Best Local Channels on Fubo: Stream Live TV Cheaper & Easier Than Cable

My biggest concern before cutting the cord was how I would watch local channels without cable. Through my research, I found that Fubo offers local channels in both English and Spanish throughout the United States. I can access ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, and UniMás. In some areas, The CW and other local channels are also available through the service.

Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.

A digital antenna is a great option for many people, but they don’t always work depending on your location and broadcast area. It can also be frustrating to have to switch back and forth between your streaming service and antenna input just to watch your favorite shows or sporting events live as they air.

If you are a sports fan, even perfect antenna reception leaves a lot to be desired. You won’t get access to regional sports networks (RSNs) via antenna. That’s where live TV streaming services come to the rescue.

Fubo (also known as FuboTV) is a popular streaming service that provides excellent local and RSN coverage — in addition to just about everything else that cable TV provides. There are over 110 channels in their basic Pro package.

This includes a ton of sports channels including big ones like ESPN and Fox Sports 1 (FS1) as well as less common ones like CBS Sports Network and beIN Sports. There are also more specialized channels like NFL Network.

But what exact local channel lineup does Fubo provide?

What Is Fubo?

Fubo is a live TV streaming service. It’s what you think of as a cable provider but delivered via your internet connection. As a result, it’s cheaper than regular cable. And in general, it provides more than you will get from any given cable company.

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The fact that live TV streaming services work with your internet connection does not mean that you need to watch TV on your computer. Fubo works with almost all devices, including Amazon Fire TV, Android, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS (eg, iPhone), Roku, Xbox One, and various smart TVs (including Samsung and Sony).

There are several live TV streaming services, which we discuss below. Fubo is best known for its selection of sports channels — especially ones like Fox Soccer Plus for international sports like soccer.

But over the past few years, Fubo has broadened its offerings to make it as good a general (live and on-demand) streaming service as you will find, with MTV, Discovery Channel, AMC, BBC World News, TeenNick, and Cheddar all available. See our Fubo review for more information.

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Fubo Live Streaming Plans

Although Fubo offers many add-ons, it has four base plans that should suit the needs of most consumers.

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• Pro: $79.99/month for 150+ channels, unlimited cloud DVR storage, and up to 10 simultaneous streams on different screens at home and 3 away. This is the current version of the older Family and Starter plans.
• Elite: $99.99/month for everything in the Pro plan plus the Fubo Extra add-on (44 extra channels) and News Plus (10 extra channels). Also unlimited cloud DVR storage, 3 devices out-of-home, and events in 4K, where available.
• Premier: $109.99/month for everything in the Elite plan plus Showtime (9 more channels)
• Latino: $32.99/month for 50 Spanish-language channels, unlimited DVR storage, and 2 simultaneous screens. (Fubo Latino Review)

The Pro plan offers a broad selection of channels from news and finance (eg, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC) to entertainment (eg, USA, AMC, MTV, Comedy Central, BET) to lifestyle (eg, Food Network, HGTV) to sports (Golf Channel, beIN Sports) to science and nature (eg, Nat Geo, Discovery, Animal Planet, Smithsonian Channel).

It even includes kids channels like Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. The only major omission for sports fans is the Turner channels (TNT, TBS, truTV), because Fubo doesn’t carry them.

For Spanish speakers, the low-cost Latino plan provides a large selection of content like Discovery Familia, Galavisión, and TyC Sports.

These plans can be upgraded with add-ons to increase the number of live channels. These range from sports (Sports Plus, International Sports Plus, Adventure Plus) to AMC Premiere to premium channels (Showtime, HBO, Starz, MGM+) to non-English networks (Latino Plus, RAI Italia, Portuguese Plus).

See our Fubo Packages page for more details about the different plans and a complete channel list.

Local Network Affiliates

There are two kinds of local channels that Fubo provides: network affiliates and regional stations. Their availability is dependent upon the location of the subscriber.

There are 8 networks that Fubo provides access to: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, Telemundo, Univision, and UniMás. Most locations do not provide access to them all.

These are our judgments of how widely each is offered relative to availability. For example, Fubo offers UniMás in the vast majority of markets where there are UniMás stations. So we rate it excellent even though it isn’t widely available.

Here is the coverage information for the top ten media markets in the United States:

Regional Sports Networks

Fubo offers regional stations in most areas. These include important regional sports networks (RSNs), which can be critical additions for local fans.

There are 14 RSNs:

Here are the regional stations (not entirely RSNs) included in the Pro plan in the top ten media markets:

• New York, NY: SportsNet NY, MSG, MSG+, MSG2, MSG+2, ACCN, WLNY, MyNetworkTV, Cozi TV
• Los Angeles, CA: KCAL, MyNetworkTV, Estrella, Cozi TV
• Chicago, IL: NBC Sports Chicago, NBC Sports Chicago Plus, NBC Sports Chicago Plus 2, Marquee Sports Network, MyNetworkTV, Cozi TV
• Philadelphia, PA: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus, ACCN, Cozi TV
• Dallas-Ft Worth, TX: Space City Home Network (HD), Space City Home Network (PH), SEC Network, KTXA, MyNetworkTV, Cozi TV
• San Francisco, CA: NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports Bay Area Plus, NBC Sports California, NBC Sports California Plus, KTVU Plus, Cozi TV
• Atlanta, GA: SEC Network, ACCN
• Houston, TX: Space City Home Network (HD), Space City Home Network (PH), SEC Network, MyNetworkTV
• Washington, DC: Monumental Sports Network, Monumental Sports Network Plus, MyNetworkTV, Cozi TV
• Boston, MA: NBC Sports Boston, NESN, NESN Plus, ACCN, WSBK, New England Cable News, Cozi TV

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What Local Channels Does Fubo Provide in Your Area?

