Among all the streaming services you can watch for live news, we've gathered the most affordable in this list. PlutoTV Live for example gives you access to CBSN, CNN, and NBC News Now for free. If you don't mind shelling out for more, Philo offers BBC World News, Bloomberg, Newsy, and Vice for only $25 a month, while Sling TV has an excellent news bundle you can stack to your existing subscription for an extra $6.
Read on to learn more about the cheapest streaming services for news.
Philo often gets referred to as "the most affordable cable streaming service" (ET) for a good reason. While the Youtube TVs and DIRECTV Streams are in the range of $70/month, Philo only costs $28. Its 70 channel lineup includes AMC, TLC, Hallmark, Lifetime, Paramount Networks, and more. Not to mention, the current CEO is Facebook co-founder Andrew McCollum, so despite its affordability, Philo does not compromise on the quality of its tech. Philo also rarely increases its price (only once in 2021 from $20 to $25), so it is likely to stay affordable for a long time.
Price: $28/month
Free Trial: 7 days
Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS, iPhone, Roku, Samsung TV
Channel lineup: A&E, AccuWeather Network, AMC, AMC Plus, American Heroes Channel, Animal Planet, aspireTV, AXS TV, BBC America, BBC World News, BET, BET Her, Catchy Comedy, Cheddar News, Cleo TV, CMT, Comedy Central, Cooking Channel, Crackle, Crime-Investigation, Dabl, Deck the Hallmark, Destination America, Discovery Channel, Discovery Family, Discovery Life, FETV, Food Network, FYI, Game Show Network, GetTV, Great American Family, Great American Living, Gusto TV, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Family, Hallmark Mystery, Heroes & Icons, HGTV, History, IFC, INSP, Investigation Discovery, KIN, Law&Crime, Lifetime, LMN, Logo, Magnolia Network, MeTV, MeTV Toons, Motor Trend, MTV, MTV Classic, MTV Live, MTV2, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Oprah Winfrey Network, Overtime, Paramount Network, PlayersTV, pocket.watch, Pop TV, RetroCrush, REVOLT, Revry, Ryan and Friends, Scares by Shudder, Science Channel, Smithsonian Channel, Start TV, Story Television, Sundance TV, Tastemade, TeenNick, TLC, Travel Channel, TV Land, TV One, UPtv, Vevo 80s, Vevo 90s, Vevo Country, Vevo Hip-Hop, Vevo Holiday, Vevo Pop, VH1, Vice, WE tv
Sling Blue is the most affordable way to get channels like Fox Sports 1, and more importantly and depending on your area, the cheapest way to get local channels. Sling TV Blue will include either FOX, ABC, or NBC affiliates depending on where you live. Of course, you're also getting Nat Geo, TNT, TBS, TLC, Bravo, MSNBC, and much more.
Price: $45/month
Device availability: AirTV, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS, LG TV, Roku, Samsung TV, Xbox
Channel lineup: A&E, AMC, AXS TV, BBC America, BET, Bloomberg Television, Bravo, Cartoon Network, Charge!, CNN, Comedy Central, Comet, Discovery Channel, E!, EPIX Drive-In, Food Network, Fox News Channel, Fox Sports 1, Fuse, FX, HGTV, History, HLN, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, Local Now, MGM+, MSNBC, National Geographic, NFL Network, Nick Jr., Sling Scapes, SYFY, TBS, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, truTV, USA, Vice
Sling TV has two offers: Blue, which includes over 45 channels like CNN and MSNBC, and Orange, which includes ESPN and Disney Channels.
Each plan costs $40. You can combine them for $55. If you get either Sling Blue or Sling Orange+Blue, you can get a news extra which gives you access to 10 news channels plus CNBC, Fox Business, NDTV24x7, France24. If you get only Sling Orange, you get the 10 news channels plus HLN.
The 10 news channels in every news extra are NewsNation, NewsMaxTV, Science Channel, BBC World News, Weather Nation, Euronews, News18, RT America, CGTN, and Law & Crime Trial Network.
Price: $46/month
Device availability: AirTV, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS, LG TV, Roku, Samsung TV, Xbox
Channel lineup: BBC World News, CGTN, CNBC, Euronews, Fox Business, Fox Business Network, France 24, Law & Crime Trial Network, NDTV 24x7, News18, NewsmaxTV, NewsNation, RT America, Science Channel, Weather Nation
Channel lineup with Sling Blue ($45 / month) : A&E, AMC, AXS TV, BBC America, BET, Bloomberg Television, Bravo, Cartoon Network, Cheddar, Cheddar Big News, CNN, Comedy Central, EPIX Drive-In, Food Network, Fox News, Fuse, FX, HGTV, History, HLN, IFC, Lifetime, MSNBC, National Geographic, NBC, NBC Sports Network, Newsy, NFL Network, Nick Jr., SYFY, TBS, TNT, Travel Channel, Tribeca Shortlist, truTV, USA, Viceland
Channel lineup with Sling Orange ($40 / month) : A&E, AMC, AXS TV, BBC America, Bloomberg Television, Cartoon Network, Cheddar, Cheddar Big News, CNN, Comedy Central, Disney Channel, EPIX Drive-In, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, Food Network, Freeform, Fuse, HGTV, History, IFC, Lifetime, Newsy, TBS, TNT, Travel Channel, Tribeca Shortlist, Viceland
You need to already be subscribed to Charter Spectrum internet services in order to access Spectrum TV Choice and other services under Spectrum TV umbrella. That includes broadcasts and on-demand content from over 60 major channels networks including Viacom, Discovery, A&E, AMC and Hallmark.
On the other hand, you won’t be able to custom add any extra channels, and you can’t access other major TV broadcasters like ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and NBC, nor the many ESPN and Fox Sports channels––the absence of which helps keep the cost of the service down. Note: ESPN is back on Spectrum!
Price: Varies depending on your location and account history.
Pluto TV is a modern take on traditional cable: it has hundreds of channels streaming live, a huge library of on demand content, and it’s supported by ads. But the key difference from the competition? It’s totally free.
Price: $free/month
Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Roku, Virgin Media, Vizio SmartCast, webOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Channel lineup: BBC Food, BBC Home, Bein Sports XTRA, Bloomberg Television, CBS Sports HQ, CBSN, Check with Pluto TV for the full channel lineup, Cheddar News, CNN, ET Live, Food TV, Fox Sports, Hallmark En Espanol, Hip Hop Family, Hip Hop Family VH1, Love & Hip-Hop VH1, Major League Soccer, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, MLB, MotorTrend FAST TV, NBC News Now, Newsmax, NFL Channel, NFL Super Bowl Classics, Nosey, People TV, PGA Tour, Pluto Channels, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Sky News, Smithsonian Channel, Stories AMC, TBN, Today, TV Land Drama, WeatherNation, WPT
With people overwhelmed by the onslaught of mammoth streaming services, companies like Xumo are having a moment. A free, ad-supported hub for both live and on-demand content, Xumo is gaining ground in the streaming landscape.
Price: $free/month
Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, iOS, Panasonic, Roku, Samsung TV, Visio TV, webOS, Xfinity Flex
Channel lineup: ABC News Live, AccuWeather Now, Bloomberg, CBC News, CBSN, Cheddar News, Fox Sports, ION, NBC Comedy Vault, NBC News Now, NBCLX, PGA Tour, Today, USA Today
Ready to cut the cord? Here are the 14 live TV streaming services that offer a free trial.
The streaming services on this page were chosen by our editors. If you choose to subscribe to a streaming service we recommend as a result of our research, analysis, and curation, our work is sometimes (but not always) supported by an affiliate commission from the streaming service when you make a purchase.