As live TV streaming services continue to rise in popularity, supplanting traditional cable and satellite TV services, they warrant more scrutiny. Are streaming services as simple, flexible, and affordable as they claim?
We research and test these services all year and share our opinions with you, but we’re just one pixel in the overall picture. You’ll need more opinions to see these live TV streaming services in high resolution.
To that end, we reached out to thousands of live TV streaming service subscribers. These are the folks who shopped for and selected a single service they thought suited their tastes and finances. They use it daily, pay the monthly bill, and contact customer support if something goes wrong. If you want to know if a live TV streaming service is worth your time and money, they can tell you.
Fielded from July 8 to October 1, 2024, our Live TV Customer Satisfaction Awards survey included 8,097 respondents and covered seven top live TV streaming services: YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, Frndly TV, DIRECTV STREAM, Philo, and Fubo. Brand inclusion required at least 100 respondents.
No price too high?: Live TV streaming trends for 2025
Smaller, focused channel lineups and better pricing drive customer satisfaction
Two streaming services—Philo and Frndly TV—dominated our survey this year, often duking it out over first and second place.
Philo (88%) took top honors in overall satisfaction, edging out last year’s overall satisfaction winner, Frndly TV (87%), by a single point. The two providers tied on three questions and ranked first or second on 16 questions—often separated by only 1–2 percentage points. Philo placed in the top three on all 21 questions, while Frndly TV did likewise on 19.
Incidentally, Philo ($28.00 monthly for 70+ channels) and Frndly TV ($7.99–$10.99 monthly for 50+ channels) are the two most affordable—and skinniest—streaming services, and neither carries local, news, or sports channels. Their performance in this year’s survey pushed more popular live TV streaming services like YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV down in the results.*
We think cheap and slim (and niche) is the future of streaming.
Is Fubo FUBAR?
Bringing up the rear this year is Fubo. In 2024, the sports-centric live TV streaming service finished in the middle of the pack on most questions, including highest overall satisfaction, for which it received a 74% rating. In our 2025 survey, Fubo dropped to last in overall satisfaction (68%) and had the lowest or second-lowest scores on 19 of 21 questions.
For context, old-skool cable companies like Verizon Fios, Xfinity, Spectrum, and Cox Communications all had higher satisfaction scores than Fubo in this year’s annual cable TV survey. Verizon Fios TV even beat out YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV. Oh! How the mighty streamers have fallen!
To what do we attribute Fubo’s decline? Several factors. Fubo’s continued legal battle with Warner Bros. Discovery means it still lacks channels like Discovery Channel, Food Network, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, and crucial for a streaming service emphasizing sports, TBS and TNT. (Disney and FOX are part of the same suit with Warner Bros. Discovery over their proposed Venu Sports streaming venture, but it still carries Disney and FOX channels.)
Also, after Fubo raised its plan prices by $5.00 monthly and added a regional sports network (RSN) fee in February 2023, the service raised prices again in early 2024 by another $5.00 monthly and added $1.00 a month to its RSN fee. So, unsurprisingly, our survey data shows low customer satisfaction on all three pricing questions.
Fubo pricing satisfaction (2025)
| Service | Satisfied w/ price given expectations | Satisfied w/ price given quality | Satisfied w/ price given competitors’ prices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fubo | 72% (last) | 75% (last, tied w/ Sling TV) | 67% (last) |
Also, Fubo posted high dissatisfaction scores on the same questions. We don’t usually see such high dissatisfaction ratings, indicating customers want cheaper pricing. “They are way too expensive for the content that they provide,” wrote Fubo user Grant B. of Washington. “If local sports were available elsewhere, I would stop subscribing.”
Something else Fubo customers don’t appear to appreciate is a streaming service employing traditional TV provider tricks like hidden charges (namely, Fubo’s RSN fees). After all, transparency is one of live TV streaming’s original and best-selling points.
