“This Is Us” is designed to give your tear ducts a workout — if it doesn’t make you cry, you may be doing something wrong. If you want a show about families that gives you a cathartic sob every week, “This Is Us” is probably already on your watchlist.
“This Is Us” has racked up both Emmy nominations and wins since its debut in 2016, but it’s not a show that will go on for more than a decade like “Grey’s Anatomy” — it’s slated to end after its sixth season in 2022. Watch it while you can, “This Is Us” fans, and remember you don’t even need cable to do so. We’re here to talk about how to watch “This Is Us” without cable, so keep reading (assuming you can see the screen through your tears).
How to Watch ‘This Is Us’ Online (and Over the Air) Without Cable
“This Is Us” airs on NBC, which is a broadcast network. What does that mean? Shows on NBC are accessible to a wider audience than shows that air only on premium cable channels, such as HBO, or regular cable channels, such as TBS. We’ll talk more below about how over-the-air broadcast networks work.
First, we’ll cover how to get live TV at home without cable. Live TV streaming services (aka “skinny bundles”) are delivered over the internet. Is NBC available on skinny bundles? It is, but it’s subject to your local market availability. Think of it as a bit like the football games you watch on Sundays. The game you get depends largely on where you live: Fans in Dallas will get Cowboys games, while fans in Kansas City will get Chiefs games. If your local NBC affiliate made a deal with your preferred skinny bundle, then you’ll get NBC on that service. If not, then you’ll have to keep looking. You can see which local channels you get by entering your ZIP code on each service’s website.
You may have seen those weird deepfake ads for sports on Hulu, but Hulu + Live TV has more than just live sports: In most markets, it also has NBC. That makes Hulu + Live TV a good option for watching “This Is Us” without cable. Speaking of sports, a lot of the characters on “This Is Us” are big Pittsburgh Steelers fans — we’ll let you decide whether that makes them more or less sympathetic.
We’re not totally sure how fuboTV got its name, but that’s true of most skinny bundles. More important than the name is what fuboTV offers. Many customers can use fuboTV to watch their local NBC affiliate, which means you can watch “This Is Us” with a fuboTV subscription. We’re more sure about what we think of fuboTV, though, and you can find all the details in our fuboTV review.
We don’t know whether the folks behind Sling TV are “This Is Us” fans, but we know Sling TV now offers a livestream of NBC in select markets, and that wasn’t the case a year ago. If you live in one of those markets, you can sign up for Sling TV to follow the latest adventures of the show’s “big three”: siblings Kevin, Kate, and Randall. Sorry, Pittsburgh: the Steel City isn’t on the list. If you’re new to Sling TV, our Sling TV review may be of service.
YouTube TV
Tech giant Google owns many things, including YouTube and the live TV streaming service YouTube TV. You can get tons of spiffy channels on the service, including NBC and its broadcast of “This Is Us.” Our review of YouTube TV takes a deeper dive into the service’s features.
Free Over-the-Air TV
Don’t sleep on free over-the-air TV. Being free doesn’t mean it’s not good, and we’d argue over-the-air channels are the best they’ve ever been. You can get more of them than ever, and you can even view them in crystal clear HD. Antennas aren’t expensive if you know how to choose the right one, and they’re not hard to set up either. Once you have everything set up, you can sit back and enjoy the latest episodes of “This Is Us.”
Can I Watch ‘This Is Us’ on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, or Chromecast?
If you prefer watching “This Is Us” on your TV on Tuesday nights, you definitely can. But that’s not the only way to watch “This Is Us” without cable. When it comes to devices, you have more options than the Pearson family has Terrible Towels. You can watch “This Is Us” with a Roku box. You can watch “This Is Us” with a fox (though we don’t recommend it). You can watch it on a train, or on a plane. With apologies to Dr. Suess, you can stream “This Is Us” in lots of places — just check out the chart below to see all your device options.
| Roku | Fire TV | Apple TV | Android TV | Chromecast | iOS | Android | Web/ browser |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hulu + Live TV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| fuboTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sling TV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Youtube TV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
More to Watch for ‘This Is Us’ Fans
“This Is Us” is one of the best recent examples of a water-cooler show — it knows how to get people talking. But what will you talk about once you’re all caught up on “This Is Us”?
“This Is Us” is the definition of emotionally draining, which means you may want to bounce back with something lighter. Why not check out Comedy Central? It’s home to shows such as “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” and “South Park.” Those shows sometimes tackle serious issues, but often in an absurdist way that still makes you laugh. Check out our guide to watching Comedy Central without cable to find out how you can get a livestream of this network.