Fubo (formerly fuboTV) is a video streaming service that offers a range of news, entertainment, and sports channels, making it a suitable option for cord-cutters looking to replicate the cable TV experience. Some key features of Fubo include:
- Wide Variety of Channels: Fubo provides access to many news and entertainment channels, catering to different interests and preferences.
- Easy-to-Use DVR: The service offers DVR capabilities, allowing users to record their favorite shows and watch them later at their convenience.
- Comprehensive Sports Coverage: Fubo excels in covering major sports and leagues at local, national, and international levels, making it an attractive choice for sports enthusiasts.
- Reliable Performance: Users generally experience reliable streaming performance with Fubo, ensuring a smooth viewing experience.
However, Fubo does have some limitations:
- Resolution Cap: Most live streams on Fubo are capped at 720p, which may not provide the best viewing experience, especially on 4K TVs.
Overall, Fubo is a well-rounded option for cord-cutters seeking a streaming service that offers a diverse range of content, particularly sports coverage. Despite its resolution limitations, it remains a popular choice among users who value its comprehensive sports offerings and overall reliability.
Here’s a summary of the pros, cons, and specifications of Fubo:
Pros:
- Lots of live sports and on-demand entertainment: Fubo offers a wide range of live sports coverage and on-demand entertainment options, catering to diverse preferences.
- Reliable streaming: Users generally experience reliable streaming performance with Fubo, ensuring uninterrupted viewing.
- Excellent web interface: Fubo provides a user-friendly web interface, making it easy for subscribers to navigate and access content.
- Capable DVR functionality: The service offers DVR functionality with unlimited storage, allowing users to record their favorite shows and watch them later.
- Some 4K content: Fubo offers some content in 4K resolution, providing enhanced viewing quality for supported devices.
Cons:
- Costly add-ons and packages: Fubo’s additional features and packages may come at a higher cost, potentially increasing the overall subscription price for users.
- Most live streams limited to 720p: The majority of live streams on Fubo are capped at 720p resolution, which may not provide the best viewing experience, particularly on larger screens.
- Lacks A&E and Turner channels: Fubo does not include channels from A&E Networks and Turner Broadcasting System, which may be a drawback for users interested in content from these networks.
Specifications:
- Starting Price: $79.99 per month
- DVR Storage & Retention: Unlimited storage for DVR recordings
- Concurrent Streams: Users can stream on either 2 or 10 devices simultaneously, depending on the subscription plan.
- 4K Live Streams: Available for select content.
- Sports Coverage: Fubo provides coverage for international, national, and regional sports.
- On-Demand Movies and TV Shows: Fubo offers a selection of on-demand movies and TV shows in addition to live content.
Indeed, Fubo’s sports streaming lineup is extensive and diverse, catering to the preferences of sports enthusiasts. Here’s a breakdown of the sports channels available on Fubo’s Starter plan:
National and Local Sports Programming:
- Broadcast affiliates: ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC
- Domestic sports channels: BTN (Big Ten Network), CBS Sports Network, FS1 (Fox Sports 1), FS2 (Fox Sports 2), fubo Sports Network, NBA TV, NBC Sports Network, NFL Network, and The Golf Channel
International Sports Channels:
- beIN Sports
- GOL TV
- TUDN
With this wide array of channels, Fubo provides coverage for various sports leagues and events, including but not limited to basketball, football, soccer, golf, and more. Whether it’s national, local, or international sports
Fubo’s partnership with Disney significantly enhances its sports channel lineup by adding key channels like ACC Network, ESPN, ESPN2, and SEC Network. Moreover, the more premium plans also include ESPNews and ESPN U, further expanding the selection of sports content available to subscribers. This deal addresses a previous drawback of Fubo, which was the absence of ESPN channels. Now, subscribers can enjoy a wide range of live sports, including popular events like Monday Night Football, as well as flagship sports shows such as SportsCenter and College GameDay.
Additionally, depending on the subscriber’s location, they may have access to Regional Sports Networks (RSNs). These channels provide live sports coverage for specific geographic regions, featuring teams from the local area. Most RSNs are owned by major media companies like AT&T, Comcast, or Sinclair. Fubo recently added Bally Sports RSNs (formerly FOX Sports RSNs) to its lineup, which is great news for sports fans as these channels often stream games from MLB, NBA, and NHL teams in certain markets. Fubo also offers NBC RSNs and several AT&T SportsNet channels, further enhancing its sports coverage across various regions.
Like traditional cable and other live TV streaming services, Fubo is subject to blackout restrictions determined by individual sports leagues. This means that certain games may be restricted to local networks within specific markets, preventing viewers outside those areas from watching them. However, national sports broadcasts are generally available regardless of location. Additionally, if you’re within your home network, you can still stream Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) even if you’re traveling to a different location.
While Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV offer similar sports lineups to Fubo, Fubo stands out with its extensive coverage of international sports. On the other hand, DirecTV Stream imposes restrictions on channels like MLB Network, NBA TV, NHL Network, and certain RSNs, depending on the subscription tier. It also lacks NFL Network across all its packages.
Sling TV’s Orange and Blue plans split ESPN and other popular national sports channels, requiring users to opt for the Sports Extras add-on to achieve parity with other streaming options. Overall, while each service has its strengths and limitations, Fubo’s international sports coverage and comprehensive sports lineup make it a compelling choice for sports enthusiasts.
Fubo stands out with its robust lineup of sports channels, making it a top choice for sports enthusiasts. With access to national and local sports programming from major networks like ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, as well as domestic and international sports channels, Fubo offers extensive coverage of various sports leagues and events. Moreover, its recent deal with Disney has expanded its sports offerings to include key channels like ACC Network, ESPN, ESPN2, and SEC Network, enhancing its appeal to sports fans.
