The two major streaming services, Sling and PlayStation Vue, offer top sports, cable news, and entertainment. HBO and Showtime now offer their cable networks without a cable subscription.

And next morning, DirecTV will launch a streaming option with 100 channels for $35 a month.

Here's a thumbnail on services offering cable TV programming without a cable TV subscription.

Sling TV

Monthly price: $20 for 25 channels, $25 for 40 channels, or $40 for 49 channels. Supplementary packages offer more kids, sports, comedy or lifestyle channels for an additional $5 to $10.

Runs on: PCs, laptops, iPhones and iPads, Android phones, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Xbox One and Chromecast; no mobile restrictions

Highlights: It's the cheapest of the "skinny bundles" and runs on Apple TV and Xbox, which PlayStation Vue does not. Also, the premium sports package includes the hard-to-find Pac-12 Network. ("Soon," Sling says, it will offer Comcast SportsNet on its $25 and $40 tiers.)

Downsides: If you're looking for more than just the basic channels, it's less of a bargain. Its user interface and video-on-demand service are clunky.

PlayStation Vue

Monthly price: $30 for 55 channels, $35 for 70 channels, $45 for 100 channels -- plus an additional $20 for HBO and Showtime.

Runs on: Sony PlayStation, iPhones and iPads, Android phones, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Chromecast.

Highlights: Appealing user interface features programs and channels you like. An online DVR that has past episodes of favorite shows -- and allows you to rewind to see something again, or to fast-forward through commercials. Its $35-tier includes Comcast SportsNet Northwest, so you can watch nearly all the Portland Trail Blazers games. (Some Blazer games appear on KGW(8) broadcast TV; others are on TNT or ESPN.) It also has recent episodes of shows from ABC, NBC and Fox.

Downsides: You can't watch on your PC or laptop, and away from home you can only watch on mobile devices -- and even then, some channels may not be available.

Premium networks

Monthly prices: HBO Now is $15. Showtime is $11.

Runs on: Pretty much everything

Highlights: The networks have their full catalogs online. Binge on "Sex and the City," "The Sopranos," and "Game of Thrones" between episodes of "Westworld."

Downsides: They're expensive. But the networks have some of the best stuff on TV.

Hulu

Monthly price: $8 ($6 for the first year) or $12 without commercials

Runs on: Pretty much everything

Highlights: Broadcast and cable TV shows one-day after they air. Feature films, original TV shows, and some episodes from premium cable

Downsides: No live sports, you have to wait a day for new shows.

Antenna

Monthly price: It's free once you have that antenna.

Runs on: TVs and (with a little effort) PCs

Highlights: Local news, reality TV, crime dramas, the NFL

Downsides: Reception varies, especially outside the city, and network programming quality is generally well below what's available from cable networks.

A la carte

Monthly prices: It varies. Typically $3 an episode (in HD) from Amazon or Apple, or $35 for a full season.

Highlights: A wide variety of broadcast and cable shows. You own them once you buy them, so you can watch them again and again.

Downsides: You have to wait at least a day for shows -- for premium cable shows like "Game of Thrones," you must wait months.

Other options: Netflix ($10 a month) and Amazon ($11 a month) have deep libraries of other networks' TV shows and feature movies, plus original shows that rival or surpass anything on basic cable or network TV.

--Mike Rogoway

mrogoway@oregonian.com

503-294-7699

@rogoway