Live News Channels
Live news broadcasts, breaking news coverage, and 24/7 news channels
Best services for Live News Channels
BBC iPlayer
Score 9/10
Free
BBC iPlayer provides exceptional live news coverage through BBC News 24/7, BBC One, and BBC Two with comprehensive breaking news coverage. The service offers industry-leading journalistic quality with global correspondents, reliable streaming infrastructure, and seamless integration across devices. BBC News is widely regarded as one of the world's most trusted news sources, providing continuous live coverage of major events with professional production values and minimal technical issues.
STV Player Free
Score 8/10
Free
Live news coverage is excellent through the STV live channel, providing comprehensive Scottish and UK news coverage. The service offers breaking news, regular news bulletins, and current affairs programming. The news coverage is professional, timely, and particularly strong for Scottish regional news, making it valuable for viewers seeking local and national news.
Pluto TV
Score 7/10
Free
Pluto TV offers a solid selection of live news channels including CBS News, NBC News Now, CNN International, Sky News, and Euronews, providing 24/7 coverage across multiple perspectives. The technical quality is good with reliable HD streaming and minimal buffering issues. Content availability covers major breaking news events and continuous coverage, though it lacks some premium news networks like BBC News 24 or Fox News that require paid subscriptions elsewhere. The user experience is straightforward with easy channel discovery through the live TV guide interface. For a free service, the news offering is impressive and competitive with paid alternatives, though the ad-supported model means more frequent commercial interruptions during breaking news coverage compared to premium services.
Guide to Live News Channels
Live news channels let you watch rolling news broadcasts in real time, exactly as they air on television, but streamed over the internet to your phone, tablet, laptop, or smart TV. Rather than waiting for a scheduled bulletin, you get a continuous feed that updates the moment a story breaks.
In the UK, the two main free-to-air options are BBC News and Sky News. BBC News is available to stream live through BBC iPlayer, which is free and requires no subscription for UK viewers. Sky News is a free-to-air channel that streams live on its own website, on YouTube, on Apple TV, and on various other platforms and devices, with no Sky subscription needed.
Beyond those two, a growing number of platforms bring several news channels together in one place. Freely, the broadband streaming service backed by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5, delivers live and on-demand TV over Wi-Fi with no dish, aerial, or box required. Other channels commonly available on UK streaming platforms include GB News and Al Jazeera English.
The appeal of live news streaming is straightforward: you stay informed as events unfold, whether that is a Westminster vote, a breaking story overnight, or a major international event, without being tied to a television set or a broadcast schedule.
Services offering Live News Channels
Related News & Current Affairs features
About News & Current Affairs
Live news, current events, political coverage, and journalism content
View all News & Current Affairs features