USTVNow Review: Free Network Channels and More

*As of summer 2020, it appears USTVNow no longer offers a free option. Check our Discussion Board Streaming TV section for options and to compare USTVNow’s paid plans to other streaming platforms.

USTVNow is a streaming TV service you may never have heard of before. Everyone, at least readers here at Savings Beagle, has heard of Sling TV and probably Sony’s PlayStation Vue, but USTVNow is flying under the radar. They offer a similar product as the previously two mentioned competitors, but they also have a free plan for just “local” network channels. The odd part about the free plan is that you need to be a US citizen who is NOT currently in the United States. They gear their service to US military, expats and others who are abroad.

The channels aren’t really local, they all come out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The free plan only gives you network channels and after a 45 day period you are downgraded from HD streaming to their standard SD stream unless you upgrade to their paid plan. Also not included in the free plan are their 20+ cable channels and their cloud-based DVR feature. The network channels included are: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS and the CW. As far as we could tell, USTVNow doesn’t validate your citizenship or your current location, they simply ask you the questions and depending on your answers you will be watching free network channels without needing a credit card or any other type of obligation. Some users have reported being able to view video no matter what they answered.

Seeing as you don’t need a credit card to sign up, I am not sure what would prevent someone from creating new accounts every 45 days to take advantage of the free network HD channels, but we haven’t tried it to see for ourselves.

Pricing

The paid plan starts out at $19 a month, but increases to $29 per month after three months. There are 21 cable channels included in the paid plan in addition to the free major network channels. They are: ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC, PBS, My9, A&E, Animal Planet, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CNBC, CNN, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, ESPN, FX, Fox News, History, Lifetime, National Geographic, Nickelodeon, Spike, Syfy, TBS, TNT, USA and AMC.

A premium plan is available for just under $100 and has up to 200 channels. Premium channels include Showtime, HBO, etc. but are part of a different system, so not the norm from USTVNow. They partner with regular cable providers to be able to add or remove specific channels or groups of channels and can’t do that type of customization on their regular plans.

You must first sign up for the free plan before you are able to upgrade to the paid plans. Plans are monthly, so you can cancel at any time without needing to pay for additional months.

With the free plan you can still get the DVR services based on their referral program, you basically get an allotted number of hours for each paid subscriber you get to sign up with USTVNow. Probably not something most of you will take part in.

Features and Quality

The DVR function is cloud based. You don’t have to be connected to the Internet to record your program, just schedule it while online and your program will be there for you when you want to watch it.

USTVNow is about on  par with other streaming services in terms of video streaming quality. The HD picture is a little dull compared to your cable company or dish provider of choice, but not more so than Sling TV or PlayStation Vue or other streaming video services.

How to Watch

The USTVNow service is available on your PC or Mac via your Web browser, but is also available on Roku or Android based boxes. The service is also available on iPhones or Android-based phones. Most tables using Android or iPads will be able to view USTVNow.

Only one person per account can watch using the account. For free stations, this should not be a problem as each person can have their own account.

With any streaming service you will need a decent connection speed, but not super high speed. For low resolution viewing you will need 400 kbps, 750 kbps for medium and 1400 kbps for high resolution.

Conclusion

While the number of channels USTVNow offers in their paid plan is competitive with the other two provider’s base plans, we feel the major benefit for USTVNow over Sling TV or PlayStation Vue is with their free service for network channels. The user interface isn’t as easy to use as their competitors. The cost after three months is $10 a month higher than Sling TV, but you do get more channels. We don’t see much advantage of USTVNow over PlayStation Vue other than network channels. Both services offer a DVR function, but Sony’s is a little better and their channel offerings are also greater for the same price point.

Sling TV doesn’t offer local network channels and PlayStation Vue charges extra for them, this is the main advantage of USTVNow. So, if you want the major network channels and don’t want to pay extra for them with your streaming package or if you just want the majors and don’t want to pay for them at all, USTVNow is your best choice.