To find out what you can receive, go to each company’s website, plug in your ZIP code, and see what’s available in your area. The content can vary by region, especially when it comes to local channels. Most of these cable replacement services let you add genre- or theme-based channel packs, plus premium networks such as HBO Max or Showtime, for an additional monthly fee. All except Philo combine at least a few live local channels with a smattering of cable networks, at prices that typically range from about $45 to $70 per month. The services that stream regular cable channels include AT&T’s DirecTV Stream, the sports-focused FuboTV service, Hulu + Live TV, Philo, Sling TV, and Google’s YouTube TV. Instead, these services try to replicate what you’d get with a traditional pay-TV package, but at a lower price. These cable replacement services are very different from streaming services such as Apple TV+, HBO Max, and Netflix, which let you watch individual TV series and movies.

But that drop-off is good news for consumers-it points to all the options people now have for streaming traditional cable channels without paying cable TV prices.

Here’s a sobering statistic for cable TV executives: Major cable and satellite TV providers have lost about 25 million subscribers over the past decade, according to the research firm eMarketer.

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