ION carries many broadcast network TV Show favorites in syndication like NCIS, Law and Order SVU, Blue Bloods, Chicago P.D, and more.
ION is a TV channel available over the air with a TV antenna in most of the US, and through several streaming services everywhere in the US. You can even watch ION, ION Mysteries, and ION Plus for free through a few services. Read on to learn how to watch ION without cable, and even stream all three ION networks for free!
Stream ION For Free
The channels ION, ION Mysteries, and ION Plus are available to watch free on Roku Channel, Tubi, and Plex. However, you can only stream what’s airing on ION. There is no on-demand or DVR capabilities through these services.
The Roku Channel will let you pause/play for 90 minutes. However, the show will automatically resume after the 90 minutes. If you accidentally move away from the Roku Channel, the show will return to live status. Tubi and Play doesn’t even have the Play/Pause feature with any ION Channel. If you want to use the bathroom or make a sandwich, you are going to do it quickly during the commercials like we used to not so long ago.
If you want the freedom to record what’s airing on ION and watch whenever you want, you will need a streaming service with a cloud DVR.
Streaming Services With a DVR for ION
Watching ION for free on services like Roku Channel, Tubi, and Plex is wonderful. However, there is one big drawback. You can only watch shows on ION as they air with these free services, you can’t pause or record a show. If you want the freedom to pause, play, and record shows airing on ION then you will need a streaming service that offers these features.
The most affordable streaming service that carries ION, with DVR recording capabilities and play/pause functionality, is Frndly TV, with plans starting at $6.99 per month after a 1-week trial. However, the channel is also available on services like DIRECTV STREAM, fubo, and YouTube TV also provide Ion in their channel lineup. Ion is also available over the air by using a TV antenna.
ION on Frndly TV
Frndly TV is the most affordable way to watch ION. The service has ION and ION Mysteries in its channel lineup and will allow you to record shows through the DVR service. You can all pause, play, and rewind live TV. 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 40 Channels of 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.
ION on DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM has ION in all its channel plans with the “Entertainment” channel plan being the most affordable at $79.99 per month for the services “Entertainment” channel plan. DIRECTV currently does not carry ION Mysteries or ION plus. A subscription to DIRECTV STREAM includes the following:
- Watch on unlimited devices streams simultaneously per subscription on your home network with up to 3 devices away from home.
- Cloud-based DVR with recordings saving up to 9 months
- 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 5-day free trial 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 $72.99 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 channels, including ION, ION Mysteries, and ION Plus. You can watch the channels live as they 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 “Pro” package.
All this is included with the base package, which costs $74.99 per month after a 1-week free trial. 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.
ION with an Antenna
While ION TV is available everywhere in the US with the streaming services mentioned above. It’s only available over the air with a TV antenna in around 75% of United States households. So if you try to watch ION with a TV antenna, it may not be available near you. ION is owned by Scripps and you can see all the over-the-air ION broadcast Locations on this Scripps support page. For information on using an antenna or improving your reception, check out my guide to using TV antennas.
