How To Stream Ion TV Without Cable

Ion TV is an excellent channel for fans of shows like NCIS, Law and Order SVU, Blue Bloods, Chicago P.D, and more. Frndly TV recently added Ion TV to their lineup with plans starting at $6.99 per month after a 1-week trial. Currently, DIRECTV STREAM (5-day free trial) and fuboTV also offer Ion in their channel lineup. Ion is also available over the air by using a TV antenna.

Watch Ion on Frndly TV

Frndly TV is the most affordable way to watch Ion and other channels like Game Show Network, QVC, and The Weather Channel. A subscription to Frndly TV starts at $6.99 per month. However, we find their $8.99 per month “Classic Plan” is the best value as it includes the following:

• Over 20 of Channels Live TV & On-Demand
• HD Video Quality
• Watch on 2 Screens at a Time
• Unlimited DVR recordings. You can keep recordings for 3 Months
• Supported on Apple TV, Roku, Roku TVs, Amazon Fire TV or Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android and iOS mobile devices, and most major web browsers

You can try their service with no commitment using this 1-week trial or reading our review of Frndly TV.

Watch Ion With DIRECTV STREAM

DIRECTV STREAM added ION to its channel lineup in May of 2022. Channel packages with ION start at $74.99 per month for the services “Entertainment” channel plan. A subscription to DIRECTV STREAM includes the following:

• watch 20 streams simultaneously per subscription 
• a cloud-based DVR
• channels like ION and more
• supported on Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon FireTV, and more

You can check out this streaming service through this online offer or read about it in our DIRECTV STREAM review. The service provides a 5-day free trial when signing up.

YouTube TV

Ion is available on YouTube TV in its channel lineup for $64.99 per month.

YouTube TV provides:

• access to Ion, Local Network Channels, and over 70 other channels
• unlimited cloud DVR storage
• stream on three devices at once
• YouTube TV supports Roku, Android, iOS, Apple TV, Fire TV, Chromecast, and more.
• Includes YouTube TV on-demand
• offers a 1-week free trial.

Check our review of YouTube TV for more details. They also offer a 1-week free trial.

Ion on FuboTV

FuboTV is a streaming service that provides access to quite a few pay-TV channels. You can watch the channels live as they would air on cable TV, and you can record programs on their cloud DVR. They provide Ion, as well as over 80 other channels as part of their base package.

All this is included with the base package. It’s $74.99. There is no commitment, and you can cancel at any time. A subscription to fuboTV includes:

• Ion, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, HGTV, and more are available in fuboTV’s channel lineup
• You can watch on three screens at the same time 
• 250 hours of cloud DVR storage
• The FuboTV app is available on major platforms, including Apple TV, AndroidTV, Roku, and Amazon FireTV. 

Where Is Ion TV Available

While Ion TV is available in 73% of United States households, you won’t find it in every US TV market. The table below shows the TV station, channel, State, and TV market that carries Ion TV. Ion TV owns three TV channels, Ion TV, Ion TV plus, and Qubo (Ion’s kid’s channel). These channels may appear on sub-channels (e.g. 68.1, 68.2, 68.3) or be on more than one channel in your area. For this reason, some cities will show more than one Ion TV channel.

How To Watch Ion TV without Cable

There are two ways you can watch Ion TV without having to subscribe to a satellite or cable T.V. provider. You can watch Ion TV over the air using a T.V. antenna.

Watch Ion TV with an Antenna

If you live in a T.V. market that carries Ion TV, you can watch for free if you have a T.V. antenna. If you live in one of the T.V. Markets that carry Ion TV (see the table above) then install an indoor T.V. antenna, and tune to the T.V. channel for Ion. I recommend purchasing a T.V. antenna like the G.E. Ultra Edge antenna. As we said in our review of the G.E. Ultra Edge Indoor antenna, it provides a money-back guarantee with no questions asked if you purchase through Amazon. Purchasing an inexpensive antenna with a money-back guarantee eliminates the risk of paying too much for an antenna, setting it up, and realizing you cannot get reception for Ion TV.

When you set up your antenna, you want to put it in the best location to receive Ion TV. As we explained in our guide to using a T.V. antenna, find the location of the Ion TV broadcast tower in your area. You can do this by entering your Zip Code on the FCC’s DTV Reception Map page. This will provide a list of broadcast T.V. stations in your area. Click the “Ion TV” channel in the list, and it will show you the direction of the tower, as shown in the image below.

As you can see, positioning your T.V. Antenna to the west will provide the best opportunity to get good Ion TV reception. For more information on using a T.V. antenna, see our guide: The Ultimate Guide to Digital T.V. Antennas.

For information on watching other TV channels online check out: How To Stream Specific TV Channels