I’m hooked on Nickelodeon shows like Paw Patrol and iCarly. The thought of cutting the cord made me worried I’d lose access to Nick. But I discovered there’s no need to fear – it’s possible to ditch cable while keeping Nickelodeon in my channel lineup.
In a hurry? Many streaming services offer Nickelodeon and its sister channels. These are our favorites:
- Fubo: With 150+ channels, it offers something for everyone. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.
- DIRECTV STREAM: Provides everything you expect from cable with many options. A 5-day free trial is now available for DIRECTV STREAM.
- Philo: Super inexpensive live TV streaming service with 7-day free trial.
If you can’t watch your favorite sports, TV and movies because of your location, try ExpressVPN to get access to the content you deserve. Signup now.
Table Of Contents
How to Watch Nickelodeon Live Without Cable
Nickelodeon, or “Nick” for short, is the original kids cable channel. Beating the House of Mouse to the punch by a few years, Nick has been entertaining kids ages 2 to 17 since 1979.
Part of the Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS) family of networks (which includes CBS, Paramount, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, and Showtime), Nick’s had several spin-off channels over the years. Currently, in addition to the original Nickelodeon channel, there’s Nick Jr for the preschool set, NickMusic for the junior MTV set, NickToons for the young animation connoisseurs, and TeenNick for the teens.
Nick is a pay TV station, meaning you need a pay TV service in order to watch. That used to be a cable or satellite provider, but now you have another option: the internet.
Streaming live TV over a broadband internet connection is becoming more popular, because the plans are generally cheaper and more flexible than their cable counterparts, And they are month-to-month with no locked-in period or contracts.
Streaming Services with Nickelodeon
So which services carry Nick? Of the major live TV streaming services, Sling TV is the only one that doesn’t. That means you have lots of options, depending on your other “must-have” channels. Details below.
FuboTV
Live sports are roughly one-third of FuboTV’s 130+ channels, but even without them, it’s still competitively priced with other full cable-replacement services at $79.99/month for the base plan. A generous unlimited cloud DVR storage are included in all plans and you can stream on up to 10 screens at a time.
Unusual among streaming services, 4K for over a hundred events is included in the subscription price. They also have a great Spanish-language plan. What’s the catch? They’re missing the WarnerMedia channels (which includes the Turner stations) and A&E (which also owns Lifetime and History).
Nick and Nick Jr are in the base plan, along with the Disney channels and Universal Kids. If you upgrade to with Fubo Extra ($7.99/mo), you’ll get NickToons, NickMusic (the only streaming service to carry it), and TeenNick too.
For more information, see our FuboTV review.
Philo
Philo is the live TV streaming service that dares to ask, if we took away sports and local news, would anyone still subscribe? The answer is, yes, when the price is only $28/month. It offers 60+ live TV channels along with a great interface, unlimited DVR, and streaming on up to 3 devices at a time. Also, if you set up an antenna, the no local stations thing becomes a non-issue.
There are no tiers. If Philo carries a channel, you get it — no having to shell out for more expensive packages or add-ons. (They do, however, offer some well-priced movie channel add-ons.) In addition to Nick, Nick Jr, NickToons, and TeenNick, they also have pocket.watch and family channels such as Hallmark, INSP, and pretty much every channel Discovery has. Try Philo free for 7 days.
Get more details in our Philo review.
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM (formerly AT&T TV) is an entertainment powerhouse. With over 75 channels in its $79.99/month base subscription tier, it is on the pricier side, both overall and on a per-channel basis. On the plus side, they do carry all the broadcast networks, plus the biggest bunch of regional sports networks (starting with the Choice package, $108.99/month). Also, you can stream on unlimited devices in your home for no extra charge, and you get unlimited DVR storage as long as you sign-up online.
As far as channels for the kiddies, Nick and TeenNick are in the base Entertainment package, along with Cartoon Network, Boomerang, several Disney channels, Freeform, and PBS Kids. Nick Jr and NickToons can be found in the aforementioned Choice package.
See our DIRECTV STREAM review for more.
