Having used all the major streaming services, I can say without hesitation that Hulu + Live TV is the best streaming service for most people. The excellent selection of live TV channels, combined with the industry’s best on-demand library in addition to ESPN+ and Disney+ makes it almost a no-brainer. I discuss this in depth below.
In a hurry? Get a complete entertainment service for just $82.99/month including simultaneous streaming on virtually any device and an unlimited cloud DVR.
Table Of Contents
Hulu + Live TV Overview
| Pros | Cons |
| ✔ On-demand library | ❌ Limited RSN support |
| ✔ Great channel selection | ❌ Only 2 simultaneous screens |
| ✔ ESPN+ & Disney+ |
Hulu + Live TV is really four different things packaged together:
- Live TV: 95+ live TV channels. These include pretty much everything you expect from a cable TV package including all the local channels in your area.
- On-Demand Library: This is what Hulu is known for and over 50 million people subscribe just for it.
- Disney+: One of the best on-demand streaming services and the go-to place for Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars films and shows.
- ESPN+: Increasingly essential source for streaming live sports — especially when it comes to college games and soccer.
It also comes with all the things we now expect from a live TV streaming services: no contract, DVR, streaming on multiple devices, and add-ons to extend features and channels.
What Content Does Hulu + Live TV Have?
Hulu + Live TV comes with a wide range of channels from entertainment and movies, family, news, sports, and more. For a more thorough discussion, see our packages page.
For complete and up-to-date channel listings, see our Hulu Live Packages page.
In addition, Hulu + Live TV provides access to most of your local channels including the Big Four networks. See our local channel page for details. It also includes information about the regional sports networks (RSNs) provides by Hulu + Live TV.
Stream Sports On Hulu + Live TV
The Hulu + Live TV plan has a good list of sports channels. You get immediate access to ESPN, ESPN2, and three other ESPN network channels. Additionally, it provides the important ESPN league channels ACC Network (ACCN) and SEC Network (SECN).
They also include CBS Sports Network (CBSSN), Fox Sports 1 (FS1), Fox Sports 2 (FS2), Big Ten Network (B1G), Golf Channel, NFL Network, and MotorTrend.
There is also a Sports add-on that provides NFL RedZone and a handful of other channels. See below.
Regional Sports Networks on Hulu + Live TV
Hulu + Live TV provides access to a limited number of RSNs, which broadcast MLB, NBA, and NHL games to local fans. Included are SportsNet New York, Monumental Sports Network, and the remaining NBC Sports RSNs: Bay Area, Boston, California, and Philadelphia. This is a great addition to an already excellent streaming service.
Note, however, that you only get these regional sports channels if you are in their broadcast areas. This is not a limitation of Hulu; this is just how RSNs work.
Disney+ and ESPN+ Are Included With Hulu + Live TV
Hulu + Live TV includes both Disney+ and ESPN+. You can find out more about both:
By themselves, you’ll have more entertainment and sports programming than you could reasonably watch. But combined with Hulu’s on-demand library and 95+ live TV channels, you should be able to watch anything you’re interested in.
Add-Ons With Hulu + Live TV
The base Hulu + Live TV plan includes everything you would expect from a cable TV package plus lots that were unimaginable a couple of years ago. But you have various options for more, which are discussed in detail in our Packages page.
Hulu Live’s Add-Ons
- Channels
- Premium Channels: HBO Max ($15.99/month), Cinemax ($9.99/month), Paramount+ with Showtime ($12.99/month), and Starz ($9.99/month).
- Entertainment: Includes 16 channels for $7.99/month.
- Sports: NFL RedZone and 6 other channels for $9.99/month.
- Español: Includes 7 channels for $4.99/month.
- Unlimited Screens: Increases the number of simultaneous streams from 2 to unlimited for $9.99/month.
Hulu Live Performance and Experience
I signed up for the free 7-day trial (it is now 3 days) of the Hulu + Live TV plan, and here’s what I found.
After you enter your personal details and billing information, you’re offered the add-ons I covered above. Then, you get a chance to personalize your Hulu account before you start streaming live channels.
The app is very slick and works well. Whether it’s useful features like picture-in-picture live TV or the simple account management options, it’s definitely easy to learn and use.
Perhaps the hundreds of categories of shows can be confusing, but that’s the gift and curse of customization.
Personalizing Your Hulu + Live TV Account
You can select what types of content you want to watch, like documentaries, or genres like horror, sci-fi, or slow-burn drama, to name a few. Then, Hulu asks you to choose some specific movies and TV shows you might want to stream on-demand — these are added to your library of favorites.
Sports fans can also select their favorite teams to watch live from six different sports leagues across five sports.
