What are the March Madness Channels?: CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV
What’s the March Madness Schedule: A complete March Madness schedule is available below
Live Stream: Hulu with Live TV (free 7 day trial) for most or all games; CBS All Access for CBS-hosted games (free 7-day trial)
College Basketball fans can rejoice in knowing that it’s time once again to enjoy the frenzy of March Madness. From Selection Sunday on March 17 all the way to the final Championship game on April 8 you can watch March Madness online without a cable subscription! This article is here specifically to offer up the March Madness schedule and to fill you in on the March Madness channels that will be airing all the games this year.
What Channel is March Madness On?
As you probably already know, March Madness is a series of college basketball games that start with 68 teams and work their way down to one epic game with the two best teams in the country. Naturally, all games cannot air on just one network.
As in recent previous years the March Madness channels include CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV. All games will air on these networks. While the teams that will play in each game have not been announced yet, we will have the full March Madness schedule listed towards the end of this article.
Hulu Live TV Gives You All the March Madness Networks
A great all-in-one option is to subscribe to Hulu with Live TV. This will get you access to all the NCAA Tournament channels, plus 60+ other great channels! And, as if that weren’t enough, you also get a huge on-demand library to enjoy any time.
Hulu with Live TV costs $45 a month, and there’s a free 7 day trial. It’s easy to use, no-contract (so you can cancel any time), and works on all your devices. Learn more in our Hulu review.
Click here to try Hulu free for a week!
Use fuboTV for the NCAA Tournament Channels
fuboTV is a great service for sports fans. It offers a premium lineup of over 75 channels, most of which are dedicated to live sports. And during March Madness, it covers all the action with CBS, TNT, TBS and TruTV all included.
fuboTV costs $45 per month, and is non-contract so you can cancel whenever. Find out more in our fuboTV review, or click here to try a free trial!
Sling TV Offers Most March Madness Channels for $25/Month
The only channel you won’t get with Sling TV is CBS. You will get to watch TNT online and all the other channels, though. Even better, the package you need, Sling TV Orange is just $25/month after the 7-day free trial.
You can watch on most devices, streaming and mobile, and you get as many as 30 other great channels. You can even add bundle packages for a small additional fee, if you want to watch other channels. There’s more to learn in our Sling TV review.
Watch Many of the March Madness Channels on DIRECTV NOW
DIRECTV NOW offers the ability to watch most March Madness games without cable. It includes TruTV, TNT and TBS – and in many areas, also carries CBS. These channels are available in the DIRECTV NOW’s channel lineup, which offers 65+ channels for $40 per month.
This package also includes AMC, Syfy, Disney, Discovery, and ESPN. HBO is available for an additional $5. You can watch DIRECTV NOW on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, mobile devices, and more. The 7-day trial will give you a way to watch a couple March Madness games for free. Any questions about the DIRECTV NOW channel lineup or pricing can be answered in our full review.
Watch CBS-Hosted Games for Cheap on CBS All Access
CBS All Access is a good way to watch CBS online. And therefore, it’s a good way to watch the CBS-hosted March Madness games. It will not help with games on TNT, TruTV or TBS, however.
CBS All Access also offers full seasons of older shows and an on-demand library of new episodes. A 7-day trial is available. Beyond that, pricing is $6 if you order the plan with commercials and $10 if you don’t. Our CBS All Access review includes more details.
YouTube TV Provides March Madness Channel Streaming
YouTube TV is a newer service that is a good option for all the NCAA Tournament channels. It covers TBS, TNT, TruTV, and in most areas, CBS as well. Plans cost $40 a month, with no contract.
YouTube TV also lets you record and store games for later, so you’ll never miss a minute! Find out more in our YouTube TV review, or try it out with a free trial.
PlayStation Vue also Offers Access to March Madness Channels
PlayStation Vue has packages starting at $45 and those also include a 7-day trial. You can watch TBS, TNT, truTV, AMC, and many other channels. CBS is available in some areas. ESPN is also available. PS Vue works on iPod/iPad, PS3/PS4, Roku, Chromecast, and other devices. Here is our PS Vue review.
March Madness Schedule
*all games are TBA unless the team names are listed with the times. Full schedule here.
March 19-20th: First Four
Channel: TruTV
Live Stream: Hulu with Live TV (free 7-day trial available)
March 21st-24rd: 1st and 2nd Rounds
Channel: CBS, TNT, TruTV, TBS
Live Stream: Hulu with Live TV (free 7-day trial available)
March 28th-31st: Regionals
Channel: CBS, TBS
Live stream: Hulu with Live TV (free 7-day trial available) or CBS All Access (free 7-day trial available)
April 6th: Final Four
Channel: CBS
Live stream: CBS All Access (free 7-day trial available)
See also: Final Four streaming guide
April 8th: National Championship Game
Channel: CBS
Live stream: CBS All Access (free 7-day trial available)
See also: NCAA Basketball National Championship streaming guide
If you have any other questions about where or how to watch March Madness online, feel free to leave your questions in the comments. You can also find more info in our college basketball streaming guide.
