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The Ultimate Guide to Live TV Streaming Services in 2025!
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Oct 9, 2024
I've helped thousands of people cut the cable TV cord since 2016. This video compares every major live TV streaming option available right now. 🚨 Get the latest deals and free trials: https://michaelsavesdeals.com/ 📺 Compare live TV services: https://michaelsaves.com/streaming/best-live-tv-streaming/ 💻 Find a better internet plan: https://michaelsaves.com/internet-plan-comparison-tool/ Compare DIRECTV's no-contract plans: https://michaelsaves.com/recommends/directv-streaming-plans/ Fubo free trial: https://fxo.co/DCIi 0:00 Major Live TV Streaming Services Compared 1:11 YouTube TV 2:42 Hulu Plus Live TV 4:36 DIRECTV STREAM 6:50 Sling TV 7:52 Fubo TV 9:18 Philo and Frndly TV 9:56 How I’m Saving Money on TV Services Start your regular Amazon shopping with my link to support the channel: https://www.amazon.com/shop/michaelsaves
View Video Transcript
0:00
if you're thinking about cutting the
0:01
cable TV cord you may want to sign up
0:03
for a live TV streaming service and
0:06
there are two reasons why first this
0:09
report from JD Power says live TV
0:11
streamers are just more satisfied than
0:14
people who have traditional cable or
0:16
satellite service and second they're
0:18
saving money $45 a month that works out
0:21
to
0:22
$540 every year now not everyone who
0:25
cancels cable or satellite is going to
0:28
need to replace it with a live TV
0:30
streaming service there are cheaper
0:32
options but if you watch local channels
0:34
without an antenna if you watch sports
0:37
networks or if you watch cable news then
0:40
this video is for you that JD Power
0:43
report I mentioned it said people are
0:45
most satisfied with YouTube TV and
0:47
that's followed by Hulu Plus Live TV
0:50
Sling TV Fubo and Direct TV Stream they
0:53
all ranked lower a lot has changed since
0:55
I started on this beat in 2016 and it
0:58
continues to change so today I'm
1:00
updating what you need to know about the
1:03
major live TV services for each service
1:06
I'm going to cover the biggest changes
1:08
pros and cons and who should sign up we
1:11
begin with YouTube TV and the biggest
1:13
change it is now the fourth largest pay
1:16
TV provider in the country that's behind
1:19
Charter Comcast and Direct TV for a lot
1:22
of people this is the first and the only
1:24
live TV service that they try i'll start
1:27
with two cons a high monthly price for
1:30
the base plan around 75 bucks and an
1:32
upcharge for 4K content but despite all
1:35
this the pros outweigh the cons with
1:38
YouTube TV a lot of people tell me they
1:40
get a good bang for their buck with this
1:42
service because of the channel lineup
1:45
which now includes more than a 100
1:47
networks local stations sports networks
1:49
like ESPN cable news and entertainment
1:53
channels the service is also home to NFL
1:56
Sunday Ticket so that's a draw for
1:58
people who want that premium package but
2:00
I don't recommend this service for
2:02
people who want regional sports networks
2:04
in most cases you won't find them
2:06
youtube TV has a good user experience
2:09
this is another pro a few highlights i
2:12
really like multi- view the last channel
2:14
shortcut and the custom live guide but
2:17
the number one complaint that I hear
2:19
about YouTube TV that's got to do with
2:21
another feature the cloud DVR people
2:23
want the ability to record and delete
2:26
single episodes youtube TV is the cable
2:29
2.0 leader so if you want to cut the
2:32
cable TV cord but still get your locals
2:34
and some cable networks I think it's
2:36
worth a shot there's usually a free
2:38
trial and a discount on the first few
2:41
months of service now when YouTube TV
2:43
doesn't work out and that does happen I
2:46
recommend one of the other services I'll
2:48
talk about today for some people that's
2:50
Hulu Plus Live TV here's a look at the
2:53
pros and cons and we're going to talk
2:54
more about them first the biggest change
2:56
that I'm tracking has to do with the
2:58
price which is also a con hulu Live
3:01
increases to $82.99 a month as of
3:04
October 2024 and this service tends to
3:07
raise its price every year in either
3:09
October or December but the content is a
3:13
definite pro for this service hulu Live
3:15
includes the Disney bundle no extra
3:17
charge and that's probably the number
3:19
one reason why I would recommend it to
3:21
anyone over YouTube TV if you don't
3:24
stream Hulu Disney Plus or ESPN Plus
3:27
skip Hulu Live the service has a very
3:30
good channel lineup covers cable sports
3:32
news and entertainment networks but once
3:34
again not my pick for regional sports
3:37
some people tell me they choose Hulu
3:39
Live because it has A&E networks so
3:41
that's A&E History and Lifetime networks
3:44
that YouTube TV doesn't carry hulu
3:47
Live's user interface not very good it's
3:50
in desperate need of an overhaul
3:52
compared to YouTube TV they've not
3:54
invested as much into features a couple
3:57
other things to point out hudu Live only
3:59
includes two simultaneous streams with
4:02
the base plan youtube TV allows three so
4:05
you got to upgrade for unlimited streams
4:07
and from my testing Hulu Live doesn't
4:10
work well with 5G home internet services
4:13
cable and fiber that's fine now aside
4:16
from the Disney bundle Hulu Live is best
4:18
for people who've tried out YouTube TV
4:20
and just don't like it for some reason
4:22
the first thing that comes to mind is
4:24
that DVR issue with YouTube TV hulu Live
4:28
has an unlimited cloud DVR as well but
4:30
you do have the flexibility to record
4:33
and delete single episodes in a series
4:35
let's pick up there and I want to start
4:37
with Direct TV Stream the service raised
4:40
its starting price to $86.99 a month in
4:43
October 2024 and that came after a