Before you complete the sign-up, you also choose your favorite channels, which will appear in the My Stuff tab. As you complete the personalization process, Hulu will ask if you want to share your data with content providers — I said no.
You can also toggle your Hulu dashboard between light and dark color schemes.
Browsing and Navigation On Hulu + Live TV
The main dashboard greets you with a featured movie or TV show. As a Hulu + Live TV subscriber, you’ll then see rows of streamable content from both the live networks and the on-demand content library.
You can choose from seven different tabs:
- Home: The main directory of both on-demand content and live networks, recommended based on your favorites and general popularity.
- Live: A live network guide where channels are categorized by sports, news, movies, and kids channels.
- My Stuff: All the personalized content, including favorite movies, TV shows, sports teams, and networks are shown under this tab.
- TV: A directory of TV shows split into 35+ browsable categories.
- Movies: Similarly laid out to the TV tab but for movies.
- Sports: A directory of all the current live sports shown on Hulu as well as upcoming sports games categorized by leagues.
- Hub: This is Hulu’s unique section for its Hulu Originals and FX on Hulu series.
Hulu’s Useful Live Streaming Features
Here are some features that stand out from the live-streaming experience on Hulu + Live TV:
- Picture-In-Picture: Hulu allows you to minimize streams and carry on wandering in the browser/app. I opened a stream and then went back to the browsing screen, but the stream stayed open. I carried on browsing while watching the show, even when we switched between different tabs within the Hulu website.
- Carry-on-Demand: I began to watch a live episode of Rick & Morty on Adult Swim East, and Hulu then suggested that we keep watching the episode in its on-demand version at the time where we left off. This is cool.
- Stream Settings: You can set video quality as well as the autoplay function. When available, you can set audio preferences and subtitles. The subtitles can be customized in font, color, and size.
- DVR Management: When you record a live show, the DVR manager can be accessed through My Stuff > Manage DVR. Here you’ll see a visual presentation of what you’ve recorded over the last 9 months.
Account Management On Hulu + Live TV
The account overview section shows you the following billing and subscription info:
- Upcoming Charges: The amount and date you’ll be charged next.
- Base Plan & Add-Ons: The base plan, it’s cost, and any channel add-ons you’ve selected.
- Payment Info: Manage your payment method and use any gift codes.
- Pause or Cancel: Take a break or cancel your plan entirely.
- Personal Settings & Devices: Manage your personal data as well as active devices.
The account page is clutter-free and simple to manage.
Creating User Profiles on Hulu + Live TV
Under your Account > Profiles, you can create a new streaming profile to customize by clicking “Add Profile.”
- Give the profile a name
- Choose whether you want the content to have an child filter
- Enter your date of birth
- Select “Create Profile.”
Then you can customize the profile for someone else, or just let them do it.
Hulu + Live TV Technical Specifications
Anyone who subscribes to the Hulu + Live TV plan is opting for the following specs:
- Available Resolutions: SD (480p), HD (720p, 1080p), Ultra HD (4K)
- Frames-per-second (FPS): 60 fps
Note that 4K streaming is only available on selected on-demand shows, while live TV channels have a maximum resolution capacity of 1080 pixels.
Hulu + Live TV’s performance and speed also depend on the device you stream on, since each device has its own performance peak and capacity. See our Hulu Live Devices article for details.
Hulu’s Internet Speed Requirements
When you stream live TV or recorded content with Hulu, your recommended internet connection depends on the type of content. Hulu’s official internet speed recommendations per content type are as follows:
- Hulu’s Streaming Library – 3.0+ Mbps
- Live streams – 8.0+ Mbps
- 4K streams – 16+ Mbps
When you stream on Hulu, you can also select a “Data Saver” mode at the expense of higher resolutions.
Hulu + Live TV Streaming Devices
Hulu provides apps for pretty much every streaming device in use today. You can get the details in our Hulu Live Devices article. But here are the main devices supported:
- Amazon Fire TV
- Android Mobile
- Android TV-based TVs
- Apple TV
- Chromecast
- iOS
- LG TVs
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation
- Roku
- Samsung TVs
- Vizio TVs
- Web Browsers
- Xbox One
Hulu + Live TV Alternatives
For some of us, $82.99/month is a whole day’s work or more, so we want to know what we’re paying for. One way to get an idea of the value you’re getting is to compare Hulu + Live TV’s offer to similarly priced live TV streaming services.
