Tired of YouTube TV’s next price hike? Try this

On By Littum

If YouTube TV’s upcoming price increase feels like a breaking point to you, you’re not alone.

Over the past week, I’ve heard from a bunch of people who say that the rate hike—from $73 per month at 83 USD per month, from 13 January 2025 – is the final straw. They are now looking for alternatives to YouTube TV that will provide comparable channel coverage for less.

Unfortunately, that kind of easy escape hatch does not exist. Like all other live TV services (including satellite and cable), YouTube TV keeps raising prices because TV programmers keep demanding more money for their channels. Unless the whole industry embraces it cheaper, more flexible bundlesthe bill for all these services will continue to rise.

This story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best live TV streaming services.

The only alternative is to ditch your big pay TV package altogether. Although this approach involves sacrifices, the savings can be significant. Here are your options:

Consider an antenna

With an inexpensive over-the-air antenna and good enough reception, you can watch the four major broadcast channels—ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC—for free, along with PBS and a host of rebroadcast-centric subchannels. An antenna won’t completely replace a larger bundle, but it will give you a big head start. You can even set up an over-the-air DVR to record shows for later.

Antennas will not work for everyone. Roughly speaking, you’ll want to be within 30 miles of local radio stations at most to use an indoor antenna, and within 60 miles for an outdoor model. Even then, obstacles and topography can affect the signal. Use the Antenna website to find nearby stations to get a feel for what you need and be prepared for some trial and error. If you’re ready to experiment, we’ve got a list of the best indoor and outdoor antennas available.

Stream (some) local stations

If an antenna is not possible, you can stream some local stations instead, but it will cost you:

  • Paramount+ with Showtime ($13 per month) includes a live feed from your nearest CBS station, including NFL coverage along with on-demand access to primetime CBS shows. The cheaper Paramount+ Essential tier with ads ($8 per month) does not include CBS, but does offer the NFL games. You can often get Paramount+ for free in monthly increments.
  • Peacock Premium Plus ($14 per month) includes a feed from your nearest NBC station, including Sunday Night Football, plus on-demand access to primetime NBC shows. The cheaper Premium tier with ads ($8 per month) does not include a local NBC feed, but does have NFL games.
  • The PBS app includes free live feeds from local PBS stations along with on-demand PBS programming. An optional “Pass” donation of $5 per month unlocks additional content.

You can also use the free NBC and ABC apps to watch some network TV shows without a subscription, while the Paramount+ app also offers some CBS shows for free.

Unfortunately, live feeds from ABC and Fox aren’t available without a major pay-TV package, but you can watch primetime shows from both networks on Hulu, which starts at $10 per episode. month.

Check for live news

The major cable news networks — CNN, Fox News and MSNBC — aren’t available without a major pay-TV package, but you can access some of their content in alternative ways:

  • Max offers an alternative CNN live feed with much of the same programming, but not in the same order as CNN itself.
  • MSNBC’s website and mobile app offer free live audio of the cable network.
  • Some primetime Fox News shows are available on-demand via Fox Nation, but there is no live feed.

Instead of cable news channels, consider the many free options to stream the news instead:

  • Local news: Many local stations offer their newscasts for free if you know where to look. Check NewsOn, Zeam, Local Now, Haystack News or your local station’s own website. You will also find local news via Tubi, Roku Channel, Amazons Fire TV News appand the free channels on Google TV devices.
  • National and international news: Pluto TV, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Xumo and Sling TV Freestream all offer 24/7 streaming news channels, even from major networks like CBS and NBC. It can scratch that background TV itch you’d otherwise get from cable news.

Find favorite shows elsewhere

Outside of news and sports, it’s rare for cable channels to bring exclusive new shows that aren’t available on standalone streaming services. If there’s a show you like on YouTube TV (or cable), sites like Reelgood or MyBundle can tell you where else to find it.

And if a show happens to only be on cable-like Yellowstoneif last season was a Paramount Network exclusive – you can always buy that show individually through stores like Amazon Video, Fandango or Apple TV.

Sort through sports streaming options

Sports is where it becomes difficult to replace a service like YouTube TV.

Currently, there is no way to watch ABC or Fox without a large TV package or an antenna. ESPN is also not available on a standalone basis – though that will change in 2025— Neither are FS1, FS2 or college conference channels like the SEC Network and Big Ten Network.

So what can you get without a service like YouTube TV? Some possibilities:

  • As I mentioned earlier, the ad-free tiers of Paramount+ and Peacock include live feeds from CBS and NBC, respectively, including all sports coverage.
  • Max streams all sports coverage from TNT, TBS and TruTV. This will eventually cost an extra $10 per month on top of a standard Max plan, but it’s included at no extra cost for now.
  • Many regional sports networks are now available on a standalone basis. I have compiled the options for NBA and NHL teams.
  • MLB TV and NBA League Pass offer games not broadcast in your local market. ESPN+ offers the same service for NHL games.
  • NFL+ offers local and nationally televised football games, but only on a phone or tablet.
  • Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ and even Netflix also pick up more sports programming, but their offerings are pretty spread out.

I’ve also put together some extra tools to help sort through the sports streaming options, especially if you’re trying to follow a specific team or league.

Not ready to separate? Some other options:

So far, the most complete live TV streaming service that is significantly cheaper than YouTube TV is Sling TV. It offers a smaller bundle of pay TV channels but still has major sports channels with three basic packages available:

  • Sling TV Orange ($46 per month) is currently the cheapest way to access ESPN and other ESPN-owned channels, such as the SEC Network.
  • Sling TV Blue ($46 per month) is the cheapest way to access FS1 and FS2. It also includes direct access to NBC and ABC in some markets and on-demand programming from all three channels everywhere.
  • Sling Orange + Blue ($61 per month) combines both of the above packages.

Unfortunately, Sling lacks local channel coverage, with ABC, Fox and NBC only available in select markets and no CBS anywhere. For that reason, it pairs best with an over-the-air antenna.

Hulu + Live TV is also worth a look. While that’s not cheaper than what YouTube TV will soon cost at $83 a month, it includes the entire Disney package (Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu’s on-demand catalog) at no extra cost. If you subscribe to one of these services alone, you’ll save money by switching from YouTube TV to Hulu + Live TV instead.

Finally, you can take a look at some TV packages that do not include sports or local channels. Because they leave out the most expensive content on cable, their prices are significantly lower:

  • Frndly TV ($7 per month) offers the Hallmark Channel and a host of other largely repeat-centric channels.
  • Philo ($28 per month) offers entertainment channels with a heavy emphasis on reality TV, but no sports, broadcast or major cable news channels.
  • Comcast’s NowTV is a bundle of entertainment channels and Peacock for $20 per month, with the option to add Netflix (with ads) and Apple TV+ for an extra $10 a month. It’s available to customers with Xfinity home internet or Comcast’s cheaper Now Internet plans.
  • Spectrum TV Stream is a $40 bundle of entertainment channels that also includes CNN and Fox News available to Spectrum home Internet customers.

Just let go

If you’re thinking that the price of a la carte streaming is more than YouTube TV or even cable, you’re right. This has been the case for years, is not an original thoughtand completely misses the point.

Separating your TV options doesn’t automatically save you money, but it does let you decide what’s really worth paying for. For that reason, stand-alone services are also strongly encouraged to offer seasonal sales, comeback deals and other discounts. These can significantly cover the cost of having a lot of services at the same time.

When you drop a live TV streaming service such as YouTube TV, you adopt a different mindset where you make peace with not having everything. The sooner you realize that you’re not going to see it all anyway, the easier the separation will be.

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