25 Best Apple TV Apps

NBC Sports Live Extra

As you’ve seen so far, the single sport subscription-based apps do a great job providing users access to out-of-market games for their favorite teams but leaves them at a disadvantage when it comes to local and nationally televised games.

Fortunately, NBC Sports Live Extra fills that void, offering live streams of premium events like the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Olympics and Sunday Night Football, along with the network’s usual array of NFL and NHL games, golf tournaments, and Premier League matches.

The only downside to that is that a cable subscription is required to watch. So if you happen to have a friend willing to let you use his cable credentials, you could watch all those local games you would miss otherwise without the app. Heck, even if you can’t find a way to access the premium content, replays and highlights are available for free.

As you can see, it takes a little bit of work to get everything cable might offer, but