Sundance TV is a bit of a mixed bag these days. But it’s still a good place to go to see interesting independent films from around the world. And it’s easy to get without cable.
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- Philo: This service gives you 70+ live TV channel for just $25/mo!
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Table Of Contents
Sundance TV is yet another victim of channel drift, the wandering away of a once-niche TV network from its original wheelhouse. In this case, indie documentaries, short films, and world cinema.
But while Sundance these days does carry NCIS reruns, it also still has some international independent films. Read on for a closer look.
What Is Sundance TV
Sundance TV is indeed named for the famed Sundance Film Festival founded by Robert Redford. Of course, the festival was named for his breakout role in the classic 1969 George Roy Hill western, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
It was first launched as The Sundance Channel in 1996 by Redford, Showtime (which would become part of Paramount Global), and PolyGram (which ended up part of NBCUniversal). In 2008, it was purchased by what is now AMC Networks, which also owned Sundance’s main rival, the Independent Film Channel (IFC).
Sundance TV is joined by its AMC sister-channels IFC in showcasing independent film, AMC for prestige drama series, ShortsTV for exclusively short-form productions, BBC American and BBC World News for Anglophiles, and WE tv for women-centered family and lifestyle reality.
AMC also offers the subscription-based streaming services Shudder (horror movies), Allblk (targeting viewers of color), Acorn TV (British and other English-speaking, non-American film and TV), AMC+, WE tv+, Sundance Now (more on this below), IFC Films Unlimited, and AMC Premiere.
Other non-AMC channels that cover international or independent films or film festivals are Fandor, Cinefest, Magnolia Selects, and Warriors & Gangsters.
Sundance TV Shows
Sundance TV still has some stuff to interest fans of films from the festival circuit, more artistic or avant-garde fare, British film and TV, and high(er)-brow reality shows. Its independent films from around the world include some that appeared at the Sundance Film Festival.
But you won’t find those on the schedule most weeks. Instead, there are classic TV shows from just about every decade going back to the fifties and sixties.
And there are a few movies on the weekends like Young Guns starring Emilio Estevez, Man on Fire and Training Day with Denzel Washington, and Casino and Heat with Robert de Niro. These are all more what you would expect on AMC.
Featured shows on the Sundance TV website (available on-demand with TV provider credentials):
- State of the Union†
- NCIS
- Columbo
- JAG
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent
- This Close†
- Back (British)
- Green Porno
- Mammas
- Seduce Me
† Sundance TV Original
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Stream Sundance TV
Sundance TV isn’t hard to find. Most streaming services carry it. Channel lineups, prices, and additional features vary widely. But that means you can find a package that fits your viewing style and not pay for extras you don’t want (like with cable or satellite).
Let’s get down to some details.
Philo
Philo is your go-to service for saving money. For $25/mo, you get over 60 channels, a few of them being Sundance TV, AMC, BBC America, BBC World News, IFC, and WE tv.
You also get unlimited cloud DVR and you can stream on up to 3 devices. The trade-off is no NBCUniversal (Bravo, Syfy, USA), WarnerMedia (TBS, CNN, Cartoon Network), Disney (Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform), local stations (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox), or any sports or news channels (except BBC World News).
For everything you need to know, see our Philo review.
Sling TV
Sling TV is a smorgasbord of channel options. You pick a base package ($40.00/mo), and then customize it with extras and add-ons. The result is a custom package that’s cheaper if you like a few niche channels, but can get more expensive if you really enjoy the options of flipping through 80-140 networks.
Sundance TV fans will have to make a few choices: go for Sundance TV in the Hollywood Extra ($6/mo) or get AMC+ Extra ($7/mo), which includes on-demand access to content from AMC, BBC America, IFC, and Sundance TV as well as full access to IFC Films Unlimited, Shudder, and Sundance Now.
Sling also contains the most robust selection of premium add-on channels, and many feature indie and international movies and TV: Acorn TV, Cinefest, IFC Films Unlimited, Magnolia Selects, Shudder, and Warriors & Gangsters.
All Sling plans come with 50 hours of cloud DVR. The Sling Blue plan comes with streaming on up to 3 devices but the Sling Orange is limited to one. See our Sling TV review.
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM is the closest you get to traditional cable. If you liked everything about cable except the bill, the contract, and installation appointment, sign up! But it’s better than even that.