Fubo pricing dissatisfaction (2025)
| Service | Dissatisfied w/ price given expectations | Dissatisfied w/ price given quality | Dissatisfied w/ price given competitors’ prices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fubo | 12% | 11% | 14% |
We can see why Fubo customers would be upset. The service charges $79.99–$89.99 monthly for its plans and touts itself as the live TV streaming service for sports fans while lacking important sports channels.
Does this mean Fubo is FUBAR? Despite its performance this year (and the overperformance of some cable providers), Fubo added 1.6 million subscribers in Q3 2024 and reported a 21% ($377 million) increase in revenue. So, against all odds, Fubo may survive.
Price hikes are still a thing, but some customers will forgive them
Price increases for live TV and on-demand streaming services continued to happen in 2024—and not just for Fubo customers.
DIRECTV STREAM and Hulu + Live TV customers felt the brunt of it, with both services jacking up prices for the second year in a row, for a total monthly price hike of $10.00–$20.00 a month and $13.00 monthly, respectively. That could account for the services’ mediocre scores on the pricing section of our survey. And it probably impacted overall satisfaction. (YouTube TV and Sling TV customers will taste the pain in Dec. and Jan., respectively. See table below.)
Interestingly, Philo hadn’t raised prices since June 2021, so customers took the $3.00 increase (June 2024) in stride, which correlated with a generous increase in cable channels and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels and an included AMC+ subscription. Better than that, actually—Philo, along with Frndly TV, posted very high pricing satisfaction ratings. To us, that says customers will tolerate reasonable, infrequent price hikes.
Recent live TV streaming service price increases
| Service | Latest price increase | Previous price increase |
|---|---|---|
| DIRECTV STREAM | +$5.00–$10.00/mo. (Oct. 2024) | $5.00–$10.00/mo. (Nov. 2023) |
| Frndly TV | — | $1.00/mo. (Sep. 2023) |
| Fubo | +$5.00/mo. for plans; +$1.00/mo. for regional sports fees (Feb. 2024) | +5.00/mo., added RSN fees* (Feb. 2023) |
| Hulu + Live TV | +$6.00/mo. (Oct. 2024) | +$7.00/mo. (Oct. 2023) |
| Philo | +$3.00/mo. (June 2024) | +$5.00/mo. (June 2021) |
| Sling TV | +$5.00/mo. (coming Dec. 17, 2024) | +$5.00/mo. (June 2022) |
| YouTube TV | +$10.00/mo. (coming Jan. 2025) | +$8.00/mo. (Apr. 2023) |
Data effective as of post date.
*Fubo’s 2024 regional sports network (RSN) fees cost up to $15.99/mo.
Ratings were up all around, but some services showed little actual improvement
This year, Sling TV appeared to swing from a low to a reasonably high overall satisfaction rating. It’s an illusion. Survey scores in 2025 are higher, so Sling TV’s 2024 (57%) and 2025 (75%) scores are proportional. That’s not good news.
| Service | 2025 overall satisfaction | 2024 overall satisfaction |
|---|---|---|
| Sling TV | 75% | 57% |
A more explicit metric is how Sling TV scored on individual questions. In 2024, it was last or next-to-last on 11 of 14 questions. In 2025, Sling TV ranked last or next to last on 15 of 21 questions.
Sling TV customers are more disenchanted with the service in 2025. Last year, customers complained about Sling TV’s channel offerings, app interface, and overall reliability. This year, the complaints grew to include user experience, streaming quality, Cloud DVR, channel guide, and price. Oof.
Our assessment of Sling TV’s struggles last year holds today. Sling fails to provide a cohesive service or even improve its product. Even Fubo, with all of its problems, still tries to refine its features and functionality. We’re not sure what Sling TV’s excuse is, but it hasn’t done much in the past four years except raise prices. What’s more, customers can expect another price hike coming in December 2024.
Highest overall satisfaction
Highest overall satisfaction is the big picture, customers’ high-level feeling about their live TV streaming service, encompassing content quality, pricing, ease of use, features, and total customer experience.
