I haven’t had cable TV in many years, so I’m no stranger to streaming TV services. But things do change all the time. I’d been using Sling for a while now and was pretty happy with it. But the other day I saw a free trial of YouTube TV. Maybe it’s time to have a new showdown to make sure I’m getting the best I can get. I decided to compare Sling, YouTube TV, and Hulu + Live.
Sling is probably the hardest to figure out. To begin with there’s the “Blue” and the “Orange” subscription packages. You can have one, or the other, or both! They each cost $25 and it’s hard to tell them apart at first glance. Then if you want MSNBC (and I do) you have to buy a “news extra” which as the name implies contains a few extra news channels, exactly one of which I am interested in. And if you want Cooking Channel (and I do) you have to buy the “lifestyle extra” which is the same kind of deal. On top of all that, if you want cloud-based DVR services (and I do!) it turns out that’s extra too.
YouTube TV is a strong contender here. There’s only one subscription package and it’s $50. But it does not have Cooking Channel, A&E, History, or even Comedy Central. The Cooking Channel is almost a deal breaker right there, but no Trevor Noah on top of it? Nope. Can’t do it.
Finally there’s Hulu + Live. This is like old Hulu plus some live cable channels. It’s got History and A&E. But it does not have Cooking, AMC, BBC, or even CNN or Comedy Central. All this amounts to a pretty serious deficit. And for all this you still pay $45!
In the end, I found that Sling Blue with the “news extra” and the “lifestyle” extra gave me almost everything I wanted. I get MSNBC, Cooking Channel and all the rest. The only thing I don’t get is Motortrend, which they presumably put on the Orange subscription because…sports-minded people are into it? In any case that’s the only thing they don’t have that I might watch. And even when I throw in the DVR charge it’s still the cheapest option at only $40. That’s $25 for Blue, $5 for MSNBC, $5 for Cooking Channel, and $5 for DVR.
It should be obvious that my winner might not be your winner. If you like sports you might want Sling Orange or even YouTube TV, which seems pretty sports-heavy. If CNN is all you need for news and aren’t into cooking shows, that will free up some options for you, too. This is the best choice for me. Your mileage will almost certainly vary.