How to watch A&E without cable

Table of Contents

• How to Watch A&E on TV
• What are the most popular shows on A&E?
• Where can I stream A&E shows online?
• How & Where to Watch A&E without cable on Roku, Fire TV Stick or Chromecast
  • DIRECTV STREAM
  • frndly TV
  • Hulu with Live TV
  • Philo
  • Sling TV
  • Vidgo
• Is A&E on YouTube TV? 
• Is A&E on fuboTV?
• What’s the best way to watch or stream A&E online?

How to Watch A&E on TV

There are plenty of options to watch new episodes of A&E, so you can get your fix of “The First 48” or “60 Days In” without a cable subscription.

You don’t need Comcast, Spectrum, Cox, or anything else that comes with a triple-digit bill every month. Premium cable channels aren’t exclusive to cable or satellite TV companies anymore.

Frndly TV is the cheapest way to watch A&E without cable.

A subscription costs $8.99 per month for more than 40 channels, including History, MeTV and The Weather Channel. You can try frndly TV free for a week without any obligation. 

If you’re looking for a live TV service that comes closer to resembling your cable TV package, then you should try out Sling TV.

The Sling Orange plan has 31 channels with the Orange plan, including ESPN, CNN and TNT, for $35 per month.

Thanks to this new era of streaming and cord cutting, there are a number of ways you can use a Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick or Google Chromecast to watch live TV. 

What are the most popular shows on A&E?

Below is a list of A&E’s most popular programs. Everyone has their own favorites. I’ve always enjoyed The First 48 because it was like a series of short mysteries being solved right in front of you.

60 Days In is a pretty eye opening experience, especially for participants who never had visited the county clink, but had some pretty firm opinions about the place.

• 60 Days In
• Biography
• WWE Legends
• WWE Rivals
• The First 48
• Court Night Live
• Court Cam
• After the First 48
• Intervention

** Note: This most popular list is from aetv.com. Those listings with date and times are A&E’s current seasons with new episodes.

Where can I stream A&E shows online?

You can watch some A&E shows for free on their website, but only select episodes. You shouldn’t expect to be able to stream a whole season of a top-rated show like “60 Days In“.

The A&E website keeps their content fairly locked down for cable subscribers. 

Hulu subscribers will find a number of A&E shows with numerous seasons to watch. But don’t expect to find the latest episodes that just aired on live TV. Hulu currently has numerous seasons of “The First 48”, “Aftermath with William Shatner” and “Duck Dynasty”. 

Hulu’s on-demand streaming service costs $6.99 per month, and you can get a 30-day free trial if you’re a new subscriber. The other option is to use a live TV streaming service that carries the same channels you will find within a cable TV bundle.

How & Where to Watch A&E without cable on Roku, Fire TV Stick or Chromecast

There are two ways to watch A&E on Roku, Fire TV Stick or Google Chromecast without a cable subscription. 

You can subscribe DIRECTV STREAM, frndly TV, Hulu Live TV, Philo, Sling TV and Vidgo.

The second method is to stream on the A&E app. But for full seasons or a live TV feed, the A&E app requires activation through a live TV streaming service. 

DIRECTV STREAM

DIRECTV STREAM has A&E in its entry-level channel bundle. 

The Entertainment plan has more than 75 live TV channels for $69.99 per month. But DIRECTV STREAM is currently knocking $20 off for the first two months of service. 

So you only pay $49.99 per month. Subscribers can watch live TV on up to 20 screens at once.

Nickelodeon, ESPN and local channels such as NBC and FOX are included in the Entertainment plan. You get unlimited Cloud DVR and 40,000 on-demand movies and shows.

Subscribers can get three months of Showtime, STARZ, Cinemax and EPIX for free before the monthly rates kick in.  

You can sign up for a free 5-day trial without any obligations. 

There are no contracts. You can subscribe month to month and cancel whenever you want. DIRECTV STREAM works on Roku, Android TV, Fire TV devices, Apple TV and smartphones and tablets. Subscriptions run month to month and so you can cancel whenever you want. 

