How to watch 2026 Shark Week
How to watch 2026 Shark Week
The best week of the year for shark fanatics is here. 2026 Shark Week runs from Sunday, July 26 to Saturday, August 1, 2026, on the Discovery Channel and HBO Max. This year features 20 all-new premieres of heart-stopping and jaw-dropping content of the apex predator. To kick off the week, Ken Jeong and REI AMI team up in the K-Pop Shark Heroes, using the power of K-Pop to transform the perception of sharks in East Asia and across the globe. You can stream all the shark action with Sling TV’s multitude of subscription options.
How to watch 2026 Shark Week
- When: Starts Sunday, July 26, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET
- TV: Discovery, HBO Max
- Stream: Watch with a subscription to Sling TV.
- From anywhere: Watch with a subscription to a VPN.
Everything you need to know about 2026 Shark Week:
What is the broadcast schedule for the 2026 Shark Week?
| Date | Time (ET) | Event | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, July 26 | 8 p.m. | K-Pop Shark Heroes | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Sunday, July 26 | 9 p.m. | Air Jaws: Red, White, and Breach | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Sunday, July 26 | 10 p.m. | Invasion of the Mega Sharks | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Monday, July 27 | 8 p.m. | Bull Shark Dinner Bell | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Monday, July 27 | 9 p.m. | House of Sharks | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Monday, July 27 | 10 p.m. | Biggest Mako on Earth | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Tuesday, July 28 | 8 p.m. | Jurassic Sharks | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Tuesday, July 28 | 9 p.m. | Jaws vs. Orca | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Tuesday, July 28 | 10 p.m. | Chum Island: Catching a Killer | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Wednesday, July 29 | 8 p.m. | Expedition X: Atomic Sharks | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Wednesday, July 29 | 9 p.m. | Expedition Unknown: Shark Secrets | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Wednesday, July 29 | 10 p.m. | Alien Sharks: Untamed America | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Thursday, July 30 | 8 p.m. | What Shark Attacked? | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Thursday, July 30 | 9 p.m. | How to Train a Great White | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Thursday, July 30 | 10 p.m. | Ultimate Shark Dive | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Friday, July 31 | 8 p.m. | Secrets of the Great White Kill | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Friday, July 31 | 9 p.m. | Sharkzilla Takes New York | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Friday, July 31 | 10 p.m. | My Strange Shark Addiction | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Saturday, August 1 | 8 p.m. | Great White Highway | Discovery, HBO Max |
| Saturday, August 1 | 9 p.m. | Thresher Shark: Stun to Kill | Discovery, HBO Max |
Why we like Sling TV for watching 2026 Shark Week
If you’re looking for one service that can handle Shark Week, summer sports, live events, and whatever show suddenly becomes required viewing in the group chat, Sling TV is a really practical option. It’s still one of the more affordable live TV streaming services. And with football season getting closer, this is a smart time to figure out your setup before every weekend gets packed again.
What makes Sling different is that you don’t have to use it like a standard month-to-month service unless that’s what you want. Sling offers more ways to subscribe than most major live TV streaming platforms. You can buy a single-day pass starting at $5, choose a three-day or week-long option, stick with a smaller package focused on the channels you actually watch, or get the full standard lineup for $61 per month. Even at the regular monthly rate, Sling remains one of the cheaper ways to stream live TV.
For the full week of shark action, Sling Blue is the simplest choice. It costs $46 per month and includes Discovery. Sling Blue also includes local ABC, NBC, and Fox stations in certain markets. But if there are only certain premieres you want to watch and don’t need live TV for an entire week, Sling’s day, weekend, and week-long passes are worth considering. They offer temporary access to Sling Orange without making you sign up for a longer commitment.
Sling TV
Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for cord-cutters on a budget. Sling is a live TV streaming service with multiple channel packages. The $45.99/month Sling Orange plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $45.99/month Sling Blue plan offers about 40 channels, including ABC, Fox, and NBC in major markets.
You can combine Orange+Blue for a total of $60.99 / month. Sling also offers many channel add-on packages starting at $6/month.
Can you watch 2026 Shark Week for free?
There are also a few free-trial routes if you only want to watch Shark Week and don’t want to pay for a full month of live TV. The frustrating part is that these offers can be less clear than they should be. DIRECTV STREAM, Hulu + Live TV, and YouTube TV all have trial options, but the exact number of free days may depend on when you join and whether you’ve subscribed before.
DIRECTV STREAM is usually the easiest option to understand. It generally comes with a five-day free trial, which will give you most of the Shark Week content. Hulu + Live TV is another good choice because new subscribers typically receive a three-day trial, which will get you half of Shark Week and you can see if you want to watch the rest.
You’ll want to read the details more carefully with YouTube TV. The service advertises trials lasting “up to two weeks,” but some people are only offered a much shorter period which can be pretty frustrating if you want the full week. Before finishing your signup, take a close look at the checkout page and confirm exactly how many free days you’re being offered.
Shark Week will also be on HBO Max, which currently does not offer a free trial. So, if you want to watch any Shark Week content on HBO Max, you will need a subscription to the service. Plans start at $10 per month with ads, $17 per month for the ad-free option, or $21 per month for the Ultimate Ad Free tier. This highest-priced option allows you to stream in 4K on up to four devices and download shows to watch offline.
HBO Max
HBO Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library and exclusive Max Originals. There are hubs for content from TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TCM, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, ID, and more. Watch hit series like “The Last of Us,” “House of the Dragon,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and more. Within HBO Max, B/R Sports allows users to watch live NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.
| DIRECTV | Fubo | Hulu | Sling TV | YouTube TV | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Free 3-Day Trial | Save with Sling | Free Trial | |||||
| $20.99 | $9.99 | $28.99 | $19.99 | $29.99 | $45.99 | $45.99 | $64.99 | ||
| Discovery | + $22 | - | + $61 | - | - | - | ✓ | + $18 | |
Watch the promo for 2026 Shark Week
How to watch 2026 Shark Week from anywhere
If you’ll be away from home and can’t watch 2026 Shark Week as you normally would, you can still catch all of the action no matter where you are in the world, with a VPN. A VPN can be used on your phone, tablet, or computer and make you appear to be back home — even when you’re not — making sure you feel at home no matter where you are. A VPN is a safe and secure way to stay protected online while streaming your favorite sports, movies, and shows on the go. Keep in mind that you will still need to be subscribed to Sling TV in order to stream all the action with a VPN.
NordVPN is one of the best providers around, at one of the best prices. I use it every single day to surf the web. Currently, you can get two full years of protection for just $3.49 per month — plus you’ll get three extra months FREE. A high-speed VPN with best-in-class security that can be used on up to 10 devices at once — what more could you ask for? Simply sign up, install the software on your device of choice, and start streaming just as you would back home. It couldn’t be easier!
While NordVPN is our recommendation for the best VPN to use while you are traveling (and my preferred option), there are a number of other high-quality options available depending on what you are looking for.
- Best Features: ExpressVPN | Pro features for $5 per month
- Best Budget Option: Surfshark | Starting at $2.50 per month
- Best Free Option: Proton VPN | Free plan available