As with most content on cable today, there are alternate ways to enjoy the channels and shows you want without forking over mountains of cash to a cable TV provider. To watch The National Geographic Channel, you only need a streaming device like a Roku and a subscription to one of the following live streaming services that carries National Geographic Channel: Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, Vidgo, fuboTV, and DIRECTV STREAM. This article will help you decide which service is the best solution for you.
Streaming Services With National Geographic Channel
Below are all of the live TV streaming services offering National Geographic in their channel lineup. You can watch your favorite National Geographic shows as they air, just as if you had cable.
Hulu Live TV
Previously Hulu was known for its vast on-demand streaming library. However, they also offer Hulu Live TV service for $76.99 a month that offers Live National Geographic Channel in their lineup Streaming. Hulu Live TV includes the following features:
- Unlimited cloud DVR storage. (Recordings save for 9 months)
- Watch on 2 screens at once. (Upgrades available)
- Comes with 6 customizable profiles
- Includes entire Hulu streaming library
National Geographic Channel also has quite an on-demand catalog on Hulu as well. Just look at all the shows available on Hulu’s National Geographic Channel page. Hulu offers a 30-day free trial to their on-demand offering. Hulu offers two ways to subscribe to the Hulu On-Demand Streaming Library:
- Hulu with commercials ($7.99): This is the least expensive plan Hulu offers. It provides access to the entire Hulu streaming library. You do not get any live channels with the Hulu $7.99 plan. This Hulu plan features on-demand TV shows from network and cable TV along with all the Hulu Originals. This plan is ad-supported, so you have to watch commercials when streaming Hulu on-demand. This plan also allows subscribers to receive Hulu’s 1-year for the price of 10 months ($59.99) by switching to annual billing.
- Hulu – commercial-free ($17.99): For another $6 per month, you get all those movies and TV shows without commercials. (Due to network arrangements, Grey’s Anatomy, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and How To Get Away With Murder will always have commercials). Again, this plan is for Hulu on-demand. You do not receive any live TV channels with the $17.99 plan
For those that have to watch National Geographic Channel shows as they air, Hulu Live TV services offer a 1-week free trial for you to try their service. The monthly price of Hulu Live TV starts at $76.99 a month. You can cancel any time without penalty, and if you cancel during the free trial, you will not be charged for your first month. The Hulu + Live TV service includes the following features:
Check out our full review of Hulu Live TV for more details.
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM is another way you can watch National Geographic Channel. Channel packages with National Geographic Channel start at $79.99 per month. A subscription to DIRECTV STREAM includes the following:
- watch 20 streams simultaneously per subscription
- a cloud-based DVR
- channels like National Geographic Channel 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. They provide a 5-Day free trial when signing up.
Sling TV
Your cheapest option is Sling TV. For the first month, you can subscribe to either Sling TV’s Blue package for $40/month, which gives you National Geographic, National Geographic Wild, and over 40 other channels.
Sling TV provides a live stream of National Geographic so you are able to watch exactly what would be airing on National Geographic just as if you had cable. It is included in its Cloud DVR program, so you can record shows for later.
With online access to National Geographic streaming, you will never miss great shows like “Genius,” “Brain Games,” “Wicked Tuna,” “Drain the Oceans,” and “Border Wars”.
Sling TV is available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and more, so it’s not a problem to enjoy Nat Geo on a TV, tablet, computer, or other smart devices. There are more channels than I’ve mentioned available on Sling TV than what I’ve mentioned here. To find out more about what Sling TV has to offer and more information about Sling TV device compatibility, check out this detailed review of Sling TV.
FuboTV
FuboTV is an excellent place to go for sports, but it offers many other channels, including National Geographic Channel. National Geographic Channel is offered and 90+ other channels in its “Pro Plan” for $74.99. You can also access on-demand through the National Geographic Channel-Now app using your fuboTV credentials.
Here are some of fuboTV’s features:
- National Geographic Channel 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.
You can sign up for fuboTV or check out our review of FuboTV for more details.
Vidgo
Vidgo is a newer streaming service that offers fairly competitive pricing over other live streaming services. Vidgo includes National Geographic Channel in its Core package and over 60 other channels. New customers can sign up for the Core Plan for $69.99 per month. (They offer discounted promo pricing for your first three months.)
Vidgo doesn’t force you into a contract, so you can cancel any time. They do offer special pricing for new subscribers.
Vidgo is supported on available on Android, iOS, Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV. You can also stream the service on up to 3 devices at the same time. We have the full details in our guide to Vidgo’s live streaming service. You can watch National Geographic Channel on demand by using Vidgo as your TV provider in the National Geographic app.
YouTube TV
Another streaming service that offers National Geographic, a slew of other channels, and a nice set of features is YouTube TV. A subscription to YouTube TV costs $72.99 per month and includes the following:
- access to National Geographic, Local Network Channels, and over 70 other channels
- unlimited cloud DVR storage
- stream on three devices at once
- YouTube TV supports Android, iOS, Apple TV, Fire TV, Chromecast, and more. The YouTube TV app has also returned to Roku devices after settling a dispute between the two companies.
- Includes YouTube TV on-demand
Check out my review of YouTube TV for all the details and channels available on the service. You can also check your Zip Code on YouTube TVs Website to see the available channels in your area.
Watch National Geographic Channel for Free
Most of the streaming services that carry National Geographic Channel offer a free trial. You can take advantage of those and watch free National Geographic Channel for almost a month or longer if you use different email addresses. Let’s look at the free trials available.
- DIRECTV STREAM – Watch with this 5-day free trial.
- YouTube TV – offers a 1-week free trial
- fuboTV – Offers a fuboTV subscription
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 National Geographic Channel free. If you get creative with email addresses and payment methods, you could watch free National Geographic Channel 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 National Geographic on Roku
To watch National Geographic Channel on Roku, follow these instructions.
- Subscribe to a streaming service that carries National Geographic Channel (Sling TV, FuboTV, Vidgo, DIRECTV STREAM, etc)
- On your Roku Menu, navigate to “Search” and press “OK” on your remote
- Enter the name of the streaming service you subscribe to in the search bar
- Select the streaming service and press “OK.”
- Select “Add Channel” press “OK” on your remote. If the channel is already installed, “Go To Channel” will be an option.
- The App is now installed on your Roku. Open the app, and log in with the credentials you used to subscribe to the service. National Geographic Channel will be a channel available through the app’s live TV guide.
Watch National Geographic on Fire TV
To watch National Geographic Channel on Fire TV, follow these instructions.
- Subscribe to a streaming service that carries National Geographic Channel (Sling TV, FuboTV, Vidgo, DIRECTV STREAM, etc)
- On your Fire TV Home screen, click on the search icon in the upper-left corner of the screen.
- Enter the name of the streaming service you subscribe to in the search bar
- Select the streaming service and press “OK.”
- Select “Download,” and the channel will install
- 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. National Geographic Channel will be a channel available through the app’s live TV guide.
Watch National Geographic on Apple TV
To watch National Geographic Channel on Apple TV, follow these instructions.
- Subscribe to a streaming service that carries National Geographic Channel (Sling TV, FuboTV, Vidgo, DIRECTV STREAM, etc)
- Scroll right to the search icon in the upper-left corner of the screen
- Enter the name of the streaming service you subscribe to in the search bar
- Select the streaming service click the cloud icon, and the channel will install
- 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. National Geographic Channel will be a channel available through the app’s live TV guide.
Watch On the National Geographic App
The National Geographic app offers allows you to watch current and past National Geographic Channel shows. You can also view current episodes of the latest season of shows currently airing on National Geographic Channel networks.
You can watch by downloading the National Geographic app to your streaming device. When prompted for a TV provider, use your username and password from participating streaming services. Below are the steps I used to unlock the National Geographic app on Roku. Other streaming devices and TV everywhere apps have a very similar process.
- Go to the channel store or app store on your device. On Roku, it’s called the “Channel Store.”
- Search for the National Geographic app, add it to your device, and then open it.
- Your Roku device will then show you an activation code and a URL.
- Using a computer or mobile web browser, go to the URL
- You will then be asked for a TV provider and a username/password. I’m entering the username and password I use for Hulu.
- Once you sign in, your TV screen will refresh. You should now have access to all the video content the National Geographic app provides.
The National Geographic app is supported by all major streaming devices like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and more. National Geographic also offers a preview pass and ad-free options.
Why We Love National Geographic Channel
Just seeing the yellow rectangle of National Geographic is enough for me to start hearing the signature fanfare notes of its signature theme song. Triumphant and brassy, the song immediately makes you feel like proper enlightenment is about the occur.
The same goes for the magazine. Glossy, yellow-rectangle-emblazed magazines sat in stacks in my parents’ house, and as a youth, I gazed upon them with awe. Perhaps I, someday, would be mature enough to crack open their covers and become as cosmopolitan as its readers must be.
Well, here I am, over 40, and still seemingly not mature enough to have a subscription to the magazine. Plus, things have changed a lot at National Geographic. The non-profit National Geographic Society sold the magazine a few years ago and now it is owned by Disney, as is the channel of its name.
Despite all this continuing evolution of the brand, I can nevertheless watch shows with the National Geographic fanfare, and plenty without, as well. Just like the magazine, the channel provides gorgeous photography (this time moving!) and insights into other cultures around the world. In “Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted,” you can watch the famous British chef dive into the backcountry of New Zealand, or on the more classic “Nat Geo Travel,” you can see Zachary Levi take on New Orleans.
The channel offers up a wide array of shows of more general interest like “Wicked Tuna,” a reality show about fishermen, and even fictional shows like “Mars” and “The Hot Zone,” about an Ebola outbreak.
Animal fans get an entire channel to themselves in the form of National Geographic Wild, a spin-off which includes “The Incredible Dr. Pol,” a reality show about a rural veterinarian and “Secrets of the Zoo” about the Columbus Zoo.
The educational value of these shows tends to vary. However, odds are good that you will at the very least see the yellow rectangle, and that might just be enough to make you feel like you are learning something. Fortunately, you don’t need cable to tune in.