For 2025, we surveyed customers of seven live TV streaming platforms: YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, Frndly TV, DIRECTV STREAM, Philo, and Fubo. For inclusion, each brand must have had at least 100 responses.
In 2024, Frndly TV emerged as a standout newcomer and rated highest in overall customer satisfaction. Frndly (87%) is again one of the highest-rated live TV streaming services, with 87% overall satisfaction, but it’s not the top-rated service this year. Philo (88%) beat Frndly by a single point.
What is your overall satisfaction with your live TV streaming service?
Frndly TV’s 2024 top customer satisfaction rating was quite an achievement for a service that launched in 2019. We attributed this success to Frndly TV’s affordability and transparency.
The same applies to Philo, which shot to the top after rating 71% in 2024. This reinforces our conclusion from last year’s results: Customers love simplicity, getting what’s advertised, and getting a great deal. Both Philo and Frndly TV excel in meeting those expectations.
Philo muscling its way into the top three pushes two of our favorite live TV streaming services, YouTube TV (79%) and Hulu + Live TV (78%), down in the results (although their ratings stayed basically the same).
Philo and Frndly TV offer simplicity, which is, after all, one of live TV streaming services’ most significant selling points. But customers seem to prefer Philo and Frndly TV’s leaner, more focused channel lineups and—more than ever, thanks to rampant price increases among streaming TV services—lower monthly payments.
| Service | Completely or very satisfied | Hardly or not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Philo | 88% | 4% |
| Frndly TV | 87% | 1% |
| YouTube TV | 79% | 4% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 78% | 4% |
| Sling TV | 75% | 5% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 74% | 12% |
| Fubo | 68% | 8% |
Hear from real Philo TV customers
“Philo is fantastic! The price is perfect, and there are so many options of channels. It truly is a great provider and I recommend it to all.”
How well did your experience compare with your ideal of how a live TV streaming service should be?
What constitutes the ideal streaming service? Asking about ideals with anything is subjective, as expectations vary from person to person. With Frndly TV (84%)—a family-friendly service—on top, we might infer that customers want family-friendly channels. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t.
Since Frndly TV and Philo (83%) nearly tied here, and Philo once again bumped YouTube TV and Hulu Live down a notch, we think it’s more likely that users dig those lean, low-priced lineups, even if they lack local and sports channels.
| Service | Extremely or very close to the ideal | Hardly or not at all close to the ideal |
|---|---|---|
| Frndly TV | 84% | 3% |
| Philo | 71% | 5% |
| YouTube TV | 75% | 5% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 75% | 5% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 68% | 12% |
| Sling TV | 59% | 7% |
| Fubo | 74% | 10% |
Best user experience
A smooth, high-quality user experience (UX) is essential to keeping customers happy. A service will likely lose subscribers if the app is buggy, unreliable, and a pain to use.
Customers enjoy Philo’s and Frndly TV’s user experiences at a high level, with 93% and 90% satisfaction, respectively—and 0% dissatisfaction.
How satisfied are you with your user experience?
Philo and Frndly TV both boast easy-to-navigate channel guides and on-demand libraries, but only Frndly’s channel guide is unique compared to most other streaming services’ guides and menus.
We discuss elements of user experience in more detail in the following section.
| Service | Completely or very satisfied |
|---|---|
| Philo | 93% |
| Frndly TV | 90% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 85% |
| YouTube TV | 84% |
| Fubo | 82% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 81% |
| Sling TV | 75% |
Hear from real Frndly TV customers
“[Frndly TV is] easy to access and has all the channels we use with [an] affordable monthly cost.”
Best features
In this survey section, we asked respondents to evaluate their TV providers’ actual products.
What do customers think of certain features? Do they add value to the service? Do they work reliably?
How satisfied are your live TV streaming service’s overall channel offering?
Channels are a central feature of a live TV streaming service. Generally, streaming channel lineups tend to be smaller and more curated than cable and satellite TV providers’ deep, often inflated lists. We think the best live TV streaming service channel lineups are the larger ones—like those of YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, DIRECTV STREAM, and Fubo. But guess what?
