TBS is an iconic all-around TV channel. With a diverse range of programming from comedy shows to live sporting events, TBS is a channel that appeals to everyone. Even more appealing?
You don’t need an expensive long-term contract with a cable or satellite provider to enjoy TBS. You have lots of other options!
In a hurry? There are lots of things to consider when choosing a streaming service. But these three are our favorites. They give you TBS and lots more:
- 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% with Sling TV.
- Hulu + Live TV: This total entertainment streaming service provides a great on-demand selection and all the essential live TV channels.
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
TBS earned its popularity through a combination of movies and syndicated network shows, and also with some notable live sports like the NCAA basketball tournament, March Madness.
Today, it remains a place where you can reliably catch reruns of popular series from the eighties and nineties such as Seinfeld, Friends, Family Guy, and The Big Bang Theory, in addition to movies, sports, and original comedy series.
So if you want to cut the cord, but don’t think your Wednesdays would be the same without Samantha Bee at the end of the day, you can still enjoy all her sarcastic charm without cable on TBS. Read on to learn how!
How to Watch TBS Live Without Cable
TBS began as an independent Atlanta broadcast station before becoming the nation’s first “superstation” via satellite distribution, pioneering the use of satellite to transmit cable channels.
Through the magic of corporate mergers and acquisitions, Turner Broadcasting (TBS, TNT, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, CNN/HLN, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, and Boomerang) is now a division of WarnerMedia (HBO, Cinemax, and The CW). Warner recently merged with Discovery to form Warner Bros.-Discovery.
TBS, TNT, and truTV are still marketed together, with TBS branded as the home of comedy, TNT specializing in drama, and truTV featuring reality and lifestyle shows with a comedic bent.
TBS may have started out as a broadcast station, but it was officially converted into a conventional basic cable network back in 2007, so even if you do happen to live in the Atlanta area, you still couldn’t pick it up on an antenna. You would need a paid subscription service, which used to come in the form of cable or a home satellite dish.
But now there are several services that stream the same channels live over the internet at a fraction of the price. These over-the-top services are cheaper, more flexible alternatives to traditional cable, with no contracts, commitments, or extra mystery fees.
Below you’ll find more detail on each of these services that carry TBS.
Unblock Your Favorite Movies and Shows With a VPN
If you can’t watch your favorite movies and shows because of your location, a VPN will allow you to get the access you are entitled to, plus extra security and unequalled privacy. Check out our VPN Guide for everything you need to know, including our top pick ExpressVPN.
Other brands worth checking out include Hotspot Shield and CyberGhost.
Streaming Services with TBS
Channels tend to be licensed in bundles, so if one is missing, chances are you aren’t going to find its sister channels, either. For example, FuboTV and Vidgo don’t carry any of the Turner-WarnerMedia channels like TBS. The same goes for bargain provider Philo.
Don’t worry though. You still have lots of options for TBS, TNT, truTV, and all their other sister channels.
Sling TV
| Relevant Channels | Cartoon Network, CNN, TBS, TCM*, TNT, truTV |
| Total Channels | 40+ |
| Cloud DVR | 50 hours |
| Simultaneous Screens | 3 |
| Free Trial | ❌ |
| Sling TV Price** | $40.00/mo |
Sling TV is the oldest OTT service and remains one of the best values. The Sling Blue plan has got a little bit of everything, from shows to movies to sports to family, plus NBC and Fox (depending on your market). All for $40.00/mo.
The plan includes CNN, TBS, TNT, truTV, and Cartoon Network/Adult Swim. If you want Turner Classic Movies (TCM), you will need to get the Hollywood Extra add-on for $6/mo. The CW is not available from Sling TV.
Sling Blue comes with a total of over 40 channels, 50 hours of cloud DVR storage, and 3 simultaneous streams.
Find out more about Sling TV here:
You can also check out our guide to March Madness coverage and schedule, or how to watch AEW every week.