As you can see in the last two sections, the selection of local and regional stations follows some tendencies. For example, there is good coverage of CBS and Telemundo across the United States. And most areas have one or more NBC RSNs.

Using the Fubo Channel Finder Tool

But before you decide, it’s good to know exactly what channels will be included in your plan. Fubo provides a great Channel Finder tool to do just that. You simply enter your zip code and it lists all the stations you will receive.

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These are subdivided by plan. As you scroll down, it shows all the channels you get with the Pro plan. Eventually, it will change and show you channels that are included with the Sports Plus With NFL RedZone, Fubo Extra, and other add-ons.

If you are interested in the Latino plan, click on the link right below “Plans.” The Elite and Ultimate plans aren’t listed because they’re just the base Fubo plan combined with various add-ons.

Alternative Live TV Streaming Services

Not all live TV streaming services provide local channels. Philo, for example, does not offer them. Similarly, Sling TV offers limited channels in limited locations.

For those who want local channels as part of their plans, Fubo has 3 primary competitors: DIRECTV STREAM, Hulu Live TV, and YouTube TV. All of these streaming services offer similar local and regional programming options.

To provide some overall idea of local coverage, let’s look at what channels are offered in two very different markets. First, we have the small city of Billings, Montana (population ~110,000):

And here is the large metropolitan area of Brooklyn, NY (population: ~2.6 million):

This is roughly what we see throughout the United States. Smaller media markets are usually covered best by DIRECTV STREAM. That is especially true when it comes to RSNs.

In more populated areas, Fubo matches DIRECTV STREAM. Hulu Live TV and YouTube TV have very good coverage of local affiliates but they don’t offer much in terms of RSNs.

Here’s an overview of the base plans offered by these four streaming services:

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Summary

When it comes to local channels, Fubo is comparable to other streaming services. See our full Fubo review for more details.

There are two weak points for Fubo. The first is its coverage of The CW. But this is not likely a major issue for most viewers.

The second issue is its support of RSNs. While it is better than Hulu and YouTube, DIRECTV STREAM is still the only game around in most areas. But in the areas represented by Fubo’s 14 RSNs, it’s a great deal.

Try them out with a 7-day free trial.

FAQs

Does Fubo have local channels?

Fubo offers most local channels everywhere they provide service. That’s especially true of the major English and Spanish affiliate networks ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Telemundo, and Univision. It also offers The CW in many areas but not universally. It also includes the vast majority of RSN channels.

Does Fubo have local sports?

In most areas, Fubo offers a large selection of regional sports networks. Depending on your location, you can get access to SportsNet, regional NBC Sports, and MSG Network. These complement an enormous selection of general live sports channels (eg, beIN Sports, Stadium, ) as well as specific sport (eg, Golf), league (eg, NBA TV, NHL Network, MLB Network, ESPNU), and division (eg, Pac-12 Network) channels.

Can you watch the local ABC affiliate on Fubo?

For some time, Fubo did not offer access to local ABC affiliates. But as of late 2020, they added ABC affiliates in almost all of their markets. At this point, you should be able to get the 4 major networks as well as Telemundo in most media markets.

Does Hulu have better local coverage than Fubo?

Hulu Live TV and Fubo offer comparable local channel coverage. In less populated areas, Hulu may offer more local affiliates. And Hulu has much better coverage of The CW. However, Fubo usually offers better Spanish-language affiliates. And it offers much better access to regional sports networks.

What Spanish-language networks does Fubo carry?

Fubo offers an impressive selection of Spanish-language TV. Most areas will pick up the local Telemundo network, and many will also get Univision and UniMás. Aside from the Latino base plan (40 channels) which includes GolTV, Fox Deportes, ESPN Deportes, TUDN, there’s also the Latino Plus, Entretenimiento Plus, and International Sports Plus add-ons. A few non-sports channels provided are Cinelatino, Discovery en Español, Estrella TV, and Nuestra Tele.

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Frank Moraes

I am a Senior Content Editor at Hotdog.com, specializing in sports streaming and regional programming issues. With a PhD in Atmospheric Physics from the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and extensive experience in remote sensing technology, including early video streaming, I bring a unique technical perspective to the streaming industry.

My expertise in sports coverage, particularly for out-of-market games and regional sports networks, stems from years of hands-on experience as an early adopter of streaming services and my work addressing fans' viewing challenges. As a longtime cord-cutter and subscriber to multiple streaming platforms, I combine my technical knowledge with practical user experience, making me a leading expert in the field of sports streaming and entertainment technology.

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