Can You Watch Local Channels on Sling TV?

Sling TV is one of the best options for cost-conscious cord cutters. It offers flexible channel lineups with multiple pricing options. But one area that might give potential viewers hesitation is the lack of local channels. Sling TV does not offer CBS, Telemundo, and The CW. But you can get ABC, Fox, and NBC in select markets.

Here’s everything you need to know about watching locals with Sling TV.

Where Can You Watch Local Channels on Sling TV?

Markets with NBC

Customers in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Hartford/New Haven, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose and San Diego markets can receive live and on-demand content from NBC.

Markets with FOX

Customers in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Houston, Milwaukee, Orlando/Daytona/Melbourne, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Gainesville, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Austin, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose markets can receive live and on-demand content from Fox.

Markets with Both NBC and FOX

Viewers in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose receive both your local NBC and FOX affiliates.

Other Options to Watch CBS

While Sling TV doesn’t directly offer your local CBS affiliate, there is an inexpensive option to get it. With the Paramount+ Premium Plan, which is $11.99 / month, you can stream your local CBS affiliate. If you just want live sports from CBS, and their entertainment content, you can get all that with their Essentials Plan for $5.99 / month.

Remember, Paramount+ also includes hits like “Top Gun: Maverick,” “The Godfather,” “Tulsa King,” and “1923.” You’ll also get most shows that aired on BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Smithsonian Channel. The Nickelodeon shows are great if you have kids - “PAW Patrol” and “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Blues Clues” will keep them entertained.

Other Options to Watch NBC

If you live in an area not covered by Sling TV’s NBC agreement, you can still watch your local station with a subscription to Peacock Premium Plus for $11.99 / month. That service provides the live NBC feed in 210 markets, which covers most of the country.

Peacock also includes hundreds of great movies and TV shows on demand, so you can watch “Yellowstone,” “Bel-Air,” “The Office,” Sunday Night Football, Premier League, and exclusive MLB games. You’ll also get exclusive access to live WWE events and English Premier League soccer.

Peacock also hosts Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball, golf, SuperMotocross, Figure Skating, IndyCar, Notre Dame Hockey, Track & Field, IMSA, and snow sports. It is also a great option during the Olympics, when it offers a central hub to watch more games than you would be able to see on linear channels.

Other Options to Watch FOX

If you don’t live in one of the cities listed above that offers FOX, that can be a little more tricky. FOX doesn’t have a DTC option. If you want to watch local news from FOX stations, you may be able to find that for free on Tubi. That service offers dozens of local stations. If you’re looking for FOX entertainment programming, some of that is available on Tubi (free), while some goes to Hulu.

Sling does offer a built-in free service called Sling Freestream, which carries some local news from FOX affiliates in major markets.

Other Options to Watch ABC

There’s also no DTC option for linear ABC as a standalone offering. Almost all ABC series end up on Hulu, which you can try for free.

Other Options to Watch PBS

If you want to watch PBS, the free PBS app is your best bet. You’ll be able to watch your local channel and view on demand programming like the outstanding “Frontline” series. The free PBS Kids app is a godsend for parents, with wholesome, free entertainment like “Wild Kratts,” “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” and “Molly of Denali.”

Other Options to Watch Local Channels

The most straightforward way to watch any local channel is to install a digital antenna. Depending on where you live, you may be able to get dozens of channels in HD. Need an antenna? Here are two we recommend.

To go a little fancier, you can get a HDHomerun box, which can share your antenna signal with any internet-capable device in your home - your TV, tablet, phone, or computer. If you send the HDHomerun signal to Plex, you can use your computer as a DVR to record any broadcast shows.

When The Streamable put Sling TV through an extensive test, we found that it wasn’t a major hassle to switch over to the antenna via the HDHomerun app. If you do lots of channel surfing, it could be a dealbreaker.

If you only want to see your local newscast, many free services provide this. Depending on your affiliate, you may find your local news on DistroTV, Fox Local, Freebie TV, Haystack News, Local Now, NewsNation, Plex, Pluto TV, Stirr, Tubi, Very Local, VUit or Xumo Play. To see network entertainment or sports, you probably need another service like those we’ve listed above.

Will Sling TV Add More Local Stations?

While it’s possible, this seems unlikely. Sling TV management always has an eye on its financial picture, and the owners of local affiliates tend to pick fights with the services that carry them. Since Sling TV is unwilling to engage in protracted carriage battles, we don’t expect this to be a focus moving forward.

What Happened to Locast?

In 2021, Sling TV had been rolling out an integration with a service called Locast to give customers quick access to local channels directly from the grid guide. But with Locast suspending operations, Sling TV removed that feature from the app.

At the time, a Sling TV spokesperson told us:

As a result of Locast suspending its service, it is no longer available via a link through Sling TV. We offer alternative ways to watch local channels for free. Customers can stream local channels like ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC in the Sling app with AirTV. For more details on our local bundles, visit sling.com/locals.

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Sling TV is a live TV streaming service that helps users save money with the option of two distinct plans. The $40/month “Sling Orange” plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $40/month “Sling Blue” plan offers about 40 channels, including Fox and NBC local channels.

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Sling Blue or Orange+Blue users in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco pay a $5 surcharge because they have access to their local ABC affiliate.

If you subscribe to both plans, you’ll receive a $25 discount (or more depending on the current offer). Sling also offers various “Extra” packs that you can add to your subscription.

Sling is great for the budget-conscious cord cutter who just wants to watch live TV, but doesn’t need the most comprehensive channel selection.

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