DIRECTV STREAM
| Relevant Channels | Cartoon Network, CNN, TBS, TCM, TNT, truTV |
| Total Channels | 75+ |
| Cloud DVR | Unlimited* |
| Simultaneous Screens | unlimited |
| Free Trial* | 5 days |
| DIRECTV STREAM Price | $79.99/mo |
DIRECTV STREAM (formerly AT&T TV) has all the Turner/WarnerMedia channels in its 75+ channel Entertainment package. It also includes The CW and other local channels. HBO and Cinemax come optionally as premium channels for extra.
The base package is $79.99/mo with a 5-day free trial.
If you subscribe to the Choice ($108.99/mo) or higher package, regional sports channels based on your area are included, and you get 3 months of HBO Max for free.
See our DIRECTV STREAM review for all the details.
Get DIRECTV STREAM Free for 5 Days
Hulu + Live TV
| Relevant Channels | Cartoon Network, CNN, TBS, TCM, TNT, truTV |
| Total Channels | 85+ |
| Cloud DVR | Unlimited* |
| Simultaneous Screens | 2 |
| Free Trial | ❌ |
| Hulu Price | $76.99/mo |
Hulu is known for its hyper-current library of on-demand TV series (typically offering episodes the day after they air, rather than having to wait a year for the most recent season to get to Netflix).
This library includes a few TBS original programs, plus a lot of the shows TBS syndicates. But the important part is that TBS is included in Hulu’s Live TV service.
For $76.99/mo, you get 85+ channels to stream on up to two devices at a time and unlimited cloud DVR (9 month storage). All the Turner and WarnerMedia channels are present and accounted for, except for HBO and Cinemax, which are available as premium channels for an additional fee.
Local stations, including The CW, are available based on location. Learn more:
Try Hulu + Live TV for 3 Days Free!
Other Ways to Stream TBS
Those aren’t the only ways to watch Miracle Workers and other TBS shows. Check out these other ways to stream TBS:
- TBS, TNT, and truTV are all included on YouTube TV, which is currently $72.99/mo.
- Much of TBS’s original programming is available on various services, such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, iTunes, and Vudu. These vary; you can watch by either buying the show by episode or season, and/or subscribing to the service.
- The TBS live stream is available on most devices with the TBS app. You still need a subscription via a cable, satellite, or streaming service.
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. |
Watch TBS on Your TVs and Streaming Devices
All the streaming services we’ve discussed support the major devices in use today:
- Samsung Smart TVs: select models from 2017 through 2020
- TV Devices: Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku
- Android: smartphones and tablets
- iOS: iPhones, iPads, iPod Touch units
- Chromecast: units and built-in systems
- Web browsers: Chrome, Edge, Safari.
Sling TV and Hulu support TVs with the Android TV operating system. They also support LG smart TVs, Amazon Fire tablets, and gaming consoles like Xbox.
Sling TV supports the Oculus VR device. And Hulu supports the PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.
Today’s TBS Schedule
Here is today’s schedule in Eastern Time:
| Friends – The One With the Girl From Poughkeepsie Ross struggles to maintain a long-distance relationship; Chandler's well-intended attempts to get Rachel a date seem to miss the mark; Monica's plan to assert some authority at her new restaurant goes awry. | |
| Friends – The One With Phoebe's Uterus Phoebe's brother (Giovanni Ribisi) asks her to carry a baby for him and his wife; Chandler gets lessons in love; Joey finds himself in a class struggle. | |
| Friends – The One With the Embryos Phoebe undergoes an embryo implant procedure to become a surrogate mother for her brother (Giovanni Ribisi) and his wife (Debra Jo Rupp); Monica and Rachel wager their apartment in a trivia game against Chandler and Joey. | |
| Friends – The One With Rachel's Crush Rachel's setback at work leads to a new romantic interest; Chandler is jealous of Kathy's onstage co-star. | |
| The Big Bang Theory – The Birthday Synchronicity While Howard and Bernadette welcome their new baby into the world, Amy celebrates her own birthday with Sheldon. | |
| The Big Bang Theory – The Holiday Summation Sheldon and Amy visit Penny and Leonard after the holidays and tell them about their terrible trip to Texas. | |
| The Big Bang Theory – The Romance Recalibration Penny thinks Leonard is taking her for granted and decides to go on a spa weekend with Amy; Wolowitz and Koothrappali try to fix a squeaky floorboard in the baby's room. | |
| The Big Bang Theory – The Emotion Detection Automation Sheldon tests an MIT invention after hearing it can help him read people's emotions; Leonard finds out Penny's brother is coming to town; Raj asks his ex-girlfriends to give him dating advice. | |
| The Big Bang Theory – The Locomotion Reverberation Leonard and Wolowitz try to distract Sheldon when he slows the progress of their guidance system; Raj and Stuart look after baby Halley while Penny and Amy take Bernadette for a night out. | |
| The Big Bang Theory – The Allowance Evaporation Sheldon and Amy have their first fight since moving in together; Koothrappali is shocked at the realities of financial independence when he stops receiving support from his father. | |
| MLB on TBS: Leadoff Major League Baseball pregame analysis. | |
| MLB Baseball – New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins The Twins return home to play the high-powered Yankees. Minnesota, MLB's hottest team since mid-April, boasts an 11-8 mark at Target Field. Ryan Jeffers (MIN) has at least one hit in each of his past 10 home games, driving in 10 runs in that span. | |
| MLB on TBS: Closer Major League Baseball postgame interviews, analysis and highlights. | |
| Modern Family – The Old Wagon Phil finally agrees to sell the old station wagon but only after a family trip down memory lane; Cameron asks Jay for help when Mitchell decides to build a life-size princess castle for Lily. | |
| Modern Family – The Kiss Gloria decides to honor her late grandmother by cooking more traditional Colombian meals; Claire finds out Alex is interested in a boy; Mitchell's aversion to public displays of affection causes an argument. | |
| Modern Family – Earthquake When an earthquake hits, Claire gets stuck in the bathroom with the plumber; Manny experiences an existential crisis while out with Jay; Mitchell and Cameron use the quake as an excuse to get out of a party thrown by a friend (Nathan Lane). | |
| Modern Family – Strangers on a Treadmill Claire and Mitchell try to spare their significant others from embarrassment; Haley tries to teach Alex how to be cool. | |
| Modern Family – Unplugged Phil and Claire announce a family challenge after noticing how busy everyone is with electronic devices; Cameron and Mitchell try to get Lily into a good preschool. | |
| Modern Family – Halloween Claire prepares to make the Dunphy house spooky for Halloween; Cameron does not like the holiday because of a traumatic childhood experience; Jay and Manny tease Gloria about her accent. | |
| Modern Family – Chirp Claire and Haley are stuck at home sick; the taunting of a chirping smoke detector has Phil preoccupied; Gloria and Manny's surprise visit at Jay's work leads to headaches for him; Cameron takes Lily for a commercial. | |
| Modern Family – Manny Get Your Gun Manny experiences a minicrisis over getting older; Phil and Claire engage in a car race on the way to a restaurant; Mitch and Cam go to the mall to pick up a gift for Manny's birthday. | |
