By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –@tvanswerman

Our ‘Top 5’ series continues with the top five live streaming services as of right now. And here they are:

What’s the Best Live Streaming Service?

1. YouTube TV
With the NFL Sunday Ticket, a sensational promotional price of $50.99 in each of the first three months, and other innovations such as Multiview, YouTube TV has clearly emerged as the leading live streaming service in the industry. The Google-owned unit has an estimated seven million subscribers now, far more than any other live streamer, and it’s likely to hit 10 million in the next 18-24 months. It’s easy to imagine a scenario where YouTube TV has more subscribers than any other pay TV service (cable and satellite included) in the next three years or so.

2. Fubo
Fubo calls itself a ‘sports-first’ service and it’s a fair claim with the carriage of the Bally Sports channels and some other hard-to-find RSNs such as NESN, Altitude and the Marquee Sports Network. There’s also a nice promotional offer now starting at $54.99 for the first two months.

3. DIRECTV Stream
Until a recent price hike, I would have put DIRECTV Stream at the second position, but the live streamer’s most affordable sports-first plan (Choice) now starts at $108.99. (Although there is a promotional discount now.) Still, DIRECTV Stream has more regional sports networks than any other live streaming service, including Fubo, and it recently added three 4K channels at no extra charge.

4. Sling TV
You have to give some love to a TV service that can still be purchased for just $20 for the first month ($40 a month after that). Sling may have some holes in its lineup (few local channels, for example), but it’s a great value for the money.

5. Hulu Live
The Disney-run live streamer seems to be losing steam these days, ignored by journalists and perhaps Disney itself. It rarely offers anything different, including promotional deals. Perhaps things will change when Disney resolves its Hulu ownership scrap with Comcast.

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The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.