Keep the live TV.
- Fast customer support
- Compatible with all devices
- Program guide (EPG) and on-demand (VOD)
- Live channels, DVR and on-demand
Short answer: we checked 50 of the most-watched US cable channels against six licensed live TV services. DirecTV carries all 50 (some sports channels need its Choice tier, $94.99), Hulu + Live TV carries 47 for $89.99, and YouTube TV carries 46 for $82.99. Sling covers 45 only if you buy both Orange and Blue. Fubo (25, plus six returning in 2026) and Philo (17) are deliberately narrow: Fubo skips most Warner and Discovery channels, Philo skips sports and news. The right subscription is the one that covers your ten channels, so use the table below.
At a glance
50 top cable channels, 6 services
| Most complete | DirecTV, 50 of 50 |
| Best value for coverage | YouTube TV, 46 for $82.99 |
| YouTube TV is missing | A&E, History, Lifetime, MLB Network |
| Cheapest for entertainment | Philo, about $33 (17 of 50) |
| Local channels | YouTube TV, Hulu, Fubo, DirecTV; or an antenna |
The six services and their prices
US list prices as of October 2026, before taxes, promotions and regional sports fees.
| Service | Plan used | Price | Of our 50 |
|---|---|---|---|
| DirecTV (streaming) | Entertainment / Choice | $89.99 / $94.99 | 50 |
| Hulu + Live TV | Base | $89.99 | 47 |
| YouTube TV | Base | $82.99 | 46 |
| Sling TV | Orange & Blue | about $60.99 to $64.99 | 45 |
| Fubo | Pro | $88.99 | 25 (+6 returning) |
| Philo | Base | about $33 | 17 |
Sling's single packages cost $45.99 to $49.99 each, but neither Orange nor Blue alone gets close to 45 channels from this list. Orange has ESPN, Disney and the Turner networks; Blue has Fox News, FX, the NBCUniversal-family channels and NFL Network. You need both for the full count.
The 50-channel table
A check means the channel is in the plan named above. "Check" in the Fubo column marks channels that were coming back to Fubo market by market during 2026 after a carriage dispute; confirm with your ZIP code. Channel lineups are based on published service lineups as of September and October 2026.
| Channel | YouTube TV | Hulu + Live TV | Sling | Fubo | DirecTV | Philo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| News | ||||||
| CNN | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | – |
| Fox News | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| MS NOW | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | – |
| CNBC | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | – |
| Fox Business | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Newsmax | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| The Weather Channel | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Sports | ||||||
| ESPN | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| ESPN2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| FS1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| NFL Network | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| MLB Network | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| NBA TV | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Golf Channel | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | check | ✓ | – |
| SEC Network | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Big Ten Network | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| ACC Network | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| CBS Sports Network | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Tennis Channel | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Entertainment | ||||||
| TNT | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | – |
| TBS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | – |
| truTV | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | – |
| TCM | ✓ | ✓ | – | – | ✓ | – |
| USA Network | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | check | ✓ | – |
| Bravo | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | check | ✓ | – |
| Syfy | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | check | ✓ | – |
| E! | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | check | ✓ | – |
| Oxygen | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | check | ✓ | – |
| FX | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Freeform | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Comedy Central | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| MTV | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| BET | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paramount Network | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AMC | ✓ | – | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| WE tv | ✓ | – | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hallmark Channel | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| A&E | – | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| History | – | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Lifetime | – | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Lifestyle and factual | ||||||
| Discovery | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| HGTV | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Food Network | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| TLC | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Investigation Discovery | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Animal Planet | ✓ | ✓ | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| National Geographic | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Kids | ||||||
| Disney Channel | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Nickelodeon | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cartoon Network | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | – |
| Total of 50 | 46 | 47 | 45 | 25 | 50 | 17 |
DirecTV's 50 assumes the Choice package for a few sports channels, such as MLB Network and NBA TV. The cheaper Entertainment tier drops some of them.
The gaps that decide most choices
Most people don't need all 50. What usually decides the purchase is one or two channels a service doesn't have. These are the gaps that come up again and again.
YouTube TV has no A&E, History or Lifetime. The A+E Networks channels aren't on YouTube TV, and neither is MLB Network. If true crime, Pawn Stars or Lifetime movies are on your list, look at Hulu + Live TV, Sling or Philo.
Fubo has no TNT, TBS, CNN or the Discovery family. Fubo is built for sports and has never carried the Turner or Discovery channels. That rules out NBA and NHL games on TNT, plus HGTV, Food Network and TLC.
Hulu + Live TV has no AMC or NBA TV. Fans of AMC's dramas need another service or AMC's own app.
Philo has no sports, no news networks and no locals. It's an entertainment package: Discovery, A+E, Paramount and AMC channels, plus Hallmark. At about $33 that's the point, not a flaw.
