| Service | Price/mo | Has National Geographic? |
|---|---|---|
| Philo | $25.00 | No |
| Sling Blue | $45.99 | Yes |
| Sling Orange | $45.99 | No |
| DirecTV Stream | $82.99 | Yes |
| YouTube TV | $82.99 | No |
| Fubo | $89.00 | Yes |
| 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.
YouTube TV restructured its lineup in 2026 into several smaller plans instead of one base package. The standard base plan, at $82.99/mo, does not include National Geographic. To get it on YouTube TV you need the separate News + Entertainment + Family plan, priced around $69.99/mo, or the paid Entertainment Plus add-on stacked on top of another plan. If you're comparing YouTube TV's regular base lineup against other services, treat National Geographic as absent from it, not just one menu tap away.
This is the same base-plan-versus-add-on pattern this site has already flagged onLifetime. It's worth checking directly on YouTube TV's own plan picker before you sign up, since the exact add-on price can change.
Sling splits its lineup into two tiers on purpose. Sling Orange carries the ESPN family and Disney-owned channels. Sling Blue carries Fox News, USA Network, and National Geographic. The two tiers don't overlap much, which is why Sling sells a combined Orange & Blue plan for $60.99-$65.99/mo on top of either single tier at $45.99/mo. If you sign up for Sling Orange expecting National Geographic, you won't get it. Sling Blue alone, at the same $45.99/mo price, is the one that does.
This is the same tier split covered on our ESPN page, just landing on the opposite tier. If your household wants ESPN and National Geographic together, you need the Orange & Blue combo, not either tier alone.
Once you rule out YouTube TV, Sling Orange, and Philo, National Geographic's carriage is straightforward: Sling Blue, DirecTV Stream, Fubo, and Hulu + Live TV all carry it, with no further tier or add-on catch. Sling Blue, at $45.99/mo, is the cheapest of the four and the one to pick if National Geographic and general-entertainment channels are what your household actually watches.
DirecTV Stream, Fubo, and Hulu + Live TV also carry it, at $82.99/mo, $89.00/mo, and $89.99/mo, and all three add a much broader lineup, including most local network affiliates, that Sling Blue alone doesn't cover. If your household needs more than National Geographic and a handful of entertainment channels, one of those three full-lineup plans is the next step up rather than a workaround.
A free antenna will never carry National Geographic, 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 National Geographic or anything close to its documentary and nature programming, so an antenna is a companion for the local-news side of your lineup here, not a substitute.
If you're pairing Sling Blue's $45.99/mo plan with an antenna to also cover local news and network primetime, see how antennas actually work for the indoor/attic/roof distinction and the distance caveats before you buy one. And check thefull monthly cost comparison to see how a Sling-Blue-plus-antenna setup stacks up against a typical cable bill.
Sling Blue at $45.99/mo is a strong pick if National Geographic sits alongside other general-entertainment channels in your household, without needing the ESPN family or full local-network coverage. It skips most Sling Orange exclusives entirely, by design, which is part of why either single Sling tier can charge roughly half what the full-lineup services cost.
If your household also wants ESPN, ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX local affiliates in every market, or just wants one plan that covers everything without tier math, Sling Blue alone won't cover it. The Sling Orange & Blue combo runs $60.99-$65.99/mo and adds ESPN. DirecTV Stream, Fubo, or Hulu + Live TV cover everything at once for $82.99-$89.99/mo, with more local channels than either Sling tier includes. Just remember YouTube TV's base plan and Philo are both off the table for this one channel, no matter which tier or full-lineup plan you'd otherwise pick. Check the rest of your household's must-have channels against ourchannel finder before deciding, since National Geographic rarely stands alone as the single deciding factor in which plan to buy.
National Geographic's carriage pattern doesn't match Discovery Channel or Food Network, the site's other lifestyle-category channels. Both of those are carried on every service checked here, Philo included, with Philo as the cheapest carrier for both at $25.00/mo. National Geographic is the outlier: it's missing from Philo entirely, missing from YouTube TV's base plan, and split across Sling's two tiers rather than included on both.
That's worth knowing if you're comparing several lifestyle channels at once to decide on a plan. A household that wants Discovery Channel or Food Network alongside National Geographic can't use Philo to cover all three the way it can for the first two alone. Sling Blue, at $45.99/mo, is the cheapest plan that actually carries all three of these channels together, since Sling also carries Discovery Channel and Food Network.