In addition to its sports content, Fubo provides a diverse selection of news and lifestyle channels, catering to a wide range of interests. From major news networks like ABC News Live, BBC America, CBSN, FOX News, and MSNBC to financial news channels like CNBC and Cheddar Business, Fubo ensures access to up-to-date information and analysis. Furthermore, its entertainment and lifestyle programming includes popular channels from Discovery and Viacom, such as AMC, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, Food Network, HGTV, and more, offering something for everyone in the family.
However, it’s worth noting that Fubo’s channel lineup has undergone changes, with the exclusion of Turner-owned channels like Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CNN, TBS, TCM, and TNT, as well as A&E-owned channels like A&E, History Channel, Lifetime, and others. While these omissions may disappoint some viewers, Fubo continues to offer a comprehensive selection of channels, albeit with some notable absences.
In terms of pricing, Fubo offers several subscription plans to suit different needs and budgets. The Pro plan, starting at $79.99 per month, includes approximately 188 channels, along with features like Cloud DVR and Unlimited Screens. The Elite plan, priced at $89.99 per month, expands on the Pro plan with access to 253 channels. Additionally, Fubo offers specialty plans like the Latino plan, starting at $32.99 per month, which includes Spanish-language channels and streaming rights to Conmebol qualifying matches.
While Fubo’s pricing may seem higher compared to some competitors, its comprehensive sports coverage and diverse channel lineup make it a compelling choice for those seeking a premium streaming experience. Moreover, Fubo offers add-ons like Adventure Plus, Latino Plus, Showtime, and Sports Plus, allowing users to customize their subscription to their preferences.
Overall, Fubo’s combination of sports, news, entertainment, and lifestyle channels, along with its advanced features and flexible pricing options, positions it as a top contender in the competitive streaming market. With support for multiple devices and a free seven-day trial, Fubo makes it easy for viewers to enjoy their favorite content anytime, anywhere.
Fubo’s web interface offers a clean and intuitive user experience, with easy navigation and access to various sections like Home, Sports, Shows, Movies, Guide, and Recordings. The interface utilizes a mix of black, gray, and white colors with occasional orange accents for emphasis, creating a visually appealing layout. Users can manage account settings, profiles, and access the help center from the top menu.
The Home section showcases horizontally scrolling lists of streaming content, including Live TV, Live Sports, Top Leagues and Tournaments, News Live & Up Next, and Featured. Sports enthusiasts can explore different sports categories, view featured events, and schedule recordings using the Sports tab. Similarly, entertainment content is organized into Shows and Movies categories, allowing users to browse popular, currently broadcasting, or genre-based content.
The Guide section provides a comprehensive view of programming schedules for up to six days in the future, allowing users to explore channels, view program details, and schedule recordings. Users can also access specific channels’ content through the Networks header, which offers a brief summary and access to live and on-demand content.
The Recordings section displays recorded content in a simple list format, allowing users to search by title, team, league, or channel. Fubo offers different sections for Sports, Shows, and Movie recordings, enhancing organization and ease of access.
Fubo’s Android and iOS apps provide a sleek and responsive interface, featuring a dark theme with white and orange highlights. Users can browse various content categories, access account details, and view live and upcoming sports events. The mobile app offers similar functionality to the web interface, allowing users to explore channels, schedule recordings, and access the program guide.
In terms of streaming experience, Fubo offers standard playback controls, 15-second rewind and fast-forward options, closed caption toggles, and playback resolution selection. While live channel streams are mostly limited to 720p resolution, Fubo is one of the few services to offer live streams in 4K, provided users meet the device and internet speed requirements.
Overall, Fubo provides a user-friendly interface, reliable streaming performance, and access to a diverse range of sports, news, entertainment, and lifestyle content, making it a compelling choice for cord-cutters seeking a comprehensive streaming experience.
Fubo’s DVR features are user-friendly and offer unlimited storage for recorded content, which is retained as long as you maintain your subscription. Unlike some competitors, Fubo records the entirety of an event on certain channels regardless of when recording starts.
Comparatively, YouTube TV provides unlimited DVR storage for up to nine months, while Hulu + Live TV offers up to 200 hours of recordings with no expiration date. DirecTV Stream also offers unlimited recordings for up to nine months, whereas Sling TV provides 50 hours of storage by default.
Fubo includes additional features like Lookback and Startover. Lookback allows you to view sports events from the past 72 hours, enabling you to catch up on missed content. However, not all channels support this feature, and you cannot record Lookback content to DVR storage. The Startover feature lets you restart live broadcasts from the beginning, regardless of when you tune in, offering flexibility in viewing live programming.
In terms of accessibility and parental controls, Fubo supports closed captions but lacks customization options. It also does not offer parental control features, which may be disappointing for some users. However, Fubo now allows the creation of up to six user profiles, enhancing organization and customization options.
Regarding VPN usage, Fubo may not work with a VPN enabled due to geographic restrictions and broadcasting rights. While some VPNs may bypass these restrictions, it’s not guaranteed, and streaming services often actively block VPN access.
Overall, Fubo offers a comprehensive live TV streaming experience with a focus on sports, news, and entertainment channels. However, it may not be the best choice for users seeking specific channels like A&E or Turner channels, and its live streams are typically limited to 720p resolution. For those looking to replace cable with a live TV streaming service, Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV are recommended as Editors’ Choice winners due to their extensive channel coverage and additional features.