Philo (88%, 70+ channels) and Frndly TV (85%, 50+ channels) have the highest satisfaction ratings. Score another win for giving customers what they want, which are smaller, somewhat specialized channel lineups that have no local or sports channels, at a great price.
Philo, though, has an advantage over other services in that it has channels other streaming services lack. (YouTube TV doesn’t carry Lifetime, HISTORY, or VICE; Hulu + Live TV lacks AMC and A&E.) Credit this edge to Philo’s four-headed ownership: AMC Networks, A+E Networks, Discovery Inc., and Viacom.
That said, larger live TV streaming service channel lineups are still popular. DIRECTV STREAM (185+ channels) and YouTube TV (100+ channels) tied for third here—different strokes for different folks, then.
| Service | Completely or very satisfied | Hardly or not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Philo | 85% | 0% |
| Frndly TV | 85% | 3% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 83% | 5% |
| YouTube TV | 83% | 2% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 81% | 2% |
| Fubo | 76% | 3% |
| Sling TV | 74% | 3% |
Hear from real YouTube TV customers
“YouTube TV has been a great streaming service. I love the live channels, [cloud DVR] recording to watch later, and suggestions of what to watch.”
How satisfied are you with your live TV streaming service’s local channel selection?
Some live TV streaming services carry all of the local channels, while others carry them in only a few select markets, and a handful don’t have them at all.
We get it; carrying these channels can be expensive. That’s why some live TV streaming services (like Philo, Frndly TV, and Sling TV) don’t carry them—it means they can offer more affordable plans. And, if a user really wants local channels, they can get them by purchasing an over-the-air (OTA) TV antenna.
Interestingly, of the four streaming services mentioned above, Frndly TV and Philo don’t have local channels. YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV carry all the major local channels. So, satisfaction with this question depends again on what the customer wants.
| Service | Completely or very satisfied | Hardly or not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| DIRECTV STREAM | 81% | 6% |
| YouTube TV | 80% | 3% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 78% | 3% |
| Philo | 78% | 6% |
| Frndly TV | 77% | 7% |
| Fubo | 75% | 8% |
| Sling TV | 66% | 11% |
How satisfied are you with your live TV streaming service’s add-on channels and packs?
What did we say about the customer and what they want? The same applies to add-on channels. Philo has only four add-ons: AMC+, STARZ, MGM+, and Movies & More. It’s not the most outstanding selection, but four out of five Philo customers are cool with that.
Meanwhile, DIRECTV STREAM and YouTube TV have massive menus of add-ons, including channel packs, premium channels, sports packs, and even niche on-demand streaming services. The two services’ customers approve of this selection at almost the same ratio.
Notably, 73% of Frndly TV customers are okay with the service’s five available add-ons (Hallmark+, Lifetime Movie Club, Great American Pure Flix, HISTORY Vault, and A&E Crime Central), while a statistically significant 10% are not. It might be a smart move to give the customers what they want, like adding more affordable, family-friendly add-ons like BabyFirst, Curiosity Stream, or UP Faith & Family.
| Service | Completely or very satisfied | Hardly or not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Philo | 81% | 4% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 77% | 7% |
| YouTube TV | 76% | 4% |
| Frndly TV | 73% | 10% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 73% | 4% |
| Fubo | 71% | 8% |
| Sling TV | 67% | 5% |
How satisfied are you with your live TV streaming service’s streaming quality?
If a customer wants the most affordable option, they’re probably not expecting, or even interested in, a stunning 4K picture.
Frndly TV’s Basic plan streams in 480p, and its Classic and Premium plans stream in 720p high-definition (HD). Even for $7.99 a month, SD is pretty bad. Most live TV and on-demand streaming services stream in at least 720p HD. Other services serve full high-definition (1080p HD) and up to 4K ultra-high definition (2160p UHD). But who are we to argue if 92% of Frndly TV customers are happy with 480–720p?
Incidentally, Philo’s (90%) live TV streams at 720p. YouTube TV (84%) lets you stream SD, HD, full HD, or 4K. Such high satisfaction scores—spanning everything from the worst to the best resolution—show that some customers will sacrifice streaming quality for a good deal. In contrast, others will pay a premium for the best picture.
| Service | Completely or very satisfied | Hardly or not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Frndly TV | 92% | 2% |
| Philo | 90% | 1% |
| YouTube TV | 84% | 2% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 81% | 6% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 81% | 2% |
| Fubo | 78% | 4% |
| Sling TV | 77% | 4% |
How satisfied are you with your live TV streaming service’s video streaming (add-on channels and packs)?
Nope, not a trick question. Some streaming services offer higher-quality streams for on-demand content. Frndly TV isn’t one of them, but Philo streams its on-demand movies and shows in 1080p HD. DIRECTV STREAM streams its on-demand titles in either 1080p or 4K UHD resolution.
We noticed that Fubo rated lowest for this question and had a 12% dissatisfaction rating. Fubo offers some live and on-demand 4K streaming in most of its plans but generally has 720p resolution. Fubo users expect better image quality from a streaming service that touts its sports content.
| Service | Completely or very satisfied | Hardly or not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Frndly TV | 85% | 0% |
| Philo | 83% | 2% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 74% | 8% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 73% | 6% |
| Sling TV | 72% | 4% |
| YouTube TV | 72% | 5% |
| Fubo | 69% | 12% |
How satisfied are you with your live TV streaming service’s user experience (channel guide, on-demand menu, movie/show recommendations)?
We covered the overall user experience (UX) earlier, but now we’re looking at UX through the streaming services’ features. Are the channel guides and on-demand menus easy to read? Do the services’ algorithms recommend shows and movies you want to watch?
Once again, Frndly TV and Philo top the list. We agree with Frndly TV, as its onscreen channel guide deviates wonderfully from the standard live TV grid guide. It’s still a grid format but in large, easy-to-read tiles instead of bars, and each tile has episode details, program start times, and a thumbnail preview. Hulu + Live TV has a similar guide with slight differences, but Philo and DIRECTV STREAM use the standard grid.
As for on-demand menus, the services all adhere to standard carousel menus with content sorted by network or various themes. Sometimes, the standard way is the best, but Frndly TV and Hulu Live have found ways to innovate.
| Service | Completely or very satisfied | Hardly or not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Frndly TV | 88% | 0% |
| Philo | 88% | 1% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 78% | 9% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 78% | 5% |
| YouTube TV | 77% | 5% |
| Sling TV | 76% | 6% |
| Fubo | 70% | 9% |
How satisfied are you with your live TV streaming service’s cloud DVR?
Cloud DVR is one of the three most important features on a live TV streaming service. We’ve seen everything from minimal to unlimited storage, stingy to generous stream allowances, and various retention periods for recordings.
Frndly TV and Philo both have unlimited storage, but different retention periods. With Frndly, you can keep recordings for 3–9 months, depending on your plan; Philo gives you a full year. As for stream allowances, Philo has 3 streams, which is average, while Frndly has 1–4 streams (depending on your plan).
It’s worth noting that Cloud DVR is the only question on which Fubo did well. That’s because Fubo’s Cloud DVR has always been generous. At one point, it was 1,000 hours, and now it’s unlimited. You also get up to 10 simultaneous streams, which is fantastic.
| Service | Completely or very satisfied | Hardly or not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Frndly TV | 83% | 2% |
| Philo | 83% | 4% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 75% | 10% |
| Fubo | 73% | 7% |
| YouTube TV | 72% | 7% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 68% | 9% |
| Sling TV | 68% | 9% |
Best customer experience
The customer experience (CX) starts at sign-up and continues through downloading the app, using the service (UX), and contacting customer support if necessary.
