The Cord Cutting Report

How to Watch NBC Without Cable

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Watching NBC without cable TV is really easy. 

You don’t need to sign up for a pricey cable subscription just to watch Sunday Night Football, or a favorite Law & Order series. You can either watch NBC for free using a TV antenna, or you can get NBC through a streaming service.

DIRECTV STREAM is currently the best way to watch NBC live without cable. New customers can sign up for a free 5-day trial, and choose an extra free trial of Showtime, STARZ, Cinemax and EPIX.

The service has more than 65 live TV channels, including A&E, CNN, Discovery and HGTV for $69.99 per month. There is unlimited Cloud DVR space for recordings. And you can watch live TV on up to 20 screens at once. 

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

This article explains how to watch NBC live on a Smart TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV or Google Chromecast with Google TV.

Table of Contents

Watch NBC Live for free with a TV Antenna

Let’s quickly cover how to watch NBC for free — without any kind of streaming service.

Using a TV antenna is the least expensive way to get a High Definition signal from local NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX and PBS for free. 

If you have a TV antenna handy, but haven’t used it in a while, plug it into your television’s coax port and scan for channels. 

People living within 30 to 40 miles of local broadcast towers have an excellent shot at getting local broadcast channels with a quality TV antenna. 

You can use the free tool at AntennasDirect to see whether NBC is available in your area. Local channels broadcast digital signals in 1080i or 720p, which is High Definition. 

If you are new to TV antennas, here is a list of resources that I have written to get you started.

How to Stream NBC Live

There are a number of live TV streaming services that offer channels that you also see in cable subscriptions. 

These services are used by cord-cutters to watch local channels and popular cable channels, including AMC, A&E and ESPN. 

To get started, you just need an Internet connection. Once you pick a live TV service, and sign up for a free trial, you can download the app to your Smart TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Google Chromecast or Apple TV. 

You can easily cancel online, and jump to a competing service whenever you want. Some cord cutters even jump from platform to platform throughout the year just to catch certain shows.

Here’s a quick look at each of these live streaming services.

Watch NBC on Hulu Live TV

Hulu Live TV carries 75+ channels, including A&E, CNN, ESPN, HGTV and NBCSN.

Hulu only offers one channel bundle for $69.99 per month and unlimited Cloud DVR storage. 

As part of a live TV subscription, you will also get unlimited access to Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu’s streaming library.

Hulu with Live TV supports Roku, Fire TV and Fire Stick, XBox One and Xbox 360 consoles, and iOS and Android devices. You can watch live TV on two screens at a time. 

Look over the channel lineup for Hulu Live TV before deciding whether you want to sign up. There is no longer a free trial for Hulu + Live TV.

Watch NBC on fuboTV

fuboTV has more than 135 channels in its Pro plan, including just about everything you would expect from a cable TV or satellite service.

You can get NBC in just about every market in the U.S. fuboTV has mainstream entertainment channels like Bravo, ESPN, and all three Hallmark channels. Subscribers get 1,000 hours of Cloud DVR.

Big Ten Network, PAC-12 Network and CBS will give you plenty of college and NFL football to watch. For New England based customers, it’s the best way to watch NESN without cable.

A subscription costs $69.99 per month. You can watch live TV on three screens at once.

fuboTV is the only live TV streaming service that offers select sporting events and TV shows in 4K. There’s a huge on-demand library of movies and TV shows for when you don’t need live TV.

fuboTV works on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV and Android TV. You should look over the channel lineup for your area before giving fubo a try. 

You can sign up for a 7-day free trial if you’re a new customer. There are no contracts or obligations. 

Can I watch live NBC on Sling TV?

Sling TV is your least expensive way to live stream NBC without cable. But the Sling Blue plan only carries NBC in 11 cities across the U.S. (Check this map below to see where Sling TV carries local NBC stations in the U.S.)

Sling Blue includes 43 channels for $35 per month. You will get NFL Network, A&E, EPIX and MTV as part of the Sling Blue channel lineup.

Sling TV offers 50 hours of free Cloud DVR to all subscribers. All Sling Blue subscribers can watch live TV on three screens at once.

Sling TV works on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Apple TV (4th generation).

When you sign up for Sling TV, there are no contracts, or extra fees like cable TV. 

If you prepay for a brief subscription, you can get a free streaming device.  

For a larger lineup of 51 channels, you can combine the Sling Blue plan with the Orange plan for $50 per month.

Watch NBC on DIRECTV STREAM

DIRECTV STREAM carries NBC in its Entertainment channel bundle.

Subscribers get more than 65 channels, including ESPN, TNT, HGTV and Hallmark Channel. Local channels include CBS, FOX and ABC.

You get unlimited Cloud DVR for recordings, and 40,000 on-demand shows. You can watch live TV on up to 20 screens at once.

New customers can choose to get a free trial of Showtime, STARZ, EPIX and Cinemax. The free trial for these four premium channels lasts for three months if you keep your DIRECTV STREAM subscription. 

The regular rate for those four channels kicks in after the three-month free trial ends.

You can watch DIRECTV STREAM on Smart TVs, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Google Chromecast with Google TV and Apple TV.

New customers can get the 5-day free trial for DIRECTV STREAM. Subscriptions run month to month. There are no contracts or obligations. 

Stream NBC on YouTube TV

YouTube TV offers local NBC stations and NBC regional sports networks. 

For $64.99 per month, YouTube TV subscribers get about 85+ channels and unlimited Cloud DVR. You can watch live TV on up to three screens at once.

YouTube TV supports Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, and viewing on a PC. You can try YouTube TV free for 7 days.

Can I watch NBC live on Peacock?

No. According to Peacock’s own help section, subscribers cannot watch NBC shows live when they air. The one exception when it comes to live TV is for sports.

For example, Peacock Premium subscribers watched the XXIV Winter Olympics live, and on-demand. Peacock also live streamed Super Bowl LVI, and regularly has Premier League, Gold and INDYCAR.

A subscription costs $4.99 per month. New customers can sign up for a free 7-day trial of Peacock Premium.

What’s the best way to watch NBC without cable?

DIRECTV STREAM will be the best bet for most people because it has widespread coverage for NBC. The 75+ live TV channels include local NBC stations around the U.S. alongside popular cable channels such as ESPN.

Subscribers pay on a month-to-month basis, so there is no long term commitments. DIRECTV STREAM has a free 5-day trial.

A subscription costs $69.99 per month and includes unlimited Cloud DVR storage for recordings. Take a look at the channel lineup for DIRECTV STREAM to see if its a good fit.

fuboTV has a robust 116+ channel lineup, 250 hours of Cloud DVR for recordings and an on-demand library of movies and TV shows. A subscription costs $64.99 per month. fuboTV works on Fire TV, Roku, Apple, on smartphones, tablets and PCs. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial.

How to Watch NBC Live

You can use a TV antenna to watch NBC live for free.

Your other option is a live TV streaming service, including fuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV, DIRECTV STREAM and YouTube TV.

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.

This article was first published Sept. 20, 2017 and has been updated. 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Claude Byabear says

    Jennifer, there is plenty of free TV, but this article is titled how to watch TV for FREE… It’s titled ‘how to do it’ without cable!

  3. The Cord Cutter says

    My free trial was 14 days. I set my smartphone calendar to the cancellation date. I pick my spots as to when I start/stop free trials as well. The 30-day free trial happened only on launch day.

    • helpful55 says

      All I could find is a recent post from someone apparently from youtube that says to contact them through support as there are different trials. I would likely want to make use of a trial. I will probably be going off PVue in early Nov and will start with youtubetv to try it at that point. Thanks.