If you’re in the market to cut the cord and get a cheap, reliable internet TV service, you may be considering an option like Philo. Thanks to its affordable price and healthy channel line-up, Philo’s offering is good for those on a budget. However, local channels are important, and with Philo, local channels are a bit of a disappointment. Let’s explore what you’ll find with Philo and local channel availability.
What Philo local channels are available?
The answer here is simple, yet disappointing: There are none.
Philo does not offer any local channels at all for its subscribers. As a potential Philo customer, that may be leaving you scratching your head, but there’s a good reason why Philo takes this approach.
Local channels are costly to offer
Philo’s whole approach to internet TV is to offer one of the cheapest TV packages possible. Philo made a name for itself because it does not offer any sports channels, such as ESPN or FOX Sports.
Sports channels have particularly expensive broadcast rights, so in order to maintain a lower-cost package, Philo only offers only entertainment channels, such as History Channel, Discovery Channel, and Science Channel, across two channel packages:
The same, unfortunately, is true of local broadcast networks like FOX, NBC, ABC, and CBS. While these networks have carriage rights that are cheaper than sports cable channels, they’re still more expensive than what fits with Philo’s goals. As such, Philo offers no local channels either to keep its costs low.
Philo TV guide: What's on Philo?
Although there are no local channels available on Philo, you can still the platform's live TV schedule alongside local channel schedules by using our free TV guide for Philo. Just launch the Philo portion of the TV guide in a web browser, then switch over to the TV Guide homepage to view live TV schedules for your city, or for specific local channels.
Source: Flixed
Our lightweight TV guide is device agnostic. That means you can use it on any device. The minimum requirement is a web browser. Beyond that, your TV guide offers a breakdown on the type of content live streaming on different channels (shows, sports, movies). And if you click on different programs in the TV guide, you'll get additional details, including run time and season number.
Pair Philo with a digital over-the-air (OTA) antenna
Philo subscribers may want to pair the low-cost streaming service with a digital over-the-air (OTA) antenna. An OTA antenna can be purchased for a low cost and will allow you to receive digital OTA broadcasts from every major network. What’s more, there’s no subscription fee; all you pay is the cost of the OTA antenna, and if you choose, a digital OTA DVR that will allow you to record your live shows.
OTA antennas vary in price, with more expensive options designed to pick up a larger number of channels. Meanwhile, several OTA DVRs are available, including Tablo, which is a popular option among cord-cutters.
The number of local broadcast channels you can get in your area through an OTA will vary, but most US residents will be able to get the most popular networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, The CW, MeTV, MyNetworkTV, PBS, and Telemundo). A large handful of other regional OTA networks may be available to you as well.
Are there Philo alternatives offering local channels?
Among the growing number of internet TV services, only Philo offers a low-cost package with no local broadcast networks at all. Most others provide a mixture of local channels.
We recommend you use our Cord Cutter Express tool, which lets you input the local channels and cable channels you most want. It will then display a comparison of internet TV services based on your specific criteria, helping you more easily decide which service is best for you.
What are other great streaming services?
Philo's lack of local channels might make it less-than-ideal for some. Why not pair it with Hulu+Live TV, which offers a great list of local channels, or ESPN+ for a greater selection of live sports? You may also want to add in the exclusive and growing library that comes with Disney+, including the hit show, The Mandalorian, which is only available on Disney+.
Sam Cook • Author
Sam Cook is a full-time content strategist by day, a part-time freelance content writer since 2015. In another life, he was a high school English teacher for nearly a decade. Based in sunny New Orleans, he writes long-form educational content on technology, including Insurtech, Fintech, HRtech, and content streaming.
Lisa Holden • Editor
Lisa Holden is an editor and creative based in Houston, TX. Lisa holds a BA in African-American Studies from Temple University and has spent her career working in news publications and magazines, even founding a magazine herself. She began working as an editor for Flixed in 2023. When she’s not editing or working on one of her many creative endeavors (whenever that is), she enjoys traveling to new places and biking on sunny days.