Not Ready to Cut the Cord Completely? Check out the Best Skinny TV Bundle Options

Did you make a proclamation for the New Year that you planned to get skinny? Did you make this proclamation loudly on social media, bragging about how skinny you would be? And were your workout clothes and diet shakes both tucked away in a dark corner of a closet within about two weeks of your brag?

Don’t despair. You can still save face by going skinny … but with your cable subscription. And if your tricky word play doesn’t fool your social media friends into believing you were talking about TV the entire time, at least you’ll be saving quite a bit of money each month.

But will a subscription skinny TV bundle be as unsatisfying as those diet shakes? We’ve broken down the key features of the three primary reduced pay-TV options available currently — DirecTV Now, Sling TV, and PlayStation Vue. Learn more about the best skinny TV bundle options here!

DirecTV Now

The satellite giant gives you four tiers of skinny service, ranging from 60 to 120 channels.

If you’re looking for the easiest service to understand, it’s DirecTV Now. It doesn’t offer a lot of extra purchase options and keeps the channel lineups within each tier pretty simple.

You will end up paying a bit more for the DirecTV tiers versus the other options, but you’ll also receive a larger variety of channels than the two other services. I was pretty impressed with DirecTV Now’s lowest tier package for $35, as it has plenty of great channels.

At the time of this writing, DirecTV Now is being offered to new customers with a seven-day free trial. Cancel during the trial, and you owe nothing. Or new customers can prepay for a three-month subscription and receive a free Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV Stick.

Packages and Costs

• Live a Little — 60 channels, $35 per month
• Just Right — 80 channels, $50 per month
• Go Big — 100 channels, $60 per month
• Gotta Have It — 120 channels, $70 per month
• Add-on channels — HBO, Starz, and/or Cinemax can be added for $5 to $8 per month each

Cable Sports Offerings

• Live a Little — ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports 1, TBS, TNT, TruTV, USA
• Just Right — Sports channels in lowest tier plus Big Ten Network, ESPNU, ESPNews, MLB Network, NBC Sports Network, SEC Network, Tennis Channel, one regional sports network
• Go Big — Sports channels in two lowest tiers plus Fox Sports 2, Golf Channel, NBA TV, NHL Network, TVG
• Gotta Have It — Same offering as Go Big
• Not available — CBS Sports Network, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, Outside Network, Velocity Network, ESPN3, Pac-12 Network

Good

• Plenty of tiers
• No contracts or cancellation fees
• Best collection of desirable channels in lowest tier
• Easiest channel lineup to understand in each tier; no overlapping of channels from tier to tier
• Customers who prepay for three months receive Apple TV hardware or Amazon Fire TV stick for streaming

Bad

• Must sign up for account at DirecTV Now Web site before you can see packages
• Higher average prices than other two options
• Limited number of add-on packages
• Live local channels are only available in certain cities
• Cannot make use of cloud DVR services yet
• No NFL Network at any tier

PlayStation Vue

There’s a maximum 100-plus channels available through PlayStation Vue, but smaller tiers are available too.

Although the PlayStation Vue service has a pretty extensive channel offering, especially at the Core Slim level, it can’t fully match DirecTV Now’s offerings because Vue doesn’t have Viacom channels included at the time of this writing, such as Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central. Still, Core Slim is our favorite sub-$40 skinny bundle at this point, thanks in large part to its really strong sports channel lineup.

If you already own a newer PlayStation gaming console, you can stream the Vue service through it, meaning you won’t have to spring for extra hardware. And Vue’s cloud DVR service is handy for skipping commercials or recording shows, even though its performance levels are painfully slow versus traditional DVR hardware.

PlayStation Vue offers a 7-day free trial to new subscribers.

Packages and Costs

• Access Slim — 45 channels, $30 per month
• Core Slim — 60 channels, $35 per month
• Elite Slim — 90 channels, $45 per month
• Ultra Slim — 100-plus channels, $65 per month
• Add-on channels — EPIX Hits and/or Espanol Pack for $3 to $5 per month each

Cable Sports Offerings

• Access Slim — ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, NBC Sports Network, TBS, TNT, TruTV, USA
• Core Slim — Sports channels in lowest tier plus Big Ten Network, ESPNU, ESPNews, NBA TV, NFL Network, SEC Network, one regional sports network
• Elite Slim — Sports channels in two lowest tiers plus Golf Channel, ESPN Deportes, Outside Network, Velocity Network
• Ultra Slim — Same offering as Elite Slim
• Not available — CBS Sports Network, MLB Network, NHL Network, Tennis Channel, TVG, ESPN3, Pac-12 Network

Good

• Plenty of tiers
• Cloud DVR service available, even though it has slow response times
• Nice collection of desirable channels in lowest tier
• Best interface for accessing programming among skinny bundles
• Can stream through PlayStation gaming consoles
• Core Slim is our favorite sub-$40 skinny TV tier; best mix of regular channels and sports at best price

Bad

• Fewer channels than some other options at lowest tier
• If you want subscription movie channels, you’re limited to the Ultra Slim package
• No support for Apple TV hardware
• No inclusion of Viacom channels at the time of this writing (Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, et cetera)
• Live local channels are only available in certain cities
• No MLB Network or NHL Network at any tier

Sling TV

Up to 162 channels are available with the maximum Sling TV offering, but the basic tiers each offer less than 50 channels. (Sling TV is offered by DISH Network; click the link to read our Sling TV review from when it initially appeared.)