Frndly TV dominated this category last year. It repeated the feat in 2025, with Philo following close behind, but not consistently at the same tight 1–2% margin we’ve seen in other areas of this year’s survey.
How effective was your live TV streaming service at meeting your needs?
For the second year in a row, Frndly TV (90%, a six-point jump from 2024) excels in meeting customers’ needs, edging out Philo (89%), and spanking third-place YouTube TV (80%, a 2% drop from last year) by 10 percentage points.
Again, we attribute the success of the higher-ranked services to their straightforward plans, affordability and modest price increases, and overall ease of use.
Larger streaming services like YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV ranked second and third last year, but users clearly feel skinnier live TV streaming services meet their needs most effectively. Frndly TV’s rating jumped six points from last year, while Philo enjoyed a whopping 15% increase.
| Service | Extremely or very effective | Hardly or not at all effective |
|---|---|---|
| Frndly TV | 90% | 0% |
| Philo | 89% | 2% |
| YouTube TV | 80% | 2% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 79% | 8% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 79% | 4% |
| Fubo | 77% | 6% |
| Sling TV | 76% | 4% |
How easy was it to work with your live TV streaming service?
Most streaming services aren’t that difficult to use, and they’re very similar in terms of signing up, installing the apps, and using them. Frndly TV earns its 94% satisfaction rating here because it is remarkably easy to use.
I recently signed up for a free trial of Frndly TV and starting streaming in about five minutes. And we’ve already discussed how the service’s channel guide innovates on the standard grid layout, presenting all the programming info you need on large, easy-to-read tiles (perhaps because 47% of Frndly users are age 55+). So congrats to Frndly for finding a way to make an easy thing even more straightforward and accessible.
We’re not sure what Philo could have done to jump 18% from last year’s rating, as we haven’t seen significant changes to the platform. We continue to suspect that some of these higher scores simply reflect overall happiness with the service.
| Service | Extremely or very easy | Hardly or not at all easy |
|---|---|---|
| Frndly TV | 94% | 0% |
| Philo | 89% | 2% |
| Sling TV | 81% | 4% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 79% | 3% |
| YouTube TV | 77% | 5% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 76% | 9% |
| Fubo | 75% | 8% |
How enjoyable were your interactions with your streaming service?
Okay, if a service is easy to use and effectively meets your needs, it’s an enjoyable experience. But sometimes a streaming service gets blamed for several factors that aren’t necessarily their fault—device issues, laggy internet, connection problems, and even user error (don’t feel bad; even we goof up sometimes).
We’re confident that these types of incidents explain Frndly TV’s score dipping here—not that 88% satisfaction is remotely bad. Clearly, most Frndly TV users enjoy using the service and interacting with it through the app, comprehensive Help Center, and live chat.
Philo experienced a massive jump (15%) over 2024, pushing YouTube TV and Hulu Live down a few spots. Here’s a quote from a real Philo customer that might explain the leap in customer experience satisfaction.
Hear from real Philo customers
“Philo has all the channels I watch, and you can’t beat the price. Anytime I’ve ever had the slightest problem, customer support was incredibly helpful.”
| Service | Extremely or very enjoyable | Hardly or not at all enjoyable |
|---|---|---|
| Frndly TV | 88% | 1% |
| Philo | 84% | 4% |
| YouTube TV | 79% | 3% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 78% | 4% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 74% | 11% |
| Sling TV | 74% | 4% |
| Fubo | 72% | 6% |
To what extent has your streaming service met your expectations as a streaming service?
Expectations are simple with live TV streaming services. Does it work? Is it reliable? Does it have what you want to watch? Are you happy with your payment?
We’re starting to feel like a broken record, here. At this point, we think it’s well-established that Frndly TV and Philo meet customers’ expectations to a startling degree. And, once again, the larger services are having a more difficult time with this. That said, every service still met at least 78% of customers’ expectations—except Fubo (72%).
| Service | Extremely or very enjoyable | Hardly or not at all enjoyable |
|---|---|---|
| Frndly TV | 88% | 3% |
| Philo | 87% | 5% |
| YouTube TV | 80% | 3% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 79% | 3% |
| Sling TV | 79% | 4% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 78% | 9% |
| Fubo | 72% | 8% |
Most reliable
We want to know that the services to which we subscribe are reliable and that they’ll work glitch-free every time we fire them up.
