You can't go a week in the world of streaming TV publishing without seeing that headline somewhere . Which is the best streaming service? Which one has the best options? Which one rules them all?
It's nonsense. The simple fact is that there's no single streaming service that is "best." Because what I want to watch is different than what you want to watch. And what I want to spend each month — and remember, saving money is what all this is about! — may well be different than what you want to spend each month.
You have to find the right mix of channels and price (and performance) for you. We can help, but it's your decision.
You may be willing to go with just a good over-the-air antenna and all the free TV it has to offer. Or maybe a free (OK, ad-supported service) like Pluto is good enough to keep you entertained. Maybe something skinny like Fubo or Philo. (Note to companies: These names are getting silly.)
Maybe something bigger — like Sling TV or PlayStation Vue or Hulu Live or YouTube TV — is the way you want to go. There's nothing wrong with wanting to emulate the old cable TV experience, if you're fine with what you're paying each month.
And even then, the big streaming services each has its own quirks. Sling is great, but I can't stand the menu. PlayStation Vue has a ton of channels but can be more expensive, and the apps can be slow to run on certain hardware. (While perfectly speed on others.)
And sports . Of course there's always live sports. It's the regional networks where things vary vastly. (I've never figured out why I get the Big Ten Network in Florida, but local channels make up for that pretty easily. And my wife went to Northwestern. Go 'Cats.)
And even with all that, you're still likely going to bounce between other services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video — because that's what their exclusive content is meant to do. That's another thing I don't have a problem doing. If the content's good, I'll go find it.
And you know what? That's just the stuff we know will be consistent. We're not even talking about resolution and stream quality and audio options — and all of that is dependent on your home network and internet service provider. There are a lot of things to take into account when it comes to the overall quality of a streaming experience — and yours is going to be different from mine.
But, no. There's not a single streaming channel that's "best." You have to find the one that works the "best" for you.
I knew the channels I wanted to keep when I was cutting the cord. I just had to figure out which service had them. Or had most of them, anyway. And then I had to decide if it was worth the cost to keep them.
And that's why we built the Streaming Channel Matrix . So you can see all the channels next to each other on all the major services.
Figuring out your personal "best" solution? That one's for you to decide.
