How to Stream BBC America Live Without Cable

Updated on September 29, 2025 • Staff

BBC America is a mix of highlights from the old country like David Attenborough's nature shows and local hits such as the American version of Top Gear or the show Orphan Black which they co-produced. The good news is you can watch these shows on cord-cutting services.

You can watch BBC America on Sling TV’s Orange Plan, Philo, Sling TV’s Blue Plan, DirecTV Stream, YouTube TV, AMC+, Spectrum TV Stream, or Spectrum TV Choice (only for Spectrum Internet customers).

The cheapest option to watch BBC America is AMC+ for $6.99/month.

$45.99/month | BBC America + 33 channels

BBC America on Sling TV’s Orange Plan

Sling is best known for their two base plans that differ by the channels they have. The first one, Orange, is known to have all the Disney-owned channels, but if you're only looking for BBC America, you're in luck. Both base plans have the channel. You can also choose to add BBC World News through Sling's News Extra.

Go to Sling TV’s Orange Plan

$28/month | BBC America + 95 channels | 7 days free trial

BBC America on Philo

For cord-cutters on a budget, you might want to consider subscribing to Philo. They're able to keep prices down compared to other streamers. It won't be the streamer for sports fans and local news watchers, because programming fees are the reason why Philo excludes those channels. For fans of British media, however, Philo happens to have BBC America in its line-up. You can also check out BBC News for more across the pond, as well as other nature channels like Discovery and EarthX.

Go to Philo

$45.99/month | BBC America + 46 channels

BBC America on Sling TV’s Blue Plan

BBC America is also available on Sling Blue. Sling Blue also has more entertainment and local news channels than Orange, and if you're looking for more BBC channels, BBC World News is available on the streamer's News Extra add-on. Can't decide between either Sling plan? There's always Sling Orange + Blue.

Go to Sling TV’s Blue Plan

$49.99/month | BBC America + 137 channels | 5 days free trial

BBC America on DirecTV Stream

DirecTV Stream has most of the channels that its cable counterpart has. That line-up includes BBC America. Unlike their cable counterpart, the streamer allows you to watch that line-up on up to 20 devices. Want more channels? You can also watch BBC World News through their higher tiers, or you can check out their MyEntertainment genre pack for even more content.

Go to DirecTV Stream

$82.99/month | BBC America + 143 channels | 7 days free trial

BBC America on YouTube TV

With its wide channel line-up, it's no surprise YouTube TV has BBC America. Their familiar search function makes it easy to find your favorite channels, and they also have a great selection of films and shows on-demand. Subscribers can also watch the BBC News channel, as well as the Masterpiece programming block on PBS for more British programming.

Go to YouTube TV

$6.99/month | BBC America + 4 channels | 7 days free trial

BBC America on AMC+

While mainly an on-demand streaming service, AMC+ is owned by media company AMC Networks. That means that the streamer also airs all channels owned by AMC Networks, including BBC America. The network's other channels, such as AMC, IFC, Sundance TV, and WeTV stream live on the platform, and you can also enjoy a selection of British media on-demand like Sherlock, Luther, and The Little Drummer Girl.

Go to AMC+

$40/month | BBC America + 90 channels

BBC America on Spectrum TV Stream

This newcomer to cord-cutting quietly launched in April 2024. It's about 90 channels for $39.99, without any additional fees like a local channels surcharge, because there are simply no local channels. What you won't find either are sports channels. And some of the channels are Spectrum channels like Spectrum Originals and Spectrum News.

With Philo having a similar channel lineup but costing $15 less, you probably need a very good reason to go for Spectrum TV Stream. But, it's always nice to have another option.

Go to Spectrum TV Stream

$80/month | BBC America + 74 channels | 7 days free trial

BBC America on Spectrum TV Choice (only for Spectrum Internet customers)

Spectrum TV Choice is an internet television service that is available only by call-in and only to Charter Spectrum internet customers. The channels available to you will depend on your location, but usually you can choose 10 more channels to add to your plan. Please be careful that after 30 days, you might not be able to change the list of 10 channels you choose. You can read more in our dedicated explainer here: Spectrum TV Choice Explained: Plans, Pricing, Channels.

Go to Spectrum TV Choice (only for Spectrum Internet customers)

Watching BBC America on streaming devices

This table shows which streaming platforms carry BBC America and the devices they are available on, such as Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

Platform	Amazon Fire TV	Android	Android TV	Apple TV	Chromecast	iOS	Roku	Samsung TV	Xbox
Sling TV’s Orange Plan
Philo
Sling TV’s Blue Plan
DirecTV Stream
YouTube TV
AMC+
Spectrum TV Stream
Spectrum TV Choice (only for Spectrum Internet customers)

Streaming BBC America for free with a trial

This table lists platforms that offer a free trial so you can test them out before you commit.

Streaming Platform	Free Trial Duration
AMC+	7 days
DirecTV Stream	5 days
Philo	7 days
Sling TV’s Blue Plan	-
Sling TV’s Orange Plan	-
Spectrum TV Choice (only for Spectrum Internet customers)	7 days
Spectrum TV Stream	-
YouTube TV	7 days

Watching BBC America with Skinny Bundles

Skinny bundles offer a more affordable way to stream live TV. Here are the ones that come with BBC America.

Platform	BBC America
DirecTV MyEntertainment	-
DirecTV MyNews	-
DirecTV MySports	-
Fox One	-
Frndly TV	-
Philo	Yes
Sling Select	-

Watching BBC America on traditional bundles

Here are the traditional bundles that include BBC America.

Platform	BBC America
Disney+, Hulu, and Max Bundle	-
Sling Orange + Blue (Bundle)	Yes
Xfinity StreamSaver Bundle (Apple TV+, Netflix, Peacock)	-

OTA Antenna for BBC America

It is not possible to watch BBC America for free using an Over-the-Air antenna.

Watching BBC America abroad or out of state

Here are the VPNs that work with the streaming services above and for the most cities.

Streaming Platform	ExpressVPN 55 US cities¹	NordVPN 22 US cities²	ProtonVPN 19 US cities³
AMC+
DirecTV Stream
Philo
Sling TV’s Blue Plan
Sling TV’s Orange Plan
Spectrum TV Choice (only for Spectrum Internet customers)
Spectrum TV Stream
YouTube TV

Looking for British TV? BBC America is one of the few American channels offering British media. That's because it still airs newscasts and old reruns from the BBC. Over the years, the channel's programming somewhat shifted as AMC Networks took full control over the channel. They added their co-productions as well as more sci-fi and action series. Nevertheless, it's still the go-to channel for David Attenborough's nature shows and Graham Norton's celeb interviews. Given its unique partnership, not all American streamers have the channel. We made this list for people trying to hunt this channel down on streaming, such as fans of Orphan Black and Killing Eve.