I don’t know how to say this any other way, so here goes: The channel offerings in Sling’s two packages are just weird and confusing. Some of the channels overlap between the two services. If you want a full collection of the primary sports channels, for examples, you will have to subscribe to both tiers, which you can do for $40 per month. Why wouldn’t the provider just put all the sports channels into one tier?

Sling offers the largest number of add-on channel packages, which are handy but which also can drive up the cost of this skinny bundle in a hurry. It can be a little confusing too, as you may have to purchase a full add-on package to gain access to just one favorite channel. Sling is attempting to give subscribers more of an à la carte feeling with this design, but it seems more confusing than helpful.

If you can just stick with the Orange or Blue offering though, this is definitely the least expensive skinny bundle out there. And it works with a variety of hardware options.

Packages and Costs

• Sling Orange — 30 channels, $20 per month
• Sling Blue — 44 channels, $25 per month
• Sling Orange and Blue — about 50 channels, $40 per month
• Add-on channels — Kids Extra, Comedy Extra, News Extra, Lifestyle Extra, Sports Extra, Movies Extra, Spanish Extra for $5 to $15 per month each

Cable Sports Offerings

• Sling Orange — ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, TBS, TNT
• Sling Blue — Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, NBC Sports Network, NFL Network, USA, TBS, TNT, TruTV, one regional sports network
• Sports Extra (add these channels to either tier for $10 per month) — NBA TV, NHL Network, Golf Channel, Outside Network, Pac-12 Network
• Not available — CBS Sports Network, MLB Network, Tennis Channel, TVG, Big Ten Network, ESPNU, ESPNews, SEC Network, ESPN Deportes, Velocity Network

Good

• Offers highest number of add-on packages
• Least expensive base options
• Large number of Spanish-speaking channel options in add-on packages
• Includes support for ESPN3 at lowest tier
• Offers seven-day free trial

Bad

• Channel lineup on tiers overlaps a lot, causing confusion
• Add-on channel packages can be confusing
• Pick a few add-on channel packages, and the price goes up fast
• Live local channels are only available in certain cities
• Weird tier splitting; NFL Network and Fox Sports 1 are on Blue tier, but no ESPN on Blue tier
• No MLB Network or ESPNU available at any tier
• No Nickelodeon, Fox News, or Discovery available at any tier

Hulu Live TV and Others

Hulu’s live TV skinny service is scheduled to start some time in 2017. Few details are available, other than the OTT live service is expected to cost less than $40 per month for the lowest tier.

It’s also possible that YouTube, Apple, and Amazon will begin offering OTT live services at some point in the next year, so keep an eye on this changing marketplace if the idea of a skinny bundle appeals to you!

Recommendations

Because the service lineups are in flux with these three offerings, consider our recommendations at this point as being fluid too. But, based on what we know today, here are our favorites:

• Best Deal for the Price: PlayStation Vue’s Core Slim. It has a good monthly price point at $35 with the best sports channels for the money. It is missing Viacom channels though. If you absolutely need Nickelodeon, et cetera, from Viacom, go with DirecTV’s Live a Little, knowing you’ll have to sacrifice some sports offerings.
• Best Overall Channel Lineup: DirecTV Now. The only major omission in any of its tiers is NFL Network. It has the most extensive lineup at each tier, but it also costs a little bit more to have all of those channels.
• Most Control Over Channels: Sling TV. With all of the add-on offerings, you can really customize your service. Just don’t pick too many, or the price goes up fast. And read through your options carefully, as there’s some confusing overlap between tiers.
• Best Sports Channel Collection: This was a tough one, as none of the three are perfect. But to gain the most sports channels for the money, I’d recommend Vue’s Core Slim. It doesn’t have MLB or NHL Networks, so you may miss some playoff games, but it gives you the most key sports channels for the lowest price.

[table caption=”Channel Lineup Comparison” width=”620″ colwidth=”35|20|20|20″ colalign=”left|center|center|center”]

Lowest Priced Skinny Bundle,DirecTV Now,PlayStation Vue,Sling TV

Monthly Cost,$35,$30,$20

AMC,Yes,Yes,Yes

BBC America,Yes,Yes,X*

BET,Yes,X,X*

Cartoon Network,Yes,Yes,Yes

CNN,Yes,Yes,Yes

Comedy Central,Yes,X,Yes

Discovery,Yes,Yes,X

Discovery Life,X*,X*,X

Disney Channel,Yes,Yes,Yes

E!,Yes,Yes,X*

ESPN,Yes,Yes,Yes

ESPN2,Yes,Yes,Yes

ESPNU,X*,X*,X

Food Network,Yes,Yes,Yes

Fox News,Yes,Yes,X

Fox Sports 1,Yes,Yes,X*

FX,Yes,Yes,X*

HGTV,Yes,Yes,Yes

IFC,X*,X*,Yes

MLB Network,X*,X,X

MTV,Yes,X,X*

National Geographic,Yes,Yes,X*

NBA TV,X*,X*,X*

NFL Network,X,X*,X*

NHL Network,X*,X,X*

Nickelodeon,Yes,X,X

Science,X*,Yes,X

Spike,Yes,X,X*

Syfy,Yes,Yes,X*

TBS,Yes,Yes,Yes

TNT,Yes,Yes,Yes

Travel Channel,X*,Yes,Yes

TruTV,Yes,Yes,X*

USA Network,Yes,Yes,X*

Weather Channel,X*,X,X

[/table]

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