If you are a fan of reality shows, A&E is probably essential. But due to the channel’s popularity, it is widely provided by live TV streaming services. Read on to learn how you can get it without a cable provider.
In a hurry? Several of the top streaming services offer A&E. These are the best:
- DIRECTV STREAM: Makes it easy to switch from cable to streaming with their 75+ channel Entertainment plan and options for much more. A 5-day free trial is now available for DIRECTV STREAM.
- Sling TV: The top low-cost streaming service provides a great base channel lineup in both its plans. Save 50% your first month with Sling TV.
- Philo: This service gives you 70+ live TV channel for just $25/mo!
If you can’t watch your favorite movies and shows because of your location, try ExpressVPN to get access to the content you deserve.
Table Of Contents
A&E is the flagship cable TV channel of A+E Networks, which also encompasses History, Lifetime, Crime + Investigation, and Spike Jonze’s Vice.
The channel is still trying to recover from the cancellation in 2020 of its biggest hit Live PD, and it has a couple of brand new series starting in early 2022 to help it do that: the reality drama Adults Adopting Adults and documentary serial Secrets of Playboy.
You can stream pay TV channels like A&E through the internet at a fraction of the price of cable or satellite, with no contracts or inconvenient installation appointments. Read on for more details.
What Is A&E
Once the Arts & Entertainment Network, the A&E channel used to be up there with PBS as a source of cultural, academic, intellectual programming — such as its Emmy- and Peabody-award-winning series, Biography and British co-productions and imports.
Over the years, it has succumbed to the same channel drift that claimed its sister channel History and most of the Discovery channels. Now, its content is largely a mixture of reality shows like Storage Wars and true crime documentaries like Killer Cases.
A&E was riding high as the #8 cable channel in ratings in 2020 when George Floyd was killed, prompting the network to put its top-rated show Live PD on indefinite hiatus.
With the controversy around the Austin, TX police department’s handling of Javier Ambler’s death while in custody while filming the show, A&E decided to make the hiatus permanent. Given it was many viewers’ favorite show, half its audience left overnight and the network dropped to #20.
It didn’t help that the show occupied multiple primetime evenings, giving A&E channel a giant hole in its programming schedule that they had to scramble to fill.
It’s not the first time A&E has canceled a show amid political controversy and experienced a viewer backlash. In 2013, after one year on the air, Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson was first put on hiatus, then reinstated, ticking off viewers on both sides of the controversy.
The network announced last year that it was going to focus on “total-audience metrics” versus the traditionally coveted 18-54-year-old group. According to entertainment analysts, this means they’re going to be focusing on the 55-and-over crowd.
However, a recent documentary on Janet Jackson that aired on both A&E and Lifetime did very well across all age groups, so things could be looking up again.
A&E Shows
The top TV shows on A&E include:
- Biography
- Cold Case Files
- Court Cam
- Hoarders
- Intervention
- Secrets of Playboy
- Storage Wars
- Voices Magnified.
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Other brands worth checking out include Hotspot Shield and CyberGhost.
How to Stream A&E
A&E’s sister channels at A+E Networks are FYI, History, Military History, Lifetime, LMN (Lifetime Movie Network), and Crime + Investigation. You can watch similar content — unscripted reality and documentaries — on Discovery’s TLC, NBCUniversal’s Bravo, and AMC Networks‘ WE tv.
Most of the major streaming services offer the A&E channel. The two major exceptions are FuboTV and YouTube TV.
Philo
Philo is a huge bargain, especially if you like the A+E channels. For $25/mo, you get over 60 channels, including all the A+E channels (except Military History) plus TLC and WE tv.
It doesn’t carry WarnerMedia, NBCUniversal (no Bravo), or Disney-owned channels. It’s also missing sports and your local networks. But it does come with a great interface, unlimited DVR, and streaming on up to 3 devices at once. And only Frndly is cheaper (see below).
Get all the details in our Philo review.
Sling TV
Sling TV lets you create your own custom package. It’s as close to a la carte cable as you’ll ever get. But you don’t even need that. A&E, Bravo, History, Lifetime, TLC, and Vice are all right there in the Sling Blue base plan for $40.00/mo. (Alternatively, you can get Sling Orange, which comes with fewer channels but does include ESPN and Disney Channel.)
Grab the Lifestyle Extra add-on for $6/mo to get FYI, LMN, WE tv, and more. 50 hours of cloud DVR are included, and you can watch Sling Blue on up to 3 devices at the same time.
Learn everything in our Sling TV review.
DIRECTV STREAM
If it’s in the top 50 cable channels, it’s likely that DIRECTV STREAM (formerly AT&T TV) carries it. So it’s not surprising at all to find A&E, Lifetime, History, TLC, Vice, WE tv, and Bravo all in the base tier, the Entertainment Package, which runs $79.99/mo.