| Modern Family – Mother Tucker Cameron's mother (Celia Weston) makes Mitchell uncomfortable; Haley breaks up with Dylan. | |
| Modern Family – Dance Dance Revelation Luke and Manny have their first school dance; Jay and Phil take Luke and Manny on a mall run that becomes quite stressful; Mitch and Cam learn that Lily is biting other kids on the playground. | |
| Family Matters – She's Back When Steve goes to Russia, his Southern-belle cousin Myrtle (Jaleel White) visits the Winslows. | |
| Family Matters – Hot Rods to Heck Steve (Jaleel White) tries to protect Laura (Kellie Shanygne Williams) from a smooth-talking senior by challenging him to a drag race. | |
| Family Matters – Talk's Cheap Steve, Myra and Laura (Jaleel White, Michelle Thomas, Kellie Shanygne Williams) join the talk show circuit to discuss unsatisfying romances. With Reginald VelJohnson. | |
| Family Matters – Struck by Lightning Being struck by lightning three times keeps Urkel from going outside. | |
| Family Matters – Best Years of Our Lives Steve volunteers to build the senior-class float for the homecoming parade. | |
| Family Matters – Fa La La La Laagghh! Carl (Reginald VelJohnson) agrees to let Steve (Jaleel White) decorate the Winslow household for the Christmas season. | |
| Young Sheldon – A Tornado, a Ten-Hour Flight and a Darn Fine Ring Sheldon and Mary head to Germany while the rest of the Cooper family braves a tornado that is heading straight for Medford. | |
| Young Sheldon – Pilot Sheldon learns that his high intelligence isn't always helpful growing up in East Texas, where church and football are king. | |
| Young Sheldon – Rockets, Communists, and the Dewey Decimal System To appease his mother, Sheldon tries to make his first friend by following techniques in a self-help book. | |
| Young Sheldon – Poker, Faith, and Eggs George Sr. is rushed to the emergency room; Meemaw comes to baby-sit; the kids have an adventure getting to the hospital on their own. | |
| Young Sheldon – A Therapist, a Comic Book, and a Breakfast Sausage After choking on a breakfast sausage, Sheldon refuses to eat solid foods; he discovers comic books for the first time. | |
| Young Sheldon – A Solar Calculator, a Game Ball, and a Cheerleader's Bosom Sheldon struggles with newfound popularity after utilizing statistics to help the football team. | |
| Friends – The One With Joey's Dirty Day A visit to a strip joint fails to cheer up Chandler; Rachel gets Ross to go to an opera; Charlton Heston finds Joey in a compromising position during a movie shoot. | |
| Friends – The One With All the Rugby Ross takes up rugby to impress Emily (Helen Baxendale); Chandler sets up a ruse to avoid his former girlfriend Janice (Maggie Wheeler). | |
| Friends – The One With the Fake Party Rachel throws a surprise party for Emily so she can invite Joshua; Phoebe develops a craving for meat. | |
| Friends – The One With the Free Porn Ross tells Emily (Helen Baxendale) how he feels about her; Chandler and Joey suddenly receive a free adult TV channel in their apartment; Phoebe gets some surprising news about her pregnancy. | |
| Friends – The One With Rachel's New Dress Ross has concerns about Emily's interests; Rachel's plans for Joshua are upset by a late change of venue. | |
| Friends – The One With All the Haste Ross tries to keep Emily from returning to London; Monica and Rachel attempt to win back their apartment. | |
| Friends – The One With the Wedding Dresses Monica and Phoebe find life in wedding attire has its charm; Rachel asks Joshua for more spontaneity. | |
| Friends – The One With the Invitation Rachel and Ross reminisce separately about when they dated each other; the friends get invitations to Ross's wedding, but not all of them are going. | |
| Friends – The One With the Worst Best Man Ever Chandler and Joey compete to be best man at Ross' wedding; Joey loses Ross' treasured wedding ring; Phoebe suffers extreme mood swings because of her pregnancy. |
Wrapping Up
So if you love tuning in equally to a random 90s sitcom like Seinfeld and an offbeat game show like The Misery Index, don’t give up on TBS just because you’re ready to throw in the towel with your cable company.
Sign up for one of the streaming services listed here, and never miss new episodes of American Dad! again!
FAQ
What is the cheapest way to get TBS?