4:46
two-week channel blackout of Disney
4:48
owned networks now that's the biggest
4:50
change at least for now but as part of
4:52
the agreement with Disney DirecTV says
4:55
it has the opportunity to offer more
4:57
flexible options genrespecific plans for
5:00
sports entertainment and kids and family
5:03
so why aren't they available yet well I
5:06
imagine DirecTV's got to work out deals
5:08
with other programmers before the new
5:10
bundles can be introduced if and when
5:13
that happens I'll be the first to let
5:15
you know but for now DirecTV Stream is
5:18
offering expensive live TV streaming
5:20
bundles with no contracts or hidden fees
5:23
just like the other services I've talked
5:25
about today the Choice plan is the most
5:27
popular coming in at well over $100 a
5:30
month it's the least expensive option
5:33
with regional sports networks pricing
5:35
aside there have been some improvements
5:38
with Direct TV Stream i look back on
5:40
some of my older reviews and I was
5:42
actually surprised at how many of the
5:44
issues the service has addressed few
5:47
examples for you directv Stream now lets
5:49
you create separate user profiles up to
5:51
five per account 4k is included at no
5:54
extra charge there's not a whole lot of
5:56
content available to stream in 4K but at
5:58
least you're not paying more for it and
6:01
this happens to be the service that I
6:02
have the best luck with as far as
6:04
picture quality the unlimited cloud DVR
6:07
is improved there's no longer a 30
6:10
episode maximum limit when you're
6:12
recording a series and perhaps the
6:14
biggest improvement of all you can now
6:16
cancel online just a few clicks no phone
6:20
call or live chat required now since
6:22
DirecTV Stream is so expensive I
6:25
primarily recommend it to people who
6:26
watch regional sports networks direct TV
6:29
Stream has those and other services have
6:32
dropped them now in some cases I'll also
6:35
recommend it for the cable-like look and
6:37
feel if you think it's too hard to get
6:39
the hang of a service like YouTube TV
6:41
you might find DirecTV stream more
6:43
familiar i've got a link to it in the
6:45
description below and on
6:48
michaels.com there's also a free trial
6:50
sling's got a major price advantage over
6:52
the other live TV services that I've
6:55
talked about so far the service splits
6:57
its channel lineup into two base plans
6:59
instead of one and local stations are
7:02
limited to ABC Fox and NBC in select
7:06
markets i recently created this
7:08
checklist to help you decide if Sling is
7:10
right for you and compared to some of
7:12
the premium live TV services it may feel
7:15
like Sling has some compromises look
7:18
there's a lot of nitpicking I could do
7:20
about Sling but it's offering more
7:22
flexibility than the other services and
7:24
isn't that what people say that they
7:26
want now due to the limited local
7:29
stations I recommend it mostly to people
7:31
who have antennas but other than that
7:34
the biggest complaints I hear about the
7:35
service is that it doesn't offer
7:37
unlimited cloud DVR storage and that it
7:40
restricts Sling Orange users to one
7:43
stream at a time now I don't know what
7:46
the future holds for Sling but it has
7:48
saved me a lot of money over the years
7:50
and I'm thankful for that fubu is a
7:53
service that's in a constant state of
7:55
change so much so it's hard to keep up
7:57
with at times but recently they shared
8:00
some good news fubo's fully customizable
8:03
multiv- view feature it has now been
8:05
expanded to select Roku devices so it's
8:08
not just for Apple TV users anymore fubo
8:12
does a nice job with features but I
8:14
typically recommend that cord cutters
8:16
prioritize the monthly price and the
8:18
content ahead of features fubo's pricing
8:21
is on the high end and all of these
8:24
services are expensive you're also going
8:26
to pay a separate regional sports fee in
8:29
most areas so for that reason alone I
8:32
recommend Fubo only to people who watch
8:34
regional sports networks makes sense
8:37
fubo's overall channel lineup it may
8:39
have everything you need but it has some
8:41
gaps at the time of this recording and I
8:44
just want you to be aware of them no
8:46
Warner Brothers Discovery Networks no
8:48
AMC networks and no A&E networks are
8:52
included as we take a look at the pros
8:54
and the cons there's something else that
8:56
I've noticed about Fubo i think it could
8:58
save you some money aside from the free
9:00
trial which I'll link to down below I
9:03
found that compared to other services
9:05
Fubo has more frequent discounts to
9:08
returning customers and also special
9:11
credit card offers just something to
9:13
consider if you're someone who rotates
9:15
your services throughout the year you
9:18
may have noticed that Pho and Friendly
9:20
TV were not mentioned in the JD Power
9:23
report that I showed earlier i reached
9:25
out to JD Power and they told me those
9:27
services were not included because they
9:30
don't provide local stations that is
9:33
true and it's also the main reason why
9:35
they're so much cheaper if you can do
9:37
without local sports and news Bo and
9:40
Friendly TV offer a lot of cable
9:43
entertainment and lifestyle networks and
9:46
best of all the pricing isn't really
9:48
high like the premium live TV services
9:51
instead it's more in line with ondemand
9:53
services like Netflix i really hope the
9:57
next time I make a video like this that
9:59
we've got new and more affordable
10:01
bundles to talk about for now I'm
10:03
pausing my live TV subscription for
10:05
about half the year i'm relying more on
10:08
on demand services including Peacock and
10:10
Paramount Plus services that offer some
10:13
live TV and I'm taking advantage of all
10:16
the deals i update them on
10:18
michaelsdealss.com
10:20
my name is Michael and I thank you for
10:22
watching