DIRECTV STREAM also gives you all your local stations, as well as unlimited cloud DVR and unlimited devices streaming in your home at the same time.
For more, see our DIRECTV STREAM review.
Get DIRECTV STREAM Free for 5 Days
Hulu + Live TV
Hulu + Live TV offers over 85 live TV channels, and, as the name says, Hulu. That means thousands of on-demand shows and movies. But that’s not all! It also comes with Disney+ and ESPN+.
The base plan is $76.99/mo and includes A&E, Bravo, FYI, History, Lifetime, LMN, TLC, and Vice. If you toss on the Entertainment Add-on, you can get Crime + Investigation and Military History — it’s the only service that carries the latter.
Check out our Hulu + Live TV review for details.
Try Hulu + Live TV for 3 Days Free!
Other Ways to Stream A&E
None of those grab you? Don’t worry, there are more ways to stream The Art of Entertainment:
- Frndly TV: Frndly TV is a skinny bundle of over 30 general information, educational, and family live and on-demand channels starting at $7.99/mo. They recently reached an agreement with A+E to carry all of A&E’s sister networks. Other channels include the Hallmark Channel, Weather Channel, INSP, and BYU TV. (Frndly TV review)
- A&E Crime Central: A&E’s on-demand collection of 900+ true crime and justice system series and specials curated from A&E, History, and Lifetime/LMN. Featured shows include Dog the Bounty Hunter, After the First 48, 60 Days In, and Female Forces.
- Hulu: Hulu’s on-demand library starts at only $6.99/mo and contains over a dozen of A&E’s juiciest true crime and legal documentaries and series, as well as Storage Wars and Duck Dynasty.
- A&E App: Most devices allow you to watch A&E live and on-demand with this app. It requires that you have a TV provider to use it via TV Everywhere. You can similarly watch right on the A&E website.
Superpower Your Live TV Streaming With a VPN
You can’t beat a VPN for privacy, security, and access. We have used them for years as an important part of our streaming toolkit and we recommend ExpressVPN. Other brands worth checking out include Hotspot Shield and CyberGhost.
| i | See our VPN Buyer’s Guide for complete information on how to choose the best VPN for your needs. |
Supported Devices to Stream A&E
Most of the streaming services listed above support the devices in use today. We’ll just go over the most popular devices but you can find complete lists in the streaming reviews.
Android TV-based televisions are not supported by DIRECTV STREAM but they are by the other services. In contrast, DIRECTV STREAM allows you to use its own device, which can make the switch to streaming easier.
You can also cast to your TV from a smartphone, tablet, or web browser using Chromecast that is either built-in or added as an external device. This is supported by all services.
Samsung smart TVs are supported by Hulu, Sling, and DIRECTV. Sling and Hulu also support LG and VIZIO smart TVs.
All the services support the popular TV “stick” devices: Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku. They also support mobile devices with iOS (iPhone, iPad) and Android.
The Xbox One gaming system is supported by Sling and Hulu. PlayStation and Nintendo Switch are supported by Hulu. And finally, Sling TV supports the Oculus VR system.
Today’s A&E Schedule
Here is today’s schedule in Eastern Time:
| Neighborhood Wars – Ding Dong, I'm Divorcing You A Texas woman is left reeling when a doorbell camera captures her husband's cheating ways; a property line dispute in New Jersey pits a new home owner against a neighbor; a snowball fight in Seattle unleashes an alarming chain of events. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – Stray Cats, Wild Neighbor An Arizona man and his family endure years of intimidation from one of their neighbors; a disagreement over the feeding of stray cats leads to gunshots being fired into a neighbor's apartment; an infant dangles from a high-rise balcony. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – Misadventures in Babysitting The constant beeping of a painter's lift drives a Colorado neighbor to threaten to sever the hydraulic cables with a bolt cutter; in Georgia, a neighbor calls the police on a Black babysitter; a brawl breaks out on a California beach. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – The Big UN-easy A New Orleans man trims branches off his neighbors' hedge so he can park his car in the street, sparking their fury; neighbors in California take exception to workers climbing over their fence to fix a blocked sewer pipe. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – Two Full Moons On a full moon, a stranger sets up an erotic photo shoot on a neighbor's porch; two Floridian landscapers are shocked when a woman begins hurling insults; a tenant becomes incensed by his landlord's unannounced visits and decides to lock her out. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – Elevator Screamer In Twin Creeks, Indiana, two couples take on the neighbor who is making their lives a misery. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – Who Stole My Pickleball Accusations fly in a California neighborhood when pickleball equipment goes missing; neighbors in New York City throw eggs at a man for his extreme views; a homeowner wades through his options as his apartment slowly fills with water. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – Sucked into a Tornado Neighbors in Dayton, Ohio quarrel after construction nails apparently litter a yard where children play; in Olympia, Wash., a couple is awoken by the sound of a neighbor playing basketball against their garage door. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – How Mean Can I Be A South Pasadena woman becomes enraged when a film crew shoots a commercial on her street; a dispute over dogs between neighboring residents in Indiana sparks a feud with an unexpected twist. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – Knock It Off, Neighbor! A couple in Florida are terrified when their neighbor repeatedly bangs on their apartment door looking for a missing bike; a Florida man deals with a trespasser; an allegedly stolen yacht crashes into a dock full of neighbors' boats. | |
| Customer Wars – Convenience Store Chaos In Kansas City, Mo., a convenience store clerk and a customer get into a heated and prolonged confrontation; in North Carolina, two sibling whitewater rafting guides physically fight each other on a raft as it makes its way down a river. | |
| Customer Wars – Stadium Scramble In Lebanon, Ore., a pay-it-forward chain at a coffee shop drive-thru gets derailed when a customer is accused of cutting the line; at a restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz., a mother with her baby is confronted by another patron. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – The Grill Sergeant An Illinois man gets threatened by his landlord's son over a lease dispute; two women in Oklahoma have an argument over the right to cook on a charcoal grill; a neighbor loses his temper over parking in Alexandria, Va. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – Party Animal A fight between neighbors in Massachusetts turns shocking when one of the men gets behind the wheel of his SUV; a North Carolina couple running a rescue home for pot-bellied pigs contends with a "party animal" neighbor. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – Who Stole My Pickleball Accusations fly in a California neighborhood when pickleball equipment goes missing; neighbors in New York City throw eggs at a man for his extreme views; a homeowner wades through his options as his apartment slowly fills with water. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – Sucked into a Tornado Neighbors in Dayton, Ohio quarrel after construction nails apparently litter a yard where children play; in Olympia, Wash., a couple is awoken by the sound of a neighbor playing basketball against their garage door. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – How Mean Can I Be A South Pasadena woman becomes enraged when a film crew shoots a commercial on her street; a dispute over dogs between neighboring residents in Indiana sparks a feud with an unexpected twist. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – Knock It Off, Neighbor! A couple in Florida are terrified when their neighbor repeatedly bangs on their apartment door looking for a missing bike; a Florida man deals with a trespasser; an allegedly stolen yacht crashes into a dock full of neighbors' boats. | |
| Customer Wars – Convenience Store Chaos In Kansas City, Mo., a convenience store clerk and a customer get into a heated and prolonged confrontation; in North Carolina, two sibling whitewater rafting guides physically fight each other on a raft as it makes its way down a river. | |
| Customer Wars – Stadium Scramble In Lebanon, Ore., a pay-it-forward chain at a coffee shop drive-thru gets derailed when a customer is accused of cutting the line; at a restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz., a mother with her baby is confronted by another patron. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – The Grill Sergeant An Illinois man gets threatened by his landlord's son over a lease dispute; two women in Oklahoma have an argument over the right to cook on a charcoal grill; a neighbor loses his temper over parking in Alexandria, Va. | |
| Neighborhood Wars – Party Animal A fight between neighbors in Massachusetts turns shocking when one of the men gets behind the wheel of his SUV; a North Carolina couple running a rescue home for pot-bellied pigs contends with a "party animal" neighbor. | |
| House Stealing - The Latest Cyberthreat and How To Protect Your Home Home Title Lock - Title Theft is Real and Your Equity is at Risk. Protect the Title to Your Home Today with America's Leader in Home Title Monitoring, Change Alerts and Title Restoration. | |
| Overwhelmed with IRS Debt? Keys to Resolving Tax Debt See how one company is changing people's lives by helping them put their tax problems to rest. | |
| Paid Programming Paid programming. | |
| Portable Oxygen Inogen® is a leading global medical technology company offering innovative respiratory products for use in the homecare setting. | |
| David Jeremiah Dr. David Jeremiah's goal is to deliver the unchanging Word of God to an ever-changing world. | |
| Joni: Table Talk Joni and guests tackle a wide range of relevant issues, controversial subjects and hard-hitting news topics with candor and wit. | |
| Parking Wars Hawk races to his brother-in-law's rescue when a woman flies into a rage, physically blocking him from towing her car; John and Rob meet angry resistance while keeping private lots clear for legitimate customers. | |
| Parking Wars A Staten Island woman accuses JoJo of doing the devil's work; Eric tries his best to remain courteous despite being disrespected; a citizen refuses to heed Maria's warning. | |
| Parking Wars Jojo is ambushed by a repeat offender in Staten Island; Noreen stands firm against an irate store owner parked in a bus zone. | |
| Parking Wars The length of Ponytail's hair and that of a city bus are challenged; an angry car owner attempts to re-claim his abandoned vehicle; taxi drivers skirt the law. | |
| Parking Wars Eric tickets parking violators with machinelike precision; enraged car owners try to retrieve their vehicles from Hawk's tow lot; Sonja squares off with an incensed citizen who claims he was misled. | |
| Parking Wars Steve takes abuse from a belligerent man; boxing legend Thomas Hearns gets ticketed by Lashelle; Judge Caprio listens to excuses as citizens fight their tickets. | |
| Court Cam A look at some of the wildest courtroom moments -- a defendant becomes a one-man army when he takes on a team of court officers; the brother of a murder victim tries to get revenge in court; a defendant takes aim at a judge. | |
| Court Cam A man attacks his neighbor, then faces jail time; a defendant ordered to turn himself in makes a run for it; a man has an outburst over his bond amount. | |
| Court Cam A distraught family member seeks revenge for his nephew's murder; a mouthy defendant talks his way right into jail; a drunken lawyer tries to slur his way out of trouble and fails; and more. | |
| Court Cam An intoxicated judge attempts to use his connections to get out of a DUI; a man convicted of murder apologizes face-to-face to the daughter of his victim; an armed gunman breaks into a local courthouse. | |
| Court Cam A police confrontation with an armed gunman ends with deadly consequences; a no-nonsense judge makes a shocking revelation during sentencing; a convicted killer explodes in court. | |
| Court Cam A reckless driver ends up in court after a shocking car chase caught on camera; an obscene screen name gets a defendant in hot water; a Hollywood actress ends up in jail. | |
| Court Cam A shocking road rage incident captured on video leads to an even stranger court appearance; a convicted murderer admits to killing his own cellmate; a judge charges an alleged domestic violence victim with contempt of court. | |
| Court Cam An angry family member of a murder victim seeks his own courtroom justice; a revelation during a court Zoom hearing leads to a real-time shocking conclusion; a judge holds nothing back when sentencing two men of the worst crimes he's ever heard. | |
| Court Cam A handcuffed defendant attacks her lawyer; a sex offender's mom takes offense at his bail hearing; a judge dresses down a panty thief. | |
| Court Cam A convicted hit man loses control in court; a tardy defendant drops an F-bomb during a Zoom hearing; a judge fights for his parking space. | |
| The First 48 – Freestyling When a man is found shot and dumped in the road, detectives learn how his struggle to overcome obstacles left him headed for a collision with someone on the edge. | |
| The First 48 – A Beautiful Life A young Tulsa father is shot several times in his driveway after putting his 1-year-old daughter to bed; Detective Jason White hopes a pill bottle found on the scene will help lead to the killer. | |
| The First 48 – Walk in the Park When a man is gunned down while walking his dogs in a quiet park, surveillance video leads detectives to an unlikely suspect. |
Wrapping Up
So don’t miss out on any of your favorite A&E programs. Sign up for one of the services above, and you can go ahead and sweep your cable bill right under the rug without missing any episodes of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures or Extreme Unboxing.
Our top recommendation to watch A&E is Philo. Try Philo free for 7 days.
FAQs
Are A&E shows available on-demand?
A&E shows certainly are available on-demand! All of the services above except Vidgo have at least some on-demand content, which generally contains at least recent episodes of current shows. In addition, Hulu has a number of A&E series available and Amazon Prime Video has some included as well (and some you have to buy).
You could also subscribe to A&E Crime Central, A+E Networks’ on-demand library of true crime-related programming from across its major channels, either by itself directly through A+E or through Amazon Prime Channels, Apple TV Channels, or Roku Channels.
Is A&E available on FuboTV?
Sadly, FuboTV (and YouTube TV) have not reached an agreement with A+E Networks to carry any of its channels, which is why you won’t see FYI, Crime + Investigation, either of the History channels, either of the Lifetime channels, or Vice on those services either.
What is the cheapest way to get A&E?
That would be Frndly TV at $7.99/mo. It’s a mix of on-demand and live channels including Local Now, UPtv, Outdoor Channel, Game Show Network — basically a lineup of cable TV’s Most Inoffensive Channels, ranging from completely neutral (The Weather Channel) to religious-tinged (Dove Channel, BYU TV) to determinedly wholesome (Hallmark, INSP). They just acquired the A+E Networks channels, including A&E.
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