You can look over the different channel lineups before deciding whether to sign up.

frndly TV

frndly TV is the cheapest and most affordable option for watching A&E without cable TV.

The service has over 40 live TV channels, including Hallmark Channel, INSP and Lifetime. frndly TV has apps for Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Smart TVs running on Android TV. You can also watch A&E on a PC or smartphone using a frndly TV subscription.

For HD picture quality, you can subscribe to the Classic plan for $8.99 per month. Subscribers to the Classic plan also get unlimited Cloud DVR for recordings. You can watch live TV on two screens at once. And you can keep recordings for three months. 

The Premium plan costs $10.99 per month. Subscribers can watch live TV on up to four screens at once. You can keep recordings for 9 months. 

You can sign  up for a free 7-day trial. There are no contracts and you can easily cancel online.

Hulu with Live TV

Hulu with Live TV has over 75 channels including A&E, History Channel, HGTV, CNN, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN News.

You’ll also find more local NBC, ABC and FOX stations than any other live TV streaming service. And Hulu has a growing number of regional sports channels like NBCSN.

Hulu + Live TV costs $69.99 per month and includes unlimited Cloud DVR.

Subscribers get more than just live TV channels to watch. You’ll also have full access to ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu’s on-demand library. Look over the channel lineup for Hulu with Live TV and see what local channels and regional sports networks are offered in your area.

Philo

Philo is the cheapest way to live stream A&E without a cable TV subscription.

For $25 per month, subscribers get 64 live TV channels, including AMC, Animal Planet, BBC America, Science Channel, Sundance TV, HGTV and Viceland.

You can use Philo on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick and Android TV devices such as Google Chromecast.

From a web browser, you can watch Philo on Mac computers, PCs, iOS devices and Android devices. 

Subscribers can activate the A&E app and 36 others using your Philo account. If you’re using a Fire TV Cube or Stick, you can use your single sign-on feature. By activating one app through Philo, you will automatically be signed into other TV Everywhere apps supported by your subscription. (Support varies among streaming devices.)

You can try out Philo free for a week by signing up in under a minute using your smartphone number.

Sling TV

Sling TV has A&E in its Orange and Blue channel bundle.

With Sling, you’re able to build your own channel package. You can pick either Sling Orange or Blue before deciding whether you want any add-on channel packages. 

The Sling Orange package gets you A&E as part of a 34+ channel package for $35 per month. 

Other channels in the Sling Orange package include HGTV, TBS, ESPN, History Channel and IFC. 

Sling Blue has 47+ channels, including AMC, CNN, FX, History Channel and NFL Network. 

You can get a streaming device for free if you pre-pay for two months of service. There are no obligations after that. 

You can check the latest offer Sling TV is making to new and returning customers.

Vidgo

Vidgo has the A&E channel and more than 100 other live TV channels. ESPN, HGTV, NFL RedZone and Hallmark Channel are among some of Vidgo’s most popular channels.

Subscribers can stream on up to three devices at once. Vidgo has apps on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Android TV devices such as Google Chromecast.

A Vidgo subscription costs $59.95 per month. You can look over the channel lineup before deciding whether to sign up.

Is A&E on YouTube TV?

No. YouTube TV does not currently carry A&E.

But YouTube TV has added a number of ViacomCBS networks. Those networks include BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land, VH1, BET Her, MTV2, Nick Jr., NickToons, TeenNick and MTV Classic.

Is A&E on fuboTV?

Not anymore. fuboTV told customers on June 30, 2021 their service will no longer carry A&E, History Channel, Lifetime, FYI channel, Lifetime Movie Network and Vice TV.

What’s the best way to watch or stream A&E online?

frndly is the cheapest option to watch A&E without cable at $8.99 per month for HD quality. You can quickly sign up for a free 7-day trial by using your mobile number.

You will get more than 40 live TV channels including History, Hallmark Channel and The Weather Channel. There are no contracts so you can cancel whenever you like.

This article was originally published June 5, 2017, and has been updated.

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