Fubo TV customers are ringing in the new year with fewer channels on their guide.
Late Saturday evening, Fubo TV dropped around a dozen channels owned and distributed by AMC Networks, including the flagship AMC channel, IFC, We TV, Sundance, BBC America, BBC World News and specialty channels like El Gourmet and Mas Chic. AMC’s premium offering, AMC Premiere, is also gone.
In a statement, a Fubo TV executive said AMC Networks “have left Fubo TV” as of December 31. Customers who have programs from AMC and supported channels in their cloud DVRs won’t lose access to them for the time being. No one will receive refunds or credits, even though the channels were promoted to customers when they prepaid for Fubo TV, which starts at $70 a month.
The removal of the channels came after a carriage agreement between Fubo TV and AMC Networks expired at the end of the year. It wasn’t clear if Fubo TV simply decided to not negotiate a new agreement, or if AMC Networks demanded a fee increase that the streaming service was unable to pay.
Many of the channels offered on Fubo TV are available in a standalone service called AMC Plus, which costs $9 a month plus tax. AMC Plus includes live feeds from AMC, IFC, We TV, Sundance and BBC America, plus on-demand movies and TV shows from the AMC catalog like “Better Call Saul,” “Dark Wind” and “The Walking Dead.”
Streaming TV customers who are thinking about switching away from Fubo TV in order to get live access to AMC channels plus other networks have a few options, including:
Philo
Cost: $25 a month
Includes AMC: Yes
Free trial or discount: Yes (7 day free trial)
Available on: Phones, tablets, smart TVs, computers
Try it: Click or tap here
Outside of AMC Plus, Philo is the cheapest way to get the AMC, IFC, We TV, BBC America, Sundance and BBC World News without cable or satellite. The service has a good channel-to-dollar ratio, offering more than 60 channels of general entertainment, lifestyle and knowledge channels in its base package, which also includes the ability to have 10 individual profiles each with its own cloud DVR that saved recorded shows and movies for at least one year. Other channels offered on Philo include the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, A&E, the History Channel, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, BET, VH1, Paramount Network (which has new episodes of Yellowstone), Bloomberg, Lifetime, TV Land and more. Try it for free when you sign up by clicking or tapping here.
Sling TV
Cost: $40 a month
Includes AMC: Yes
Free trial or discount: Sometimes
Available on: Phones, tablets, smart TVs, computers, game consoles
Try it: Click or tap here
Sling TV offers a good variety of top-tier entertainment, news and sports channels, including AMC, BBC America and IFC, in its base package of channels, which costs $40 a month. There are two base programming packages: Sling Orange (which has ESPN and some Disney channels) and Sling Blue (which has FX, FXX, Fox Sports, Fox News, USA and MSNBC). Both Sling Orange and Sling Blue offer AMC, BBC America and IFC, with other AMC channels available for separate charges. A combined Sling Orange-Sling Blue package brings the best of ESPN and the Disney channels with those from Fox Corporation and NBC Universal into a single offering at $55 a month. There’s no contract; streamers can cancel at any time.
YouTube TV
Cost: $65 a month
Includes AMC: Yes
Free trial or discount: Yes (7 day free trial)
Available on: Phones, tablets, smart TVs, computers, game consoles
Try it: Click or tap here
YouTube TV is the closest Fubo TV replacement on the market, and while it doesn’t offer many of the niche sports channels that Fubo TV carries in its lineup, it has plenty of top-tier sports, entertainment and news channels to make everyone in the family happy. It offers a single base programming package of channels at $65 a month, which is $5 cheaper than Fubo TV, and its line-up of channels includes AMC, BBC America, BBC World News, IFC, We TV and Sundance. Hardcore AMC fans can even add AMC Plus onto their subscription for a separate charge. Other channels offered by YouTube TV include local ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and PBS stations; ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNews, ACC Network and SEC Network; Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Fox News and Fox Business Network; MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo, Oxygen and E!; CNN, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and Tru TV; and Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, BET, Nickelodeon and TV Land, among others. The service offers an extended free trial with a discount off the first month of service when users sign up by clicking or tapping this link.