Sling TV is your cheapest option to get TBS for $40.00/mo. You can also get extras like Kids, News, Lifestyle, and Comedy add-ons, all for just an extra $13/mo. If you absolutely cannot live without TCM, you can add the Hollywood Extra for $6/mo. That’s still only $54/mo for 90+ channels!
The drawback with Sling is its lack of local channels like The CW. However, Hulu + Live TV helps for $76.99/mo, offering The CW in most areas.
Can I get TBS by itself?
You cannot get TBS by itself. If you are an existing customer with a service that supports TV Everywhere, you can sign into TBS’s website or app to watch live or on-demand content. But there’s no service that offers TBS alone, or even just a package of the three Turner-branded channels TBS, TNT, and truTV. At least not yet!
Is TBS on any streaming service?
Yes! It’s actually on several. Your cheapest option is Sling TV at $40.00/mo. You’re most cable-like option is DIRECTV STREAM starting at $79.99/mo. Be careful, though, since several streaming services do not carry any of the Turner channels (such as fuboTV). You can check out our section “Streaming Services with TBS” for more information.
How can I stream TBS for free?
You can’t, not really. DIRECTV STREAM offers a 5-day free trial to new subscribers, which you could take advantage of, and YouTube TV gives you a free week. Some content (very little) is available on the TBS website or app for free (most of it requires a TV provider login).
Sling TV is the cheapest streaming option at $40.00/mo.
Note that TBS may have originated as a over-the-air (OTA) channel in Atlanta, but its current form is a regular cable channel, no longer connected at all with the original Atlanta-based station.
How much does TBS streaming cost?
Since you can’t get TBS just by itself (see above), it costs as much as the service that carries it. The cheapest service that carries TBS is Sling TV, which starts at $40.00/mo. The other services that carry it are all in the $64.99-$69.99 range.
Is TBS free on Roku?
TBS costs the same on Roku as it does on any other device. YouTube TV and DIRECTV STREAM have free trials for their streaming services (seven and five days, respectively), but there is no truly free option for TBS. The cheapest streaming platform that carries TBS is Sling TV, which starts at $40.00/mo
Is TBS on Amazon Prime?
No, but it’s easy to get confused. The TBS app is available in the Amazon App Store (similar to the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store), and this is basically the same app you’d get for Android or iOS, but for Amazon Fire tablets (or phones). It requires a TV provider login.
If TBS were available to watch through Amazon Prime Video, it would be on Amazon Prime Video Channels, which it is not.
To sum up: you cannot get the live TBS channel through Amazon Prime Video.
What are the TBS streaming options?
Streaming services that carry TBS: Sling TV, DIRECTV STREAM, Hulu + Live TV, and YouTube TV. Sling TV is best for people who want to be able to fine-tune a small number of channels. DIRECTV STREAM has a cable-esque large package of channels, and has the biggest selection of regional sports networks.
Hulu + Live TV comes with Hulu (on-demand), Disney+, and ESPN+ included. And YouTube TV is similar to Hulu Live, but with slightly more channels and no Disney+/ESPN+ love.
What are the best TV shows on TBS?
TBS has a wide variety of TV shows, though it specializes in comedy. It has some popular original comedies (Chad) and a satisfying selection of oddball unscripted programs, like AEW Dynamite and Celebrity Show-Off, but some of its most popular shows are its syndicated favorites, like The Big Bang Theory. Here’s a rundown of some of their biggest draws:
- Chad
- Miracle Workers
- The Big Bang Theory
- Celebrity Show-Off
- AEW Dynamite
- American Dad!
- 2 Broke Girls
- Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses
- Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
- The Cube
- Friday Night Vibes
- Conan
What sports are on TBS?
TBS, through its history as a Turner network, has the rights to several important sporting events. As mentioned, it airs a lot of March Madness games. It’s also joint-home to the Stanley Cup playoffs and Final and the NBA playoffs and Finals. Check out our Stanley Cup Playoff Schedule guide for more info on NHL championship channels.
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