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FuboTV Review: Solid for Soccer Fans But Channel Selection Falls Short - CNET

Posted: 2022-03-29 16:48:00

Original link: https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/fubotv-review/#ftag=CAD590a51e

In the near future, live TV streaming services like YouTube TV, Sling TV and FuboTV are going to replace your set-top cable box. The selection of channels on these services is diverse, just as with cable, but FuboTV differentiates itself from rivals with a sports-centric focus. But is it enough to compete against some strong contenders?

At its new price of $70 FuboTV still has a decent channel lineup, although it's the only service in its price range to lack major Turner networks including CNN, TNT and TBS. If you're a fan of soccer, however, this is the streaming service to get because no other competitor offers a more comprehensive list of games, or ways to find them, in both 4K and HD. Beyond soccer it's also one of the best sports streaming services, full stop.

Like

Fans of soccer will find plenty to love
Quick and easy navigation, especially on Roku
Huge DVR storage and 4K content included

Don't Like

Lacks CNN, TNT, TBS and other Turner channels
YouTube TV and Hulu Live are better overall

Yet, all of the other services in this price range present stronger packages. Hulu Plus Live TV offers a wealth of on-demand content including Disney Plus, and YouTube TV has even more channels and a superior DVR. More crucially, DirecTV Stream not only has additional channels but is an even better choice for local sports. Overall, while Fubo has kept evolving over the years it still remains a niche player in the live TV streaming arena.

What is FuboTV?

FuboTV launched in January 2015 as a soccer (er, football) streaming service, but it has expanded its reach into most categories including crime, drama and movies. In the past few years it has lost important channels such as CNN, TBS, Lifetime and A&E, but its origins are still apparent with dozens of sports-centric channels. Of our top 100 channels, though, Fubo has the lowest among all the premium services at 61, followed closely by DirecTV Stream at 62. Meanwhile, YouTube TV leads with 79.

Fubo offers a smattering of live 4K sports programming, and in the past this has included events as diverse as the Super Bowl and the Westminster Dog Show. Currently, the upcoming 4K events page lists a mix of Premier League and NCAA basketball tournament (March Madness), but the service has plenty of non-4K too with the UEFA Europa League. See the next section for an in-depth rundown.

Until recently, FuboTV offered a $65 Starter package, but this has now been phased out in favor of the $70 Elite. The Elite includes a bunch of extra channels (though only two more from the top 100), 10 simultaneous home streams and an upgraded cloud DVR with 1,000 hours of storage -- a massive improvement from the paltry 30 hours of recording the service offered a couple of years ago. The cloud DVRs on YouTube TV and Hulu Plus Live TV are unlimited, for what it's worth.

Top services compared

	DirecTV Stream	FuboTV	Hulu Plus Live TV	Sling TV	YouTube TV
Base price	$70 a month for 65-plus channels	$70 a month for 150-plus channels	$70 a month for 70-plus channels	$35 a month for 30-plus (Orange) or 45-plus (Blue) channels	$65 a month for 85-plus channels
Free trial	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC channels	Yes, in many markets	Yes, in many markets	Yes, in many markets	Fox and NBC only in select cities (Blue only)	Yes, in many markets
Simultaneous streams per account	20 (in home, 3 outside of it)	10	2 ($15 option for unlimited)	1 (Orange), 3 (Blue)	3 ($20 adds unlimited and 4K streams)
Family member/user profiles	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Cloud DVR	Yes (20 hours, unlimited for $10 a month)	Yes (1,000 hours)	Yes (unlimited)	Yes (50 hours, 200 hours for $5 a month)	Yes (unlimited)
Fast-forward through or skip commercials with cloud DVR	No (Yes with $15 option)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Sports on Fubo TV

Fubo TV has sports in its DNA, and it offers channels such as ESPN, FS1, FS2, BeIN Sports, the Big 10 and the Golf channel, along with most of your local networks like ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. However, its lack of TNT and TBS could be a dealbreaker for many baseball, basketball and hockey fans.

