Discovery Channel Without Cable: Live Stream Online or Watch With Discovery App

Discovery is one of the iconic cable TV stations. It isn’t most people’s favorite channel, but it’s one that most people want around because of its consistently interesting high-quality content. Thankfully, it isn’t necessary to have cable to include Discovery in your channel lineup.

In a hurry? If you just want to make sure you have Discovery and related channels, these streaming services are great choices:

Debuting in 1985, the Discovery Channel almost immediately became one of the important sources of information for those who enjoyed topics such as history and science. In 1988, the first iteration of Shark Week was seen by viewers in hundreds of thousands of households throughout the United States.

Today, Discovery is available to more than 50 million households. And it is available on a number of streaming platforms. In addition, there are a number of offshoots such as Investigation Discovery, Discovery Family, and Discovery Life.

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Discovery Family and Discovery Life

Discovery has two other channels that are usually (but not always) available with it:

• Discovery Family: Cartoons such as Transformers, Pound Puppies, Littlest Pet Shop, Super Monsters, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic reign until evening. Then live-action shows the whole family can watch together take over. These include Too Cute! (puppies), America’s Cutest Cat, and Chopped Junior, a pint-sized cooking competition.
• Discovery Life: Originally a health and fitness channel, now runs mostly TLC shows with a spotlight on emergency room horror stories, addiction, mental illness, sex, pregnancy, and childbirth. Popular series include My Strange Addiction, Untold Stories of the ER, I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant, and Sex Sent Me To The ER.

How to Watch Discovery Channel Live Without Cable

Watching content via a streaming service may be ideal for those who want the flexibility to watch television on their terms. Most platforms allow you to cancel service whenever you want or take your plan to a new home or apartment without the need to go through a formal transfer process.

The Discovery Channel is a premium “cable” network, which means that you won’t be able to watch it with an antenna. The same is true of the other channels that fall under the Discovery umbrella of networks.

To watch these channels without a cable or satellite subscription, you will need to subscribe to one of the several streaming platforms that offer it as part of their base or premium packages.

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Streaming Services with Discovery Channel

Most major streaming platforms provide access to content produced by Discovery and its sister networks. Therefore, it should be relatively easy to find a plan that meets both your needs and your budget.

FuboTV

Discovery is available in the base (Pro) FuboTV plan for $79.99/mo. You can also get Discovery Life and Discovery Family with the Fubo Extra ($7.99/mo) plan that includes 48 total channels. It has 1000 hours of cloud DVR storage and allows streaming up to 10 devices.

If you want to watch this channel in Spanish, you can acquire Discovery Familia, Discovery en Español, and 14 others with the Latino Plus add-on for an extra $19.99 per month.

If you are a sports fan, FuboTV is the way to go. Of its 130+ channel lineup, a third are sports-oriented. It also features what we consider the best interface in the industry.

For all the details, see our FuboTV review.

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Philo

Philo comes with Discovery, Discovery Life, and Discovery Family as part of its base 65+ channel lineup. You will pay $25/mo for this service, and you can add various movie and entertainment options for an additional monthly fee.

Philo may be the best option for those who don’t watch sports or don’t want to pay extra for local channels. The absence of these kinds of channels is what keeps its price so low.

But apart from relatively limited channel selection, Philo is a first-class streaming service with a great interface, unlimited DVR, and streaming on up to 3 devices.

See our Philo review for all the details.

Try Philo Free for 7 Days

Sling TV

Discovery Channel is available along with 40+ others with the Sling Blue package for $40.00/mo. You also get Investigation Discovery as well as the local affiliates of Fox and NBC. Unfortunately, there is no way to get Discovery Family and Discovery Life with Sling TV.

But if Discovery Channel is enough, Sling TV is an awesome service with 50 hours of DVR, streaming on 3 simultaneous devices, and a great interface. Save 50% on Sling TV now!

See our Sling TV review for more information.

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DIRECTV STREAM

DIRECTV STREAM (formerly AT&T TV) offers Discovery Channel and Investigation Discovery with its base Entertainment play with 75+ channels for $79.99/mo. If you upgrade to the Ultimate plan ($119.99/mo), you get 130+ channels including Discovery Family and Discovery Life. Discovery en Español is also available as an add-on.

Read our DIRECTV STREAM review for details.

Get DIRECTV STREAM Free for 5 Days

Hulu + Live TV

Hulu + Live TV offers Discovery Channel along with 85+ others for $76.99/mo. It also comes with unlimited cloud DVR (9 month storage). This includes a bunch of sports channels and network affiliates in almost every location. You also get Disney+ and ESPN+. Try one month for $76.99.

You can get Discovery Family and Discovery Life through the Entertainment add-on ($7.99/mo), which includes 14 other channels. In addition, Discovery Familia and Discovery en Español can be yours by signing up for the Español add-on ($4.99/mo).

Get all the details in our Hulu + Live TV review.

Try Hulu + Live TV Today!

