of these channels, you can watch on-demand content from each of these networks. For fans of Discovery Inc. channels (such as Animal Planet, Food Network, and HGTV), Discovery+ is a much cheaper, albeit on-demand, streaming service.
Hulu also had live Viacom channels, including Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon, to its lineup. If you are specifically interested in those channels, the much less expensive Philo includes them in its lineup.
(Credit: Hulu/PCMag)
As for sports, Hulu’s lineup includes BTN, CBS Sports, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNEWS, Golf Channel, and Olympic Channel. That’s all in addition to local channels you get in your zip code, such as ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC cable affiliates. Recently, Hulu added NFL Network to its channel lineup at no additional cost and launched the $9.99-per-month Sports add-on, which includes the NFL RedZone channel (along with MAVTV, Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel, TVG, and TVG2). These additions cement Hulu + Live TV as one of the top options for streaming NFL games. Fubo and Sling TV include the NFL Network channel in at least one of their plans, and both offer NFL RedZone as an add-on package. Note that YouTube TV recently launched a lower-cost sports package ($64.95 per month).
While Hulu’s lineup features NBC-owned RSNs, it lacks most AT&T-owned RSNs (except SportsNet NY) and all Sinclair-owned Bally Sports RSNs. DirecTV includes RSNs from AT&T, NBC, and Sinclair, although it lacks a few NBC Sports RSNs. Find out which RSN airs your local team’s games before committing to any sports streaming service.
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Because regional restrictions and broadcast blackouts still apply for live TV streaming services (particularly for MLB, NBA, and NHL games), it’s important that whatever service you choose has both the relevant national and regional sports channels you need to watch those games. Even if a game is airing on a national channel elsewhere in the country, you may not have access to it on that channel if it involves a local team. For instance, a Yankees game that airs on ESPN for subscribers in Miami might air on YES for New York City residents like me.
Our dedicated sports roundups explain everything you need to know about streaming MLB, NBA, and NHL games. The right service depends on what sports you want to watch, where you live, and what teams you want to watch.
Many other live TV services, including DirecTV and YouTube TV, also strive to appeal to general audiences. However, some services are better suited for one genre than others. For example, AppleTV and Paramount+ are home to F1 and the UFC, respectively.
