Movie fans love TCM because it runs unedited films without commercials. At one time, you needed a cable subscription to get the channel. But no more! Read on to learn all your options to watch TCM.
In a hurry? If you want to start watching TCM without cable now, these three streaming services provide immediate access, and a lot more.
- DIRECTV STREAM: Makes it easy to switch from cable to streaming with their 75+ channel Entertainment plan and options for much more. A 5-day free trial is now available for DIRECTV STREAM.
- Sling TV: The top low-cost streaming service provides a great base channel lineup in both its plans. Save 50% with Sling TV.
- Hulu + Live TV: This total entertainment streaming service provides a great on-demand selection and all the essential live TV channels.
If you can’t watch your favorite movies and shows because of your location, try ExpressVPN to get access to the content you deserve.
Table Of Contents
How To Watch TCM Live Without Cable
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is unusual in the “basic cable” world. It doesn’t run any commercials. The channel is funded primarily on carriage fees, the money that cable, satellite, and streaming companies pay for rights to provide the channel to their customers.
As a result of this, TCM is not as widely available as, say, Discovery or Hallmark. But it is still available for one main reason: there are a lot of TCM fans! Famed director Martin Scorsese plays it in his editing room for inspiration. Like him, most TCM viewers are older. But this is changing with more and more young people tuning in.
Since TCM is not broadcast over the air, you can’t get with an antenna, or for free. You need to purchase it through a third-party provider. And for those who want to avoid long contracts with cable and satellite companies, streaming services are the only option.
All you need is an internet connection and a supported streaming device. If you’re reading this, you likely already have both. All you need to do is sign up with the right streaming service — you can decide which one that is below.
Sling TV
| Movie Channels | AMC, Bravo, Disney, SyFy |
| Total Channels | 40+ |
| Cloud DVR | 50 hours |
| Simultaneous Screens | 3 |
| Free Trial | ❌ |
| Sling TV Price* | $40.00/mo |
Sling TV does not offer TCM with either of its base plans. Sling Blue does, however, provide you with AMC, Bravo, Disney, SyFy, and almost 40 other channels for just $40.00/mo.
One of the selling points of Sling TV is how easy it is to personalize with add-ons. For $6/mo, you get the Hollywood Extra add-on, which includes TCM, FXM, Cinémoi, and 7 other film-oriented channels. That’s $41 per month and you have TCM with a bunch of other channels.
For another $6/mo, you can get the Lifestyle Extra add-on, which includes Lifetime Movies, the 3 Hallmark channels, and 6 others.
This plan comes with 50 hours of DVR storage and the ability to stream on up to three screens at one time.
Check out these in-depth articles on Sling TV for more:
DIRECTV STREAM
| Movie Channels | AMC, Bravo, Disney, SyFy, TCM |
| Total Channels | 75+ |
| Cloud DVR | Unlimited* |
| Simultaneous Screens | Unlimited |
| Free Trial* | ✅ |
| DIRECTV STREAM Price | $79.99/mo |
The DIRECTV STREAM (formerly AT&T TV) base (Entertainment) plan offers 75+ channels for $79.99/mo. It comes with TCM as well as AMC, Bravo, Disney, and SyFy. If you also want FXM and Lifetime Movies, you will need to choose the Ultimate plan. It comes with 130+ channels (including HBO MAX free for a year) for $119.99/mo.
The cloud DVR that comes with DIRECTV STREAM is unlimited as long as you sign-up online.
On the other hand, DIRECTV STREAM has the best deal in the industry when it comes to sharing an account. You can use your account on unlimited devices simultaneously in one household and away.
Read more about DIRECTV STREAM in our detailed review.
Get DIRECTV STREAM Free for 5 Days
Hulu + Live TV
| Movie Channels | AMC, Bravo, Disney, FXM, LTM, SyFy, TCM |
| Total Channels | 85+ |
| Cloud DVR | Unlimited* |
| Simultaneous Screens | 2 |
| Free Trial | ❌ |
| Hulu Price | $76.99/mo |
Hulu is known for its on-demand streaming service. It is extremely popular with cord-cutters who don’t care about watching live TV but want to stay up on recently aired shows. Hulu + Live TV adds to that 85+ live channels for $76.99/mo.
In addition to TCM, Hulu + Live TV offers other movie channels like AMC, Bravo, Disney, FXM, Lifetime Movies, and SyFy. And you get Disney+ and ESPN+. They also provide access to premium movie channels like Cinemax, Showtime, HBO, and Starz.
Hulu + Live TV comes with unlimited cloud DVR (9 month storage). You can also stream on up to two screens at one time. The simultaneous screens can be upgraded.
Find out more from these guides:
Unblock Your Favorite Movies and Shows With a VPN
If you can’t watch your favorite movies and shows because of your location, a VPN will allow you to get the access you are entitled to, plus extra security and unequalled privacy. Check out our VPN Guide for everything you need to know, including our top pick ExpressVPN.
Other brands worth checking out include Hotspot Shield and CyberGhost.
Other Ways to Get TCM Online
There are other ways to watch TCM live:
- TCM.com: You can watch both the east and west coast feeds of TCM as well as a huge collection of movies on-demand. This requires a login from your streaming service. It doesn’t work with Sling TV, however.
- TCM App: This is the same as the TCM.com website but it runs on Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku devices.
- YouTube TV: a general streaming service similar to Hulu + Live TV.
TVs and Devices That Support TCM
The three streaming services that we’ve discussed above support most of the streaming devices that are currently in use.
All of them support the main “stick” devices: Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku. They also support Chromecast, which allows your TV to accept casts from mobile devices and web browsers (if the TV doesn’t already support this).
Hulu and Sling support smart TVs with Android TV. DIRECTV STREAM and Sling TV support recent Samsung smart TVs. They also support a number of other devices including LG smart TVs, Xbox One gaming consoles, and Oculus VR devices.
DIRECTV STREAM supports its own device, which can be an easy way to move away from cable, without having to mess with third-party devices.
And finally, all the streaming services support web browsers. This has an advantage — most devices that run web browsers can be connected to a smart TV for display.
Superpower Your Live TV Streaming With a VPN
You can’t beat a VPN for privacy, security, and access. We have used them for years as an important part of our streaming toolkit and we recommend ExpressVPN. Other brands worth checking out include Hotspot Shield and CyberGhost.
| i | See our VPN Buyer’s Guide for complete information on how to choose the best VPN for your needs. |
Today’s TCM Schedule
Here is today’s schedule in Eastern Time:
| Movie – Father's Little Dividend Father (Spencer Tracy) hears Daughter (Elizabeth Taylor) is pregnant in this sequel to "Father of the Bride." | |
| Movie – The Kid The Little Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) raises the abandoned child (Jack Coogan) of an unwed mother (Edna Purviance). | |
| Movie – The Great Escape Allied soldiers (Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough) dig a tunnel out of a Nazi prison camp, pocketfuls of dirt at a time. | |
| Movie – Escape A German general's (Conrad Veidt) countess mistress (Norma Shearer) helps an American (Robert Taylor) free his actress mother from a death camp. | |
| Movie – Escape From East Berlin An East German (Don Murray) tunnels under the Berlin Wall and leads his girlfriend (Christine Kaufmann) and 26 others to freedom. | |
| Movie – Escape From the Iron Curtain A British captain (John Bentley) sends a high-level defector (Theodore Bikel) back to Hungary on a mission. | |
| Movie – I Escaped From the Gestapo A Nazi spy (John Carradine) and his gang spring a counterfeiter (Dean Jagger) from prison to help them fund the Axis. | |
| MGM Parade Victor Moore; Edward Arnold; host George Murphy. | |
| Movie – Please Don't Eat the Daisies A New York drama critic (David Niven) moves his wife (Doris Day) and four boys to an old mansion in the country. | |
| Doggone Tired | |
| Movie – Believe It or Not #8 Oddities include a young grandmother, one of the largest books in the world, and truffle-hunting pigs. | |
| Copenhagen City of Towers A tour of Copenhagen's most popular attractions. | |
| Movie – The Omaha Trail A drifter (James Craig) leads a railroad expedition through Indians and a bad guy's (Dean Jagger) gang. | |
| Screen Directors Playhouse – The Life of Vernon Hathaway A man starts experiencing his dreams in real life. | |
| Popeye the Sailor – I Wanna Be a Life Guard Popeye and Bluto apply for a lifeguard job when they see Olive in the pool. | |
| Movie – Burn 'Em Up O'Connor A farm boy (Dennis O'Keefe) goes from midget cars to the big time, proving someone has been drugging his boss's (Harry Carey) drivers. | |
| Movie – Patrolling the Ether In 1940 amateur radio operators across the U.S. monitor radio traffic for suspicious activity. | |
| Movie – The Magic Flute A prince rescues a princess (Irma Urrila) from a sorcerer (Ulrik Cold) in this version of Mozart's opera. | |
| Movie – The Seventh Cross Seven escapees from a concentration camp meet with different fates as they attempt to flee Nazi Germany. | |
| Movie – Lady in the Lake Raymond Chandler's private eye Philip Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) searches for a publisher's missing wife. |
Wrapping Up
TCM has thousands of ad-free movies for you to enjoy, and now you can do it without cable.
We recommend Sling TV for streaming TCM. Save 50% on your first month of Sling TV.
Get DIRECTV STREAM Free for 5 Days
Get comfortable and start streaming while enjoying more for less money!
FAQs
How do I watch TCM for free?
TCM is a pay-TV station. It isn’t broadcast over the air and isn’t available for free. You must get it from a third-party provider. There is no way to get TCM free long-term.
How do I get TCM on-demand?
“TCM on-demand” or “Watch TCM” is available through the TCM website or app. These give you access to the east and west coast live streams of TCM. But they also give you on-demand access to TCM’s large collection of classic films. To use this, you must log in with your streaming services using TV everywhere.
What type of shows does TCM offer?
TCM doesn’t have much in the way of shows — they just air movies. This is one reason that many film fans like it so much. They present one film after another with introductions by the hosts. What’s more, there are no adverts on TCM, so films run uninterrupted.
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Currently, Spectrum is offering Peacock Premium free for 12 months. Note that the base Peacock plan is free. But Premium offers a lot for $4.99/mo.