Vidgo

Like Sling TV, Vidgo offers both the primary Discovery network as well as Investigation Discovery as part of its base package for $69.99/mo for a total of over 100 channels.

For $84.99/mo, you can upgrade to the Vidgo Premium package, which includes Discovery Life and Discovery Family. Discovery Familia and Discovery en Espanol are both available as part of the Vidgo Mas package, which offers 25+ channels for $39.99/mo.

Check out for Vidgo review for more information.

Try Vidgo Today!

Other Ways to Get Discovery Channel

There are other ways to watch Discovery without signing up for a cable or satellite subscription.

• Discovery+: This $4.99/mo plan allows you to stream most Discovery shows. You do not get the live stream, however. But you also get content from the sister channels.
• YouTube TV: Its base plan comes with Discovery and Investigation Discovery along with 100+ other live TV channels for $72.99/mo. None of the other Discovery channels are available.
• Discovery App: You can stream Discovery through its app, but you will need a streaming subscription to log in.

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You can’t beat a VPN for privacy, security, and access. We have used them for years as an important part of our streaming toolkit and we recommend ExpressVPN. Other brands worth checking out include Hotspot Shield and CyberGhost.

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TVs and Streaming Devices for Discovery Channel

You’ll need a device capable of installing streaming apps to watch Discovery Channel. This should be easy enough because you almost certainly own one or more of them. For example, all the services support the standard “stick” devices:

• Amazon Fire TV
• Apple TV
• Roku.

Mobile devices running Android and iOS (iPhone/iPad) are also supported. And you can use them to cast Discovery to your TV using Chromecast.

All the services (except DIRECTV STREAM) support Android TV-based devices. And, of course, you can use a web browser, which can be connected to a TV.

All the services except Philo and Vidgo support Samsung smart TVs. Hulu + Live TV, FuboTV, and Sling TV support LG and Vizio smart TVs. FuboTV supports Hisense TVs. Hulu, Sling, and FuboTV also support the Xbox One gaming console.

There are other devices supported. See our individual reviews for a complete list.

Today’s Discovery Schedule

Here is today’s schedule in Eastern Time:

10:00pm	Discovery On Demand
10:01pm	Contraband: Seized at the Border – Lime and Punishment A man crosses with something that fell from the sky - literally- as well as the remains of a federally protected animal. Officers find a stay-at-home mom who may have a side hustle dealing pills and a shipment of limes arrives with an extra surprise.
11:01pm	Contraband: Seized at the Border – The Scales of Justice Couriers heading south are carrying a surprise shipment of supplies for narcotics distribution; a man who didn't realize there was a warrant for his arrest is apprehended; officers get creative when bricks of narcotics are found hidden in a semi.
12:00am	Contraband: Seized at the Border – Cocaine Chihuahua As a man attempts to cross the border, he is flagged as having an outstanding manslaughter warrant; officers discover a secret stash of cocaine hidden inside a tractor-trailer; a woman caught with prescription pills is suspected of drug dealing.
1:00am	Contraband: Seized at the Border – A King-Size Bust A mother and daughter are caught under the influence of meth; a million-dollar load is found within a shipment of mattresses; a young traveler attempts to smuggle pills in his waistband; officers apprehend a man with an outstanding warrant.
2:00am	Discovery On Demand
2:01am	Contraband: Seized at the Border – Lime and Punishment A man crosses with something that fell from the sky - literally- as well as the remains of a federally protected animal. Officers find a stay-at-home mom who may have a side hustle dealing pills and a shipment of limes arrives with an extra surprise.
3:01am	Contraband: Seized at the Border – The Scales of Justice Couriers heading south are carrying a surprise shipment of supplies for narcotics distribution; a man who didn't realize there was a warrant for his arrest is apprehended; officers get creative when bricks of narcotics are found hidden in a semi.
4:00am	Naked and Afraid: Last One Standing – Cutthroat to the Bone Desperate for a kill, Matt lays down new hunting ground rules; Gary confronts Steven and Waz when a honey score might be stolen; in the first elimination challenge, a cold-blooded move creates head-to-head conflict; two survivalists leave.
6:00am	Moonshiners: Whiskey Business – More Dollars Than Sense After a first-time distillery owner invests $2 million in a pot still and hires rookies to run it, Tim Smith realizes their recipe may blow up the building; Tim must help them rediscover their backwoods roots and learn to make Carolina whiskey.
6:00am	Discovery On Demand
7:00am	Moonshiners: Whiskey Business – Less Law, More Whiskey The Bondurant brothers are the most notorious bootleggers of the Prohibition era, turning Franklin County, Va., into the Moonshine Capital of the World; now, Tim Smith helps a descendent turn the family business into a hallmark of American whiskey.
8:00am	Moonshiners: Whiskey Business – Southern Inheritance The Williams family makes whiskey for generations until Prohibition shuts it down; when moonshine legend Tim Smith brings backwoods knowledge to re-create the old family recipe, he discovers one of the most important distilleries in American history.
9:00am	Mud Madness – One Nation Under Mud Competitors strap in for the fall mud circuit in the gritty underground world of mud racing; with big money on the line, no one is holding back.
10:00am	Mud Madness – Ridin' Dirty at Rednecks Racers gear up for one of the circuit's wildest events: the Rednecks with Paychecks Fall Mud Crawl; Bryce Sparks sends it to win his daughter a new UTV; Randi fights to overcome a traumatic accident with a victory; two new drivers ignite a rivalry.
10:00am	Discovery On Demand
11:00am	Mud Madness – Smash and Drag Bryce looks to defend his title against his nemesis, Josh, but things quickly get out of hand, ending with a broken rig and a bruised ego; hungry for a sponsor, AJ pushes his ATV to speeds of nearly 100mph.
12:00pm	Moonshiners: Master Distiller – Spirit of the South Distillers compete to make peach brandy; a spirit so prized in the Old South it was once more popular than whiskey; judged by Mark, Digger and Tim.
1:00pm	Moonshiners: Master Distiller – Battle of Backwoods Josh Owens, Mark Rogers and up-and-comer Daniel Maner compete to see who makes Appalachia's most authentic backwoods shine and win a rare jar of Popcorn Sutton's liquor.
2:00pm	Moonshiners – Rum Lovin' Criminals Before there was bourbon or rye, rum ruled the American colonies; three experts compete for a place in the six-billion-dollar spiced rum market, but only one will become Master Distiller and earn a run of their winning spirit at a major distillery.
2:00pm	Discovery On Demand
3:00pm	Moonshiners – Tickle's Billion-Buck Booze Flavored whisky is a billion-dollar market on the legal side, but when Tickle hears the challenge, he crashes the party as an outlaw contender; facing two skilled distillers, each must craft a recipe from scratch.
4:00pm	Moonshiners – Tickle's Restaurant On the midseason premiere, Tickle and Carol open their new restaurant while Tickle contends with conflicting priorities; Mark and Digger enlist Amanda to improve their wildly popular hazelnut rum; Josh shocks his outlaw partners.
5:00pm	Moonshiners – Boldest Bootleg Under cover of Tickle's new restaurant and Josh's new business, the Virginia boys attempt a 500-gallon bootleg; when the creek runs dry, Jerry designs what he hopes will be a revolutionary waterless still; Tim and Howard make rum from corn stalks.
6:00pm	Moonshiners – The Grapes of Grappa Mark and Digger challenge Amanda to distill brandy and grappa from the same grapes; the Maggie Valley trio scours the scrapyards for a stolen copper still.
6:00pm	Discovery On Demand
7:00pm	Moonshiners – Carolina Crash Course Mark and Digger invent a patriotic corn whiskey recipe using red, white and blue corn; Jerry's stolen still threatens to drive a wedge between partners; Josh returns to the safety of his home, only to crash his minivan into his own house.
8:00pm	Moonshiners – Shine Pods When their bootlegger suggests putting shine in pods, Mark and Digger enlist Amanda to innovate a product they can sell for $5 a shot; Jerry confronts the thief who stole his waterless still; Big Chuk and Joe Boy price themselves out of their market.
9:01pm	Mud Madness – All's Fair in Mud and War At Arkansas's Greasy Bend Off-Road Park, rivals Bryce and Josh wager big money on the small tire bounty course; Larry calls up an old friend to help him turn his season around; AJ does whatever it takes to take down his top competition.
10:00pm	Discovery On Demand
10:02pm	Moonshiners – Lucky But Illegal Moonshine has an Irish forefather, a high-proof spirit called Poitin, still outlawed in Northern Ireland; for this challenge, three skilled distillers bring their own ingredients and rebel spirit, but only one will be crowned Master Distiller.

Wrapping Up

Over the past 35+ years, Discovery has been helping people learn more about the world around them. Whether you want to learn how to cook, renovate your home, or complete other tasks, it is likely a channel that you will enjoy watching.

The same is true if you are a science, history, or general education buff who likes to watch content that is thoughtful and exciting at the same time.

You can get Discovery through most general streaming services. And you can get most of its content by signing up for Discovery+.

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FAQs

How many channels are part of the Discovery brand?

In addition to Discovery, Discovery Life, and Discovery Family, Discovery Inc owns the Science Channel, Food Network, and almost a dozen other channels. Most of the channels are available through your favorite streaming service. They also own the Spanish-language channels Discovery Familia and Discovery en Español

Do I need to adjust my device’s settings to watch content in Spanish?

As a general rule, Discovery channels that broadcast in Spanish will stream just like channels that broadcast content in English. However, it may be possible to watch Spanish content with subtitles if you need help following along for any reason. Alternatively, it may be possible to watch content with Spanish subtitles if that makes it easier to meet your content consumption needs.

How to stream other family and kids channels?

Here are our guides for watching related channels: