CableTV.com’s Best of the Best Awards 2025: Live TV Streaming Services
We researched, tested, and ranked seven top live TV streaming services—and surveyed 8,097 real customers—to find the Best of the Best across four key categories.
Best of the Best live TV streaming services
In my five years of researching and testing live TV streaming services, I’ve watched them become more like traditional cable and satellite TV providers as they raise prices, add fees, and potentially drop channels due to carriage disputes. It’s not just me. And, judging from complaints we saw in our annual customer satisfaction survey, customers also noticed.
Still, we saw some of the highest satisfaction numbers ever in our annual survey, and the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Television Service Provider Satisfaction StudySM found that live TV streamers are more satisfied than traditional cable and satellite TV customers. I credit that to the live TV streaming services, despite the cable-like changes, still being simpler, more flexible cable alternatives—while cable TV providers work out how to evolve and compete.
In CableTV.com’s annual Best of the Best awards, we highlight live TV streaming services that stand out in four key categories and determine which one stands out as the Best of the Best.
Compare the Best of the Best in live TV streaming
The other editors and writers at CableTV.com and I constantly research and do hands-on tests of live TV streaming services, evaluating them based on value, user experience, customer experience, features, loyalty, and overall satisfaction.
Let’s look at how the services stack up against each other and which of them earned our Best of the Best awards.
What do real customers think of our top live TV streaming services?
| Service | Overall satisfaction | Customer experience | Customer loyalty | Price satisfaction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIRECTV STREAM | 74% | 79% | 77% | 81% |
| Frndly TV | 87% | 90% | 83% | 89% |
| Fubo | 68% | 77% | 73% | 75% |
| Hulu + Live TV | 78% | 79% | 76% | 78% |
| Philo | 88% | 89% | 85% | 88% |
| Sling TV | 75% | 76% | 71% | 75% |
| YouTube TV | 79% | 80% | 80% | 80% |
Each year, we survey thousands of real customers (8,097 in 2024) who subscribe to the top seven live TV streaming services. Again, we saw higher satisfaction ratings than in our previous surveys. The real headline, however, is that lower-priced niche services dominated the study.
Philo (88%) and Frndly TV (87%) had overall satisfaction ratings 9–14% higher than pricier, full-featured services like YouTube TV (79%), Hulu + Live TV (78%), and DIRECTV STREAM (74%). Philo and Frndly TV also earned top-three ratings on pretty much all 21 questions.
I attribute the two services’ impressive survey performance to their simplicity. Philo and Frndly TV offer generous channel lineups for a price so low it feels like a steal. That’s a foolproof way to make people happy, which is especially true when the alternatives cost 66–95% more and keep raising prices.
Ranking streaming services by price and value
| Service | Price (Feb. 2025)* | Value (out of 5) | Price satisfaction |
|---|---|---|---|
|
DIRECTV STREAM ULTIMATE |
$74.99–$154.99/mo. | 1.25 | 88% |
| Frndly TV | $6.99–$10.99/mo. | 4.00 | 89% |
| Fubo | $84.99–$94.99/mo. | 2.00 | 80% |
| Hulu + Live TV | $81.99–$95.99/mo. | 4.00 | 78% |
| Philo | $28.00/mo. | 5.00 | 75% |
| Sling TV | $45.99–$60.99/mo. | 2.25 | 81% |
| YouTube TV | $82.99/mo. | 4.25 | 75% |
* Amount depends on plan
Price tracking is an essential part of my research into these streaming services.
Let’s split our seven top live TV streaming services into two groups. First, we have the smaller niche services Frndly TV and Philo, which cost $6.99–$28.00 monthly for 50–70+ channels—but neither service has local or sports channels, and only Philo has news (one channel). These niche streamers give you a lot for a little and have small, infrequent price hikes and, as I’ve pointed out, higher customer satisfaction.
The second group includes the mainstream live TV streaming services: YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, DIRECTV STREAM, Fubo, and Sling TV. They cost $45.99–$154.99 per month for 45–290+ channels. All have local channels, but Sling TV has them only in select markets.
These more robust live TV streaming services are the ones that can feel more like cable TV providers. They have higher prices, more frequent rate increases, and multiple plans. Some, like DIRECTV STREAM and Fubo, include regional sports networks (RSNs), which cost up to $16.00 more per month. Despite this, these services have relatively high satisfaction ratings.
When calculating value ratings for each service, I considered pricing, number of plans, free trials, hidden costs, and price hike frequency (this Stream TV Insider piece is an interesting look at that). Each service started with 5 points. I then made the following deductions if services had:
- High pricing: -1 point
- Hidden fees: -1 point
- Price increases: Up to -2 points based on frequency
- More than two plans: -1 points
- No free trial: -1 point
Ultimately, Philo, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and Frndly TV have the best value, while DIRECTV STREAM, Fubo, and Sling TV have the worst.
CableTV.com’s Best of the Best Awards in live TV streaming up close
Here are our 2025 Best of the Best awards for live TV streaming services. Let’s take a deeper look at each of them and explain why we singled them out.
Best of the Best: YouTube TV
If you didn’t have to worry about cost, what live TV streaming service would you pick? The one that has everything you could possibly want: the Best of the Best.
To determine which of the top seven live TV streaming services deserved that distinction, I evaluated five categories: value, channels, features, user experience, and customer satisfaction.
In the first four areas, I gave each service the highest possible score—5 out of 5—and, where applicable, deducted (and occasionally added) points based on my findings. For customer satisfaction, I multiplied each service’s overall customer satisfaction score (a percentage) by 5.
For the third year in a row, YouTube TV is the Best of the Best for live TV streaming services. It scored 3.95 or higher in all five areas, so it has what I’d want from a live TV streaming service if money was no object.
YouTube TV’s generous, well-curated channel lineup ensures I’ll have plenty of quality movies and shows to watch, and the satisfying user experience and fantastic features make streaming YouTube TV a pleasure. High customer satisfaction lets me know in advance that other people are happy with the service, and its reasonable price gives me the satisfaction of a good deal—‘cause, in real life, money does matter.
Check out our guide to the Best Live TV Streaming Services to read my more detailed thoughts on YouTube TV.
Hear from a real YouTube TV customer:
“YouTube TV has provided us the best options versus the other streaming services. It's a tad expensive, but the quality is worth it.”
Editor’s Choice: Hulu + Live TV
Since the CableTV.com staff researches and tests live TV streaming services, we use them all. But which one do we use when watching TV for pleasure? If you guessed the Best of the Best (YouTube TV), you’re only partially correct.
Frankly, since we have the luxury of work-paid subscriptions, I use another live TV streaming service almost as much as YouTube TV. And, were it not for its convoluted, visually dreary user interface and paywalled unlimited simultaneous streams, I would’ve named this other service the Best of the Best.
Instead, I made Hulu Live our Editor’s Choice pick. With the exceptions noted above, Hulu + Live TV has everything I’d want from a live TV streaming service. More, actually, thanks to its inclusion of Hulu On-Demand, Disney+, and ESPN+. And since Hulu Live has so much to watch, I use it frequently.
With some tweaks, Hulu Live could compete for Best of the Best next year. Until then, read more of my thoughts on Hulu + Live TV in our Best Live TV Streaming Services guide.
Hear from a real Hulu + Live TV customer
“I've had Hulu for about five years now, and the only complaint I've had is the price increase.”
Pro tip: Most live TV streaming services’ on-demand content comes from the channels they carry and may be the edited-for-TV versions with ads. Hulu + Live TV’s on-demand library is not only larger but also uncensored and (depending on your plan) ad-free.
Best Bang for Your Buck: Philo
When my budget’s tight and dictates what I can afford, I know I have to settle for less than the best. But, like most people, I still want the most for my money.
When sorting out which live TV streaming service has the best bang for your buck (value), I used the rating process described earlier in this piece. As a reminder, I looked at price, plans, trials, hidden fees, and price increases. Starting with the max score of 5, I made deductions if a service had high prices, hidden fees, more than two plans, frequent price hikes, or didn’t offer a free trial.
Surprisingly, one service had a perfect bang-for-your-buck score.
Philo may lack local and sports channels (and have only one news channel), but you get a lot for the low, low price of $28 a month: One simple plan, 70+ entertainment channels, unlimited Cloud DVR, 10 user profiles, and unrestricted password sharing. That’s why I gave the service our Best Bang for Your Buck award.
To learn more about Philo’s value, read my guide to the Best Live TV Streaming Services.
Hear from a real Philo customer:
“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.”
Best of the Best for Sports: DIRECTV STREAM
Live sports, for some users, supersedes things like value. These folks want the most sports channels, lots of Cloud DVR space, and ideally some cool sports-centric features.
Skeptical? Well, the Best of the Best for Sports award went to a live TV streaming service we often criticize for having abysmal value for most users but oddly high customer satisfaction numbers:
- 81% of this service’s customers say it has high bang for your buck.
- 85% love its user experience.
- 77% of customers would recommend it to a friend.
- 66%—more than any other service—would pay even more for it.
I strongly suspect most of these users are sports fans.
Sportsball is what DIRECTV STREAM (and its satellite sister DIRECTV) does best. Take it from CableTV.com Sports Editor Taylor Kujawa: “With 30+ sports channels, [DIRECTV STREAM] boasts a robust lineup that includes national and in-market broadcasts. In fact, DIRECTV STREAM has the best local and regional coverage of any streaming service, making it ideal for fans who need access to local teams and niche competitions.”
DIRECTV STREAM also has two special features. One is the Sports Central carousel menu, which organizes live and upcoming events and provides easy access to NFL RedZone and an NFL League Page. The other, a free RSN lookup tool, helps you find regional sports networks in your area.
You might pay more for DIRECTV STREAM and its bountiful sportsball content, but it might be worth it. Read more about the service in our Best Live TV Streaming Services guide.
Hear from a real DIRECTV STREAM customer:
“To me, DIRECTV is the ideal streaming platform [because it has a] wide variety of channels, movies, and sports.”