Hulu + Live TV
Hulu + Live TV recently upped the ante by including Disney+ and ESPN+ together with its already legendary on-demand library in its base plan. They also upped their price by $5/mo, raising them to the hitherto DIRECTV STREAM only level of $76.99/month starting price. But that’s a price most people are willing to pay.
Get Hulu + Live TV for $59.99 Monthly
All local networks are included in its 85+ channel selection. It comes along with unlimited cloud DVR, up to 9 months of storage and streaming on up to 2 devices at a time. The one glaring omission is that they don’t carry AMC channels.
But it does have Nickelodeon and Nick Jr in their base package, along with Cartoon Network, Boomerang, the Disneys, Freeform, and Universal Kids. NickToons and TeenNick are in the Entertainment Add-on for $7.99/mo.
Our Hulu + Live TV review has all the details.
Other Ways to Stream Nickelodeon
- YouTube TV: Well-rounded service similar to Hulu + Live TV; slightly cheaper, but without any of the on-demand perks. Carries Nick, NIck Jr, NickToons, and TeenNick, or at least, until it gets into a carriage dispute with Paramount Global.
- Paramount+: If your kids don’t care about live channels, and they probably don’t, this all-encompassing Paramount Global on-demand streaming service would probably scratch their SpongeBox itch. $4.99/mo with ads ($9.99/mo to remove them), it offers content from CBS, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Smithsonian Channel, and Paramount Pictures. And all things Nick, including an extremely impressive backlibrary of Nick shows extending back to the 1990s. Yes, they have Ren & Stimpy and Hey Dude.
- Hulu: Hulu’s on-demand library by itself starts at only $7.99/month, but it’s got a very small section for Nick shows (not surprising considering it’s owned by main competitor Disney).
Apps
Note that while the Nick and Nick Jr apps have some full episodes unlocked, you have to log in with a TV provider to access most of them — that includes all of the live TV streaming services listed above.
The Nick and Nick Jr websites also have free interactive content and some full episodes free to watch.
Nick
Nick’s app is available on both mobile and big-screen platforms. It has some full episodes and a lot of promo clips free to view, along with quizzes, games, and other interactive goodies featuring Nickelodeon characters from SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House, Henry Danger, and more.
Nick Jr
Similar to its older sibling Nick’s app, Nick Jr’s interface is more little-kid friendly, with picture menus that pre-reading children can use and character tiles and alphabet letters for them to find in interactive scenes. Featured shows include PAW Patrol, Shimmer & Shine, Blaze and the Monster Machines, and Nella the Princess Knight.
Noggin
Noggin is an ad-free learning app featuring Nick Jr-themed games and e-books for kids 2 and up. It has episodes available, but the focus is on ABCs and 123s, problem solving, and so forth. It requires a separate monthly subscription to use after 30 days.
Streaming Devices and TVs for Nickelodeon
All the streaming services we’ve discussed support most TVs and devices in use today:
- Amazon Fire TV
- Android mobile
- Apple TV
- Chromecast
- iOS (iPhone,iPad)
- Roku
- Web browsers.
All the services except DIRECTV STREAM also support Android TV-powered TVs. All but Philo support Samsung smart TVs. FuboTV and Hulu support Xbox gaming systems. FuboTV supports Hisense smart TVs. Hulu supports the PlayStation and Nintendo Switch gaming systems.
Many other less popular devices are supported. See the individual streaming reviews for details.
Wrapping Up
So if your little ones can’t live without The Thundermans or Blues Clues & You, it doesn’t mean you have to stay attached to your cable or satellite company. Sign up for one of the services above and still enjoy Nickelodeon and the rest of the Nick channels whenever you want.
Alternative Family and Kids Channels
See other related channels:
- All-Ages Kids
- Babies & Toddlers
- Preschoolers
- Tweens & Teens
- Family
- Animal Planet
- BYU TV
- Classic Reruns
- Cozi TV
- Dove Channel
- FETV
- Freeform
- Game Show Network
- getTV
- Great American Family
- Great American Faith & Living
- Hallmark Channel
- INSP
- National Geographic
- PixL
- UPtv
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