We choose to compare Hulu’s live service with DIRECTV STREAM and Fubo because both cost roughly the same and are contract-free. Note that these are the basic plans compared, and add-ons are available for all three.
| Hulu | Fubo | DIRECTV | |
| Channels | 95+ | 150+ | 90+ |
| Price | $82.99 | $79.99 | $86.99 |
| Free Trial | 3 days | 7 days | 5 days |
| Contract | None | None | None |
| Free Cancellation | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Phone Support | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Live Chat Support | ✔ | ❌ | ✔ |
| Fast Forward Ads* | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Multi-Screen | 2 | 10 | Unlimited |
| Cloud DVR Storage | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Cloud DVR Storage Length | 9 months | 9 months | 9 months |
| Available Resolutions | 480p 720p 1080p | 480p 720p 1080p 4K | 480p 720p 1080p |
| Frames Per Second (FPS) | Up to 60 | Up to 60 | Up to 60 |
| Min Internet Speed** | 8.0+ Mbps | 7.0+ Mbps | 8.0+ Mbps |
There are other services worth considering. YouTube TV ($82.99/month) is the streaming service most like Hulu + Live TV but with nothing close to its on-demand content.
If price is a major concern, Sling TV offers two different streaming plans for $45.99/month each with many low-cost add-ons available.
What’s Missing on Hulu Live?
Some other streaming services outshine Hulu + Live TV in a few areas.
Some sports channels like the NBA TV and NHL Network are missing, although Hulu Live does have the entire ESPN suite available, including ESPNU.
Hulu + Live TV also doesn’t provide AMC and its sister channels. But for most things, you could sign-up for AMC+ for as little as $4.99/month.
The two-screen capacity on multi-screen streaming is a downside since Hulu + Live TV’s broad channel categories make it an ideal choice for roommates or families. But two devices are probably good enough most of the time, and if not, you can upgrade to unlimited screens for $9.99/month more.
Our Choice
Hulu + Live TV is hard to beat. Adding 95+ live TV channels to its outstanding on-demand library was always a good deal. But the inclusion of ESPN+ and Disney+ makes it irresistible.
FAQs
Is Hulu Live good for the NFL playoffs?
Hulu + Live TV is a great streaming service for NFL football fans that allows you to stream NFL games from preseason through regular season and all the postseason — up to and including the Super Bowl. It provides all the channels you need to watch every NFL playoff game: CBS, ESPN, Fox, and NBC. Note, however, that one game will be streaming-only through Peacock.
Can I watch Hulu + Live TV ad-free?
Yes, you can watch on-demand content ad-free with the Hulu + Live TV plan for an additional $13 dollars on top of the $82.99/month monthly subscription price. The ad-free live TV plan is listed on Hulu as the Hulu + Live TV (No Ads) plan. This allows you to watch and download ad-free streaming library content. It does not, however, apply to live TV shows, which necessarily have commercials.
How does Hulu determine your local channels?
Not all areas have the same local affiliates. Hulu must contract with the available stations. Hulu + Live TV offers national, regional, and local TV channels that are determined by the streamer’s location. As an online service provider, Hulu has access to your IP address, and so your location. This is how they restrict and free up access to the applicable TV channels in your locality.
How many devices can Hulu + Live TV be used on simultaneously?
The Hulu + Live TV plan allows two simultaneous screens to stream separate shows on a single Hulu account. This is true for both the $82.99/month live TV and the ad-free live TV plans. Hulu offers an add-on for $9.99 where users can stream unlimited screens at once on a single account. See our device guide for details.
Does Hulu have original content?
Yes, Hulu offers original shows and movies to its subscribers. The exclusive content includes The Handmaid’s Tale, The Kardashians, Little Fires Everywhere, and Marvel’s Runaways. Besides, they have great original movies like Prey, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, among others.
What is the difference between Hulu and Hulu + Live TV?
Roughly speaking there are two kinds of Hulu plans. There is Hulu itself, which is an on-demand service like Netflix with pricing from $7.99/month up to $26.99/month. Built on top of this is Hulu + Live TV, which is exactly that: the base Hulu bundle with the addition of 95+ live TV channels. Its price starts at $82.99/month.
| Hulu | Hulu (No Ads) | Hulu + Live TV | Hulu + Live TV (No Ads) | |
| Ad-Free Streaming Library | ❌ | ✔ | ❌ | ✔ |
| Download On-Demand Content | ❌ | ✔ | ❌ | ✔ |
| 95+ Live TV Channels | ❌ | ❌ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Unlimited Cloud DVR | ❌ | ❌ | ✔ | ✔ |
The basic Hulu plan gives access to the on-demand streaming library for $7.99/month. The no-ad version costs $17.99/month. The Hulu bundle adds ESPN+ and Disney+ on top of these for $14.99/month. See our Hulu On-Demand Review for details and find out if it is worth it.
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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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