Additionally, many sports fans will need access to their local regional sports networks, or RSNs, for access to their home team's games. For example, those living in the D.C. area will only be able to watch Capitals hockey and Wizards basketball games on NBC Sports Washington, even if they subscribe to a league-sponsored, sport-specific package like NBA League Pass. Fubo TV only offers 12 RSNs around the country, so you will need to check to see if Fubo carries your local networks and RSNs.

Fans looking for league-owned channels will have to pay for an additional package. The Sports Lite includes NHL, NBA, MLB, SEC and Tennis channels for $10 a month.

In terms of the competition, DirecTV Stream carries TBS and TNT and has the most RSNs, but to access them you'd have to pay $90 a month, which is still $10 more than Fubo Elite and Sports Lite combined. Hulu with Live TV also has TBS and TNT, but only carries four RSNs and even their sports add-on lacks many league-owned channels. The bulked-up Hulu costs $70 a month and includes the Disney Bundle, which also gives subscribers access to ESPN Plus. The chart at the end of this article has a full comparison of how FuboTV's channel lineup fares against competitors.

What's it like to use?

The FuboTV home page.
Screenshot by Ty Pendlebury/CNET

While it may be missing some important channels, the interface feels custom-built for sports fans. Fubo's home screen features a specific "sports" tab that unlocks a menu right out of a sports-lover's dream. Up top is a scrolling line of featured shows and matchups, but below is a clean, easy-to-read list of every game airing on the service that day sorted by time. The left-hand side of the list shows the channel and the time of the event. The middle portion prominently displays the teams and sport, while the right-hand side features DVR options and a "watch live" button if the event is currently airing. You can tap on the DVR button to record the game or even record all of the games of one of the individual teams playing.

If looking at the whole daily schedule of games is too much, or you are in a hurry and looking for a particular sport, Fubo breaks down the menu even further. Directly under the "Sports" tab is a list across the top of the screen of just about every sport you could want. Just click on the sport you're looking for and a list of all the events in that sport will pop up. From there, you can even narrow it down further by league. For example, clicking on "hockey" will bring up all the hockey games airing today and for the rest of the week. But I can also toggle between the various league tabs to sort between the NHL, NCAA and AHL games -- all with DVR options readily available. FuboTV offers a comprehensive way to quickly find, record or watch a sporting event. There isn't another service that even comes close to Fubo's ease of use when it comes to sports, not even YouTube TV.

FuboTV has a large catalog of on-demand movies.
Screenshot by Ty Pendlebury/CNET

The user interface offers a number of selections across the top of the screen including Search, Home, Sports, Shows, Movies, Guide, Recordings and a smaller Account button. Most of these menus summon a Netflix-like grid, which groups similar types of content, but I found the navigation speed varied according to platform. I used the interface on the most popular devices including the Roku, Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, iOS and the Chrome browser. I found that while the mobile and browser versions worked as expected, the TV iterations varied, and some were slicker than others.

If you're using the Apple TV or Roku, for example, the top navigation menu is hidden and requires an upwards click or swipe. Of all the platforms, I liked Roku best for browsing -- it was responsive and let me use the fast-forward key to zip through the thumbnails on discovery pages.

My least favorite Fubo platform was the standard Amazon Fire TV Stick, and this is likely due to the hardware itself -- the first clue was the lack of a fast-forward capability through thumbnails that Roku offers. Scrolling, whether it was up, down, left or right, was laggy with a noticeable stutter, and each thumbnail would take a couple of seconds to appear, though the newer Fire TV 4K was faster.

Should you get it?

With the loss of a number of important channels over the last two years, FuboTV has lost much of the diversity it once offered, and now defaults again to a sports-rich offering. If you are a hardcore sports fan, or its particular selection of channels interests you, it's worthwhile at least signing up for a week to FuboTV try it out. If you want the best value at this level, though, it's YouTube TV or Hulu Plus Live TV where your money is best spent.