Live Stream MTV Video Music Awards without cable
The 2020 MTV Video Music Awards are happening all over New York this year.
Here’s a quick primer to show you how to live stream the 2020 MTV VMAs on a Roku, Apple TV, an iPhone or Amazon Fire TV.
If you’re using any of the hardware that I just mentioned to watch the VMAs live, then your best bet is using Philo.
It’s a live TV streaming service that carries MTV and 60 other channels such as HGTV, AMC and Vice.
Philo has a free 7-day trial and you can sign up in less than a minute. A subscription costs $20 per month.
Want to try something else to live stream the MTV Video Music Awards? No sweat. There are a few options this year.
When does the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards start?
Date: August 30
Channel: MTV
Awards show starts at: 8 P.M. ET
Location: Barclays Center and all five boroughs of NYC
Best way to live stream: Philo with a 7-day free trial
The MTV Video Music Awards were originally planned to be a live event from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The live event had to be scrapped because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, performances were recorded all over New York with either no audience or a small one in compliance with city guidelines, according to MTV.
Live acts will be in all five boroughs — Brooklyn, The Bronx, Staten Island, Queens and Manhattan.
“We’re elated to bring the 2020 ‘VMAs’ back to NYC, the cultural mecca of the world where music and entertainment are woven into the DNA,” Bruce Gillmer, a president of music, programming & events for ViacomCBS Media Networks, said in a statement.
Can I live stream MTV Video Music Awards on Sling TV?
You can, but you will have to sign up for the Sling TV Orange plan with the Comedy Extra bundle which costs $35 per month.
Sling Orange alone costs $30 per month for 30+ live channels, but doesn’t include MTV in the standalone lineup. Sling Orange has AMC, Comedy Central, Food Network, History Channel and ESPN.
The Comedy Extra bundle has 10 channels, including MTV, MTV2, TruTV, CMT and Revolt.
If you are going to actually plunk down money to watch the VMAs, you may want to consider prepaying for a brief subscription so you can get a free AirTV Mini player.
Live Stream VMAs on fuboTV
fuboTV has 100+ channels including ESPN, MTV and even local CBS and ABC stations.
AMC, Bravo, CBS Sports Network, Discovery and HGTV are part of the standard channel lineup.
Subscribers get 30 hours of Cloud DVR. And there’s a deep library of movies and TV shows. You can stream on up to three devices at once. fubo subscribers can use their account to activate more than 40 TV Everywhere apps.
fuboTV works on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, tablets and iPhones. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial, or look over the channel lineup for your area.
A subscription is $64.99 per month. Be sure to cancel before the free trial ends if you don’t want to get billed.
What’s the best way to live stream 2020 MTV Video Music Awards?
You’re best option without cable is by using a free trial of Philo. The entry-level channel lineup gives you 40 channels to live stream, including MTV and MTV2, A&E, BBC America, Animal Planet, HGTV and Investigation Discovery. You can sign up in under a minute using your mobile number.
You can use major streaming devices like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV to live stream Philo through its app. Philo also has a dedicated app for iPhone/iOS. Surf through live TV and a vast collection of on-demand movies that come with a subscription.
You can also sign up for a subscription to Sling TV’s Orange plan, and then add on the Comedy Extra bundle for another $5 per month. Sling TV also will give you a free AirTV Mini player if you prepay for two months of service.
For more news on streaming, how-to guides and reviews, head over to the main page of The Cord Cutting Report or follow the CCR on Google News.
Note: This page was originally published Aug. 27, 2017 and has been updated.

Founder and Editor of The Cord Cutting Report. Before launching the site in 2016, he worked for more than two decades as a staff writer or correspondent for a number of daily newspapers, including The Boston Globe. His enthusiasm for tech began with the Atari 2600. Follow @james_kimble
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