How our live TV comparisons work
We start with what you need to watch, then make every important tradeoff—coverage, total cost, market, add-ons, and evidence—visible.
Ranking order
Must-have channel coverage comes first. Among options with the same required coverage, we compare the current estimated monthly total, required add-ons, number of separate subscriptions, and the preferences a user selected. A commercial relationship cannot move an option above a factually stronger match.
What “estimated total” means
The comparison should include the base plan and every required add-on or known mandatory fee needed for the selected lineup. Taxes, location-specific fees, promotions, and optional products stay separate and clearly labelled. Unknown values remain unknown; we do not silently turn missing data into a zero.
Markets and local stations
The tuner validates a ZIP against a versioned US postal-area snapshot and shows its city and state. The lookup file loads into the browser without putting the ZIP in a request, URL, analytics event, or browser storage. A postal area is not a TV market, so exact local-station carriage is confirmed on each provider's official lineup checker and is never inferred from a national channel list.
Postal place data is derived fromGeoNames under CC BY 4.0. Exact ZIP-to-Nielsen-market data requires separate licensing, and market membership alone would still not prove provider carriage.
Evidence and freshness
Material facts carry a source, observed date, applicable geography, and confidence state. Prices and lineups can expire independently from the prose around them. Stale or conflicting evidence is flagged for review instead of being presented as current fact.
Commercial treatment
Paid links are labelled, sponsored placements are visually distinct, and affiliate status does not control factual rankings. See the affiliate disclosure for how commissions may support the site.