How To Watch TBS Without Cable

Many who go without cable TV want a way to watch TBS live. Not only does TBS have original shows like Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, American Dad!, and Miracle Workers, but TBS also airs NBA Games, NCAA Basketball, Major League Baseball on TBS, and other live sports. Well, you don’t need cable to watch TBS as it’s available on the following streaming services: Sling TV, Hulu, YouTube TV, AT&T TV, and TVision.

The Cheapest Way To Watch TBS

Sling TV is the cheapest way to watch TBS. The channel is in both its “orange” and “blue packages, each priced at $30 a month. Sling offers a 3-day free trial with its service, and if you cancel within the trial, you won’t be charged. If you decide to keep Sling after the free trial, you can cancel any time as there are no contracts or long term commitments.

Sling TV provides a live stream of TBS, so you can watch exactly what would be airing on TBS, just as if you had cable. Some episodes of its shows are available on-demand, and you can also record TBS shows with Sling’s included cloud DVR.

Sling TV is available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast and more, so it’s not a problem to enjoy TBS on a TV, tablet, computer, or other smart devices. To find out more about Sling TV, check out this detailed review of Sling TV.

Other Streaming Services With TBS

Aside from Sling TV, the following streaming services also carry TBS in their channel lineup.

Watch TBS on Hulu

Hulu is a great way to stream TBS Live. Previously Hulu was known for its vast on-demand library. Recently, they have added a Hulu Live TV service. In addition to streaming TBS live, Hulu offers live access to channels like A&E, TNT, FX, HGTV and more. Hulu Live TV also includes the following features:

• The basic package comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR storage. (Upgrades available)
• Watch on 2 screens at once. (Upgrades available)
• Comes with 6 customizable profiles
• Includes entire Hulu streaming library

Hulu Live TV is supported by several connected TV devices, mobile devices, and browsers. You can stream TBS on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, iOS, Android, and Windows Smartphones and Tablets, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and 4, Wii and Wii U, and much more.

Hulu offers a 1-week free trial. After the trial, the monthly price is $$$. Check out our review of Hulu for more details on this streaming service.

TBS on AT&T TV

AT&T TV is another way you can watch TBS. Channel packages with TBS start at $$$ per month. A subscription to AT&T TV includes the following:

• watch 3 streams simultaneously per subscription 
• a cloud-based DVR
• channels like TBS and more
• supported on AppleTV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon FireTV, and more

You can check out this streaming service through this online offer or read about it in our AT&T TV review.

TBS on TVision

TVision is a new live TV streaming service from T-Mobile. The service is currently only available to T-Mobile customers. TVision’s “Live TV” plan offers TBS along with 30 other channels for just $40 per month. Below are features included with this plan:

• 30+ live channels including TBS, ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, and more
• includes 100 hours of cloud DVR
• stream to 3 devices at a time
• supported on Apple TV, Fire TV, Chromecast, and more

See our review of TVision or visit T-Mobile’s website for more information.

TBS on YouTube TV

YouTubeTV also carries TBS in it’s channel lineup along with limitless storage space for recording your shows. Your library of recorded shows can be streamed anywhere.

YouTube TV provides:

• BBC America, Local Network Channels, and over 70 other channels
• unlimited cloud DVR storage
• stream on three devices at once
• Youtube TV supports Roku, Android, iOS (includes AirPlay to Apple TV), and Chromecasts/Chromecast-compatible TVs, and more. 
• Includes Youtube TV on-demand
• offers a 1-week free trial.

After a 1-week free trial YouTube TV costs $$$ per month. See our YouTube TV review for more details.

Stream TBS Shows On-Demand

All the streaming services covered in this article will offer some on-demand content online. If you are looking at watching back seasons, I’d recommend using Hulu. Their on-demand library streams TBS shows like Angie Tribeca, American Dad!, and The Detour. Remember, Hulu’s On-demand library comes with its Live service. You can check up Hulu’s TBS on-demand page and see what is currently available.

If you are simply interested in a few TBS shows, you can purchase the full run of the current and past online from Amazon, Itunes, or another service.  This may be a cheaper option than purchasing a streaming service to deliver all TBS has to offer. A limited selection of episodes is available for free on the TBS app on Amazon Fire TV and the Fire TV stick.

To buy the latest season of a TBS show on Amazon, a season pass costs roughly $19.99, which is less than many monthly services and makes sense if it’s the only show that you care about.

That said, there you may be interested in shows on other networks. In that case, you may be better off going with one of the live streaming services.  It ultimately depends on how many shows you are going to follow in a year. Almost every popular show is available online, and once you purchase it, you own it.  That means you can watch it whenever you want.

TBS does offer some of its content for free on their website. However, they only offer certain shows, and unlocking some content may require a traditional cable TV subscription.

Watch TBS for Free

Most of the streaming services that carry TBS offer a free trial. You can take advantage of those and watch free TBS for almost a month or longer if you use different email addresses. Let’s look at the free trials available.

• Sling TV – offers a 1-week free trial
• Hulu Live TV– offers a 1-week free trial
• YouTube TV –  offers a 1-week free trial

As long as you cancel before the free trial expires, you won’t be charged. You can cycle the free trials to get nearly a month of TBS free. If you get creative with email addresses and payment methods, you could watch free TBS even longer. Doing this would also let you test out the various live TV streaming services to see which one you like the best.

Watch TBS on Roku

To watch TBS on Roku, follow these instructions.

1. Subscribe to a streaming service that carries TBS (Sling TV, Hulu Live TV, YouTube TV, and AT&T TV)
2. On your Roku Menu, navigate to “Search” and press “OK” on your remote
3. Enter the name of the streaming service you subscribe to in the search bar
4. Select the streaming service and press “OK.”
5. Select “Add Channel” press “OK” on your remote. If the channel is already installed, “Go To Channel” will be an option.
6. The App is now installed on your Roku. Open the app, and log in with the credentials you used to subscribe to the service. TBS will be a channel available through the app’s live TV guide.

Watch TBS on Fire TV

To watch TBS on Fire TV, follow these instructions.

1. Subscribe to a streaming service that carries TBS (Sling TV, Hulu Live TV, YouTube TV, and AT&T TV)
2. On your Fire TV Home screen, click on the search icon in the upper-left corner of the screen.
3. Enter the name of the streaming service you subscribe to in the search bar
4. Select the streaming service and press “OK.”
5. Select “Download,” and the channel will install
6. The App is now installed on your Fire TV. Open the app, and log in with the credentials you used to subscribe to the service. TBS will be a channel available through the app’s live TV guide.

Watch TBS on Apple TV

To watch TBS on Apple TV, follow these instructions.

1. Subscribe to a streaming service that carries TBS (Sling TV, Hulu Live TV, YouTube TV, and AT&T TV)
2. Scroll right to the search icon in the upper-left corner of the screen
3. Enter the name of the streaming service you subscribe to in the search bar
4. Select the streaming service click the cloud icon, and the channel will install
5. The App is now installed on your Apple TV. Open the app, and log in with the credentials you used to subscribe to the service. TBS will be a channel available through the app’s live TV guide.

Using the TBS App

If you have cable TV, you can watch TBS online using the TBS app. It’s available on almost every streaming device on the market. However, as I said, this requires a cable TV or satellite subscription. The TBS streaming app requires your (or someone else’s) Pay TV provider login credentials to access the content.

Unfortunately the credentials for the streaming services mentioned above do not provide access to the TBS app. For that you will need a tradional cable TV login.

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

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