| Service | Price/mo | Has A&E? |
|---|---|---|
| Philo | $25.00 | Yes |
| Sling Blue | $45.99 | Yes |
| Sling Orange | $45.99 | Yes |
| DirecTV Stream | $82.99 | Yes |
| YouTube TV | $82.99 | No |
| Fubo | $89.00 | No |
| Hulu + Live TV | $89.99 | Yes |
Prices and lineups as of 2026-07-19. Verify on the provider's own page before you sign up; carriage and pricing change often and can vary by zip code.
These are two different stories that land on the same answer. YouTube TV has never signed a carriage deal with A+E Networks for A&E, and unlike its sibling channelLifetime, there is no paid upgrade path around it either. YouTube TV's $54.99-$64.99/mo Entertainment Plan add-on carries Lifetime, but it does not carry A&E or HISTORY. There is no YouTube TV plan, base or paid, that gets you A&E right now.
Fubo's situation is newer and messier. A+E Networks pulled A&E off Fubo, along withHISTORY, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network, FYI, and Vice TV, after the two companies could not agree on new carriage terms in late 2025. A&E's own support page confirms the channel is gone from Fubo, not paused for a few days. As of 2026-07-19, there is no confirmed date for a new deal. If A&E is the one channel your household would miss, treat both YouTube TV and Fubo as off the table right now, not just less convenient.
Once you rule out YouTube TV and Fubo, A&E's carriage is simple: everything else checked here carries it, and both Sling tiers include it at the same $45.99/mo price. A&E sits on the shared part of Sling's lineup, so picking Orange over Blue (or the other way around) doesn't cost you this channel the way it would with Bravo or ESPN. Philo, at $25.00/mo, is the cheapest of the five.
Hulu + Live TV and DirecTV Stream also carry A&E, at $89.99/mo and $82.99/mo, and both add a broader lineup, including locals in most markets, that Philo doesn't cover. If your household needs more than A&E alone, one of those two full-lineup plans is the next step up rather than a workaround.
A&E runs a reality and true-crime heavy schedule year-round. Storage Wars is the network's longest-running flagship, with its 17th season premiering February 28, 2026 and veteran bidders Brandi Passante, Darrell Sheets, and Rene Nezhoda still in the cast.60 Days In, the network's undercover-jail documentary series, is also currently airing. A&E carries more than 50 active reality and true-crime titles across its full schedule, not just a handful of marquee shows.
None of that overlaps with sports, 24-hour news, or scripted network primetime, so A&E tends to be a single-purpose pick: worth carrying for households that watch its specific genre, not a reason on its own to pay for a bigger bundle.
A free antenna will never carry A&E, no matter how strong your signal is or how close you live to the broadcast towers. It's a cable-only network with no over-the-air spectrum presence at any price, from any provider, full stop. What an antenna does get you free in most markets: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, and The CW, plus whatever local subchannels your market carries. None of that is A&E or anything close to its programming, so an antenna is a companion for the local-news side of your lineup here, not a substitute.
If you're pairing Philo's $25.00/mo plan with an antenna to also cover local news and network primetime, see how antennas actually work for the indoor/attic/roof distinction before you buy one. And check thefull monthly cost comparison to see how a Philo-plus-antenna setup stacks up against a typical cable bill.
Philo at $25.00/mo is a strong pick if A&E sits alongside other lifestyle and general-entertainment viewing in your household, the kind of channel mix Philo was built around. It skips live sports, 24-hour cable news, and every ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX/PBS local affiliate entirely, by design, which is exactly why it can charge a third of what the full-lineup services cost.
If your household also wants ESPN, a 24-hour news channel, or local network affiliates, Philo alone won't cover it, and A&E alone shouldn't be the reason you overpay for a bigger plan you don't otherwise need. Sling Orange or Sling Blue at $45.99/mo is the next step up that still carries A&E, and Hulu + Live TV or DirecTV Stream covers everything at once for $82.99-$89.99/mo. Just remember YouTube TV and Fubo are both off the table for this one channel, no matter which tier you'd otherwise pick. Check the rest of your household's must-have channels against our channel finder before deciding.
A&E, HISTORY, andLifetime are all owned by A+E Networks, and all three share the same Fubo blackout and the same $25.00/mo Philo-is-cheapest answer. But they're not identical on YouTube TV. Lifetime is absent from YouTube TV's base plan but available through the $54.99-$64.99/mo Entertainment Plan upgrade. A&E and HISTORY are absent from YouTube TV entirely, base plan and paid upgrade alike. If a household is deciding between these three channels while comparing plans, that's the detail worth checking first, not just whether YouTube TV carries the channel at all.
A household that wants all three A+E Networks channels is fully covered by Philo's $25.00/mo plan, or by either $45.99/mo Sling tier. A household already on YouTube TV for other reasons needs to know upfront that none of the three are part of its lineup right now, and won't be until A+E Networks settles separate carriage questions with both YouTube TV and Fubo, if either happens.