Its Entertainment Package ($79.99/mo) has the biggest percentage of the most popular cable channels, including Sundance TV, AMC, BBC America, and WE tv. If you want ShortsTV and IFC, you’ll have to upgrade to the Choice Package ($108.99/mo).
All plans come with unlimited cloud DVR (online sign-up) and streaming on unlimited devices at once. For more details, see our DIRECTV STREAM review.
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YouTube TV
YouTubeTV offers over 85 channels for $72.99/mo, including Sundance TV, AMC, BBC America, BBC World News, IFC, and WE tv. They also have an expansive collection of a la carte premium channels (not as good as Sling TV, however) to choose from: Acorn TV, AMC+, Fandor, IFC Films Unlimited, Shudder, Sundance Now, and WE tv+ are just a few.
Sundance Now
Sundance Now is Sundance’s subscription-based on-demand streaming service. It’s got all the independent, international, original stuff that used to be the focus of Sundance TV.
New content is added every week. Current popular items are Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle (a Sundance Now Exclusive), season 2 of The Split, The Little Drummer Girl, and A Discovery of Witches (a Sundance Now/Shudder Original).
Membership starts at $6.99/mo, or $59.99/yr, and you can subscribe through Sling TV or YouTubeTV or just go to the Sundance Now website and sign up through them.
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TVs and Devices to Watch Sundance TV
Pretty much any smart TV or other streaming device that you’ve purchased in the last few years should be supported by the streaming services we’ve discussed above. These include:
- Amazon Fire TV
- Apple TV
- Android mobile
- Chromecast
- iOS devices
- Roku
- Web browsers
Philo doesn’t support Samsung smart TVs, but the others do. And DIRECTV STREAM doesn’t support Android TV-based devices but the others do. Sling and YouTube both support LG and VIZIO smart TVs as well as Xbox gaming systems.
Don’t see your device listed here? See our streaming service reviews for complete details.
Today’s Sundance TV Schedule
Here is today’s schedule in Eastern Time:
True Crime Story – Smugshot: Affluenza A wealthy Texas teen has a deadly drunk driving accident; his lawyers claim he suffers from affluenza, and it works, no jail time; caught violating his probation, he flees to Mexico, but there is more to this story than just the headlines. | |
True Crime Story – It Couldn't Happen Here: Prichard, Alabama The murder of a gender-nonconforming Black teenager remains unsolved despite pressure from family and friends - raising issues about the increase of violence, and the lack of justice for trans murder victims across the country. | |
True Crime Story – It Couldn't Happen Here: New Albany, Mississippi When a beloved member of a tight-knit community is killed, the town cries out for immediate justice; after a young man is sentenced to death for the crime, and an out-of-town lawyer argues they convicted an innocent man. | |
True Crime Story – It Couldn't Happen Here: Wahpeton, ND When the body of a missing student is discovered in the river near a small college town, the community questions the role law enforcement may have played in his death. | |
Law & Order – Harm Briscoe and Curtis investigate a possible homicide while probing the assault of a retired divorce attorney. | |
Law & Order – Shield Briscoe and Curtis investigate the murder of a police officer who was shot while on an undercover stakeout. | |
The Andy Griffith Show – The Arrest of the Fun Girls When two young women get a speeding ticket, they enjoy the attention from Andy and Barney. | |
The Andy Griffith Show – The Luck of Newton Monroe A traveling salesman who sells items out of the trunk of his car arrives in Mayberry. However, he is plagued with bad luck and everything he touches turns into a minor disaster. | |
The Andy Griffith Show – Opie Flunks Arithmetic Barney helps Opie with his schoolwork by using a teaching method of his own. | |
The Andy Griffith Show – Opie and the Carnival Opie tries to win a birthday present for his father at a carnival. | |
The Andy Griffith Show – Banjo-Playing Deputy A carnival's destitute banjo player is hired to take Barney's place. | |
The Andy Griffith Show – The New Housekeeper The Taylor's housekeeper leaves and is replaced with Aunt Bee. | |
The Andy Griffith Show – The Manhunt Andy, Mayberry's sheriff, and his deputy Barney offer to help track down an escaped criminal when the state police comes to town. | |
The Andy Griffith Show – Guitar Player With a dance band in an adjacent cell, a hometown guitar player auditions from jail. | |
The Andy Griffith Show – Ellie Comes to Town A young pharmacist moves to Mayberry to help her uncle in the local drugstore. | |