Our 2025 survey reveals that some live TV streaming services—like, surprise, Frndly TV and Philo—excel in this aspect, regularly updating their apps to ensure they purr like a kitten.
How reliable is your live TV streaming service?
And, of course, our survey roots out certain services—lookin’ at you, Fubo—that could do better. Fubo finished last and racked up an 11% dissatisfaction rating, indicating its users feel the service has some giant bugs to squash.
| Service | Completely or very satisfied | Hardly or not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Frndly TV | 90% | 1% |
| Philo | 89% | 2% |
| YouTube TV | 78% | 5% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 75% | 8% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 75% | 6% |
| Sling TV | 74% | 8% |
| Fubo | 72% | 11% |
Best bang for your buck
When streaming services (live and on-demand) first popped up, they touted simplicity, flexibility, and affordability. For the most part, all three still apply—but we’re a little worried about affordability in 2025.
Five of our survey’s seven live TV streaming services raised prices in 2023. We’ve seen more price hikes in 2024. Each time it happens, we adjust our budgets to pay the extra cost while considering whether it’s worth it.
Sometimes, we swear we’ll cancel if the prices go up again. Sometimes, we must keep that promise. This is especially true with live TV streaming services, which are becoming as expensive as the traditional cable and satellite TV services they set out to supplant.
Let’s see how live TV streaming customers feel about what they pay lately.
Considering the quality of your live TV streaming service, how would you rate the price you pay?
Frndly TV—the most affordable live TV streaming service, bar none—raised its prices by $1 (about 13%) in September 2023, and its customer satisfaction rating for this question dropped by 5%. Philo jumped from $25 to $28 (about 11%) in June 2024 and saw a 5% spike in satisfaction.
We’re unsure what to make of these disparate reactions to similar price hikes. Maybe some Frndly TV users count on the fantastic low price so much that even a dollar makes a difference.
Philo users appear to recognize that paying less than $30 monthly for what it offers is still a fantastic deal.
As for DIRECTV STREAM, we’re baffled. The service has kept messing with its plans, pricing, and channel lineups for at least the past year. We thought it would drive DIRECTV STREAM customers mad, but 81% of them—18% more than last year—claim satisfaction. Go figure.
| Service | Excellent or good given the quality | Poor or terrible given the quality |
|---|---|---|
| Frndly TV | 89% | 3% |
| Philo | 88% | 3% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 81% | 8% |
| YouTube TV | 80% | 5% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 78% | 5% |
| Fubo | 75% | 11% |
| Sling TV | 75% | 6% |
Considering your expectations for your live TV streaming service, how would you rate the price you pay?
So, 88% of Frndly TV and Philo customers feel their payment matches their expectations of the service—of course they do. Each service clearly states what they’ll get (like small but satisfying channel lineups), what they won’t get (local, news, or sports channels), and how much it’ll cost (shockingly little given what they get). As long as the service is reliable, meeting customer expectations is simple.
| Service | Excellent or good given expectations | Poor or terrible given expectations |
|---|---|---|
| Frndly TV | 88% | 6% |
| Philo | 88% | 4% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 84% | 8% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 78% | 5% |
| YouTube TV | 77% | 5% |
| Sling TV | 75% | 7% |
| Fubo | 72% | 12% |
Hear from real DIRECTV STREAM customers
“Other than the price being higher than I anticipated, the overall DIRECTV [STREAM] is very satisfying.“
Given competitors’ prices, how would you rate the price that you pay?
It’s hard to compete with Frndly TV’s 50+ channels for $10.99 monthly or Philo’s 70+ channels for $28 a month—especially when prices for the more channel-rich live TV streaming services like YouTube TV and Hulu Live continue to climb.
Notably, Fubo needs help here. Only two-thirds of its customers feel it has competitive packages and pricing, and 14% of Fubo users are salty about it.
| Service | Excellent or good given competitors’ prices | Poor or terrible given competitors' prices |
|---|---|---|
| Frndly TV | 89% | 5% |
| Philo | 88% | 3% |
| YouTube TV | 78% | 4% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 77% | 9% |
| Sling TV | 75% | 6% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 74% | 6% |
| Fubo | 67% | 14% |
Highest customer loyalty
What breeds customer loyalty? Giving you what you want is crucial in the streaming TV business because the lack of contracts means users can subscribe or unsubscribe at any time—and they have a slew of options.
Customers show loyalty by recommending the service to others, continuing to subscribe, and increasing spending with the service. We asked our survey base how likely they were to do these things.
How likely are you to recommend your live TV streaming service to a friend?
Word-of-mouth—recommendations from satisfied customers—is golden and must be earned. Perhaps not coincidentally, this year’s three live TV streaming services with the highest overall satisfaction ratings also top the list for this question.
But the headline here is that Philo jumped 19 points to take the top spot after earning a 66% rating in 2024. All this, while Frndly dropped 6 points, YouTube TV got a 4-point bump.
| Service | Completely or very likely | Hardly or not at all likely |
|---|---|---|
| Philo | 85% | 5% |
| Frndly TV | 83% | 5% |
| YouTube TV | 80% | 5% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 77% | 11% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 76% | 7% |
| Fubo | 73% | 8% |
| Sling TV | 71% | 8% |
Hear from real YouTube TV customers
“They have a lot of great shows to choose from and they hardly ever buffer I would recommend this service to anyone.”
How likely are you to continue to subscribe to your live TV streaming service?
Streaming services must also earn our continued business. And, as with so many questions in this year’s survey, Philo and Frndly TV keep pushing the larger streaming services down the list.
Not that YouTube TV’s and Hulu Live’s scores suffered—they maintained about the same percentages as last year. It’s just that Philo and Frndly TV (wait for it) give their customers more of what they want.
| Service | Completely or very likely | Hardly or not at all likely |
|---|---|---|
| Philo | 87% | 4% |
| Frndly TV | 85% | 7% |
| YouTube TV | 80% | 5% |
| DIRECTV STREAM | 79% | 7% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 79% | 5% |
| Sling TV | 79% | 8% |
| Fubo | 76% | 9% |
How likely are you to increase the amount you pay for your live TV streaming service?
Ratings drop like anvils when we ask customers if they would spend more money with their live TV streaming services. It could have something to do with the price hikes.
Strangely, the big takeaway is that two-thirds of DIRECTV STREAM customers would increase their spending on the service. This is despite DIRECTV STREAM having the highest prices of any live TV streaming service and unpredictable fluctuations in its offerings over the past year.
Another interesting result is that more than half of Frndly TV and Philo customers would spend more on the service. We expected brand allegiance for both services to be linked more to their low prices.
| Service | Completely or very likely | Hardly or not at all likely |
|---|---|---|
| DIRECTV STREAM | 66% | 18% |
| Frndly TV | 58% | 28% |
| Philo | 58% | 26% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 57% | 26% |
| YouTube TV | 54% | 27% |
| Fubo | 53% | 32% |
| Sling TV | 48% | 31% |
Methodology
We surveyed 8,097 people across the U.S. to measure satisfaction with their live TV streaming service. Our sample represented broader U.S. demographics (e.g., gender, race, age, etc.) and was analyzed using prevailing industry standards by our data experts. Brand inclusion required at least 100 respondents.
A word about our branding: We know our name, CableTV.com, needs to be clarified. As technology changed, we evolved to cover streaming TV. This is our sixth annual customer satisfaction survey for live TV streaming services, so you can trust our expertise.
If you’re a member of the media and have follow-up questions, feel free to contact us at pr@cabletv.com.