Sling splits its channels between two plans. If your must-haves straddle Orange and Blue, you pay for both and lose much of Sling's price advantage.
Local channels are a separate question
The table deliberately leaves out broadcast networks, because they work differently. ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX come from your local affiliate, and whether a service carries yours depends on your market.
YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo and DirecTV carry all four in most markets. Sling carries ABC, NBC and FOX in some markets for an extra fee, and no CBS. Philo carries none. Only YouTube TV and DirecTV carry PBS.
The cheapest way to get all of them is still an antenna. A $30 to $60 indoor antenna picks up local channels in high quality in most metro areas, free. That opens up cheaper combinations: Philo or Sling for cable channels plus an antenna for locals can cover a long list for half the price of a full bundle.
Not ready to commit? Sling has no contract: pay month to month and cancel online anytime.
See this month's plans →How to use this table for your list
Channel counts are a poor way to choose. "100+ channels" includes dozens you'll never open. A better method takes ten minutes.
1. Write down your must-haves. Not everything you might watch; the channels you'd cancel over. For most households that's eight to twelve.
2. Find them in the table. Mark the services that carry all of them. If none does, note which channel is the odd one out.
3. Price the odd one out separately. Many channels now have their own streaming apps. AMC has AMC+, A+E content is on several apps, ESPN sells ESPN Select and Unlimited directly, and Fox News and CNN have subscriptions of their own. A $10 app plus a cheaper bundle sometimes beats a $90 bundle.
4. Add locals and sports. Decide whether you'll use an antenna, and whether you need a regional sports network for your local team. Regional sports networks are where DirecTV and Fubo often win.
5. Try it. Most services have no contract. Subscribe for a month, check the guide in your ZIP code, and switch if something's missing.
Cheaper ways to cover the same channels
Some combinations that work for common lists, priced as of October 2026:
| If your list is mostly… | Try | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Lifestyle, reality, Hallmark | Philo + antenna | about $33 |
| ESPN, TNT, CNN, HGTV | Sling Orange + antenna | $45.99 |
| Fox News, FX, USA, NFL Network | Sling Blue + antenna | from $45.99 |
| Almost everything, plus locals | YouTube TV | $82.99 |
| Everything plus a regional sports network | DirecTV Choice | $94.99 |
Free services fill gaps too. Pluto TV, Tubi and The Roku Channel run news, classic TV and movie channels at no cost, and the networks themselves increasingly put live streams on free apps.
Why "20,000 channels" offers don't add up
Many results for "IPTV USA channels subscription" sell plans with tens of thousands of channels for $10 to $20 a month. Compare that with the table: the most complete licensed service carries all 50 of the most-watched cable channels for about $90, because each of those channel owners charges a fee per subscriber.
A service charging a tenth of that while carrying every channel here, plus thousands more, isn't paying those fees. It's an unlicensed rebroadcast. The other giveaways tend to come together: lifetime or multi-year plans, payment by crypto or gift card only, and sales through messaging apps. When those streams disappear, often mid-season, there's no support and no refund.
Our pick
For most households: YouTube TV at $82.99. It carries 46 of the 50, all four major local networks plus PBS in most markets, and has the best guide and unlimited DVR. Its one notable gap is the A+E channels.
If A&E, History or Lifetime are must-haves: Hulu + Live TV at $89.99, which also includes Disney+, Hulu on-demand and ESPN Select.
If you want every channel on this list and your regional sports network: DirecTV Choice at $94.99.
On a budget: Philo plus an antenna, about $33 a month, if you can live without sports and cable news.
Quick answers
Which live TV service has the most US cable channels? DirecTV carries all 50 channels in our list on its Choice plan. Hulu + Live TV carries 47 and YouTube TV 46.
Does YouTube TV have A&E, History and Lifetime? No. The A+E Networks channels are not on YouTube TV. Hulu + Live TV, Sling, DirecTV and Philo carry them.
Does Fubo have TNT and CNN? No. Fubo doesn't carry TNT, TBS, truTV, CNN or the Discovery family of channels such as HGTV and Food Network.
What is the cheapest way to get ESPN, TNT and CNN? Sling Orange at $45.99 a month includes all three.
Which services include local channels? YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo and DirecTV carry ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX in most markets. Sling carries some in select markets, Philo none. An antenna gets them free.
Does Philo have sports or news? No. Philo focuses on entertainment and lifestyle channels and doesn't carry ESPN, cable news networks or local channels.
Are IPTV subscriptions with thousands of US channels legal? Offers of thousands of US channels for $10 to $20 a month are not licensed. Licensed services pay each channel owner per subscriber, which is why full bundles cost $80 to $95.
Channel lineups vary by market and change after carriage disputes; Fubo's NBCUniversal-family channels were being restored market by market during 2026. Lineups are based on published service channel lists from September and October 2026. Prices are US list prices before taxes, promotions and regional fees. Checked October 2026.