The Andy Griffith Show – Irresistible Andy Andy becomes convinced that Ellie wants to marry him after she accepts his invitation to the church picnic and dance. | |
The Andy Griffith Show – Runaway Kid Andy lectures Opie on the importance of keeping one's promise after Opie and his friends play a practical joke. However, the tables are turned when Opie befriends a runaway boy and refuses to reveal his name to Andy. | |
The Andy Griffith Show – Andy the Matchmaker Andy decides to stage a robbery at the drugstore to brighten Barney's mood and give him enough confidence to ask Miss Rosemary out on a date. | |
True Crime Story – It Couldn't Happen Here: Prichard, Alabama The murder of a gender-nonconforming Black teenager remains unsolved despite pressure from family and friends - raising issues about the increase of violence, and the lack of justice for trans murder victims across the country. | |
Law & Order: Criminal Intent – Albatross When a respected judge is killed during the re-creation of a famous duel, Goren and Eames question his dueling partner (Xander Berkeley), a prominent political candidate's husband. | |
Law & Order: Criminal Intent – Flipped When a rap artist is killed in the lobby of a radio station, the only witness (Sticky Fingaz) is an undercover cop. | |
Law & Order: Criminal Intent – Brother's Keeper The wife of a televangelist (Tom Arnold) is murdered; Goren runs into his long-lost brother (Tony Goldwyn) while visiting their mother (Rita Moreno) at the hospital. | |
NCIS – Kill Ari The team works to collect all the evidence they can in an effort to stop Ari. | |
NCIS – Kill Ari Ari continues to wreak havoc on the team until Gibbs gets the face-off he has been awaiting. | |
NCIS – Mind Games Gibbs meets with a serial killer days before the man's execution to find out about missing bodies, but the inmate won't reveal the information, so Gibbs assembles a team to reinvestigate. | |
NCIS – Silver War When a dead staff sergeant is found encased in a Civil War-era tomb, a cell-phone within it leads investigators to a safety deposit box. | |
NCIS – Switch Members of the NCIS squad investigate when a petty officer with a double life is gunned down on a freeway. | |
NCIS – The Voyeur's Web Two bored housewives, whose husbands are serving in Iraq, begin running an Internet sex site from their bedrooms, then both of them disappear mysteriously . | |
NCIS – Honor Code A 6-year-old boy tells the NCIS team that his father, an officer working as the Navy's liaison with a defense contractor on a highly confidential project, has been kidnapped. | |
NCIS – Under Covers When the bodies of two assassins are delivered to NCIS from overseas, Tony and Ziva go under cover to find the intended targets. | |
NCIS – Frame-Up Tony is suspected of murder when part of a female body is found at Quantico, and Abby makes it her personal mission to find out who is framing him. |
Wrapping Up
Where can you tune in to see Isabella Rossallini dressing up as a male snail to show mollusk mating habits in a 2 minute short? You know the answer!
Just sign up for one of the services listed above and you can join Colman Domingo and guests for Bottomless Brunch at Colman’s every Sunday morning — and the cable company isn’t invited.
We recommend Sling TV for fans of Sundance TV.
FAQs
Can I watch Sundance TV with AMC+?
The Sundance TV channel is not included with AMC+. Sundance TV is a linear channel — that’s a traditional live TV channel with a schedule. AMC+ is AMC Network’s uber-streaming service, which combines all their other single-channel niche streaming services’ content and adds the best of AMC itself and the entire Walking Dead Universe.
In many ways, AMC+ (or Sundance Now described above) may be much more what you’re looking for. It has the prestige drama series, international selections, and psychological thrillers that used to be on Sundance TV, AMC, and the other channels.
And you can watch episodes a full week before they air on their live channel to everyone else. Subscriptions start at $8.99/mo. It’s cheaper to get it with Sling TV.
Why don’t Hulu + Live TV or FuboTV offer Sundance TV?
Neither Hulu + Live TV nor FuboTV carry any channels from AMC Networks, which owns Sundance TV and AMC among others. Content providers charge a carriage fee per channel per subscriber. Even the larger TV providers have to make hard choices about which channels to carry in order to keep subscription costs down for customers. Fubo also doesn’t carry WarnerMedia or A&E, YouTube TV doesn’t carry A&E, and Fubo and Hulu, for whatever reason, decided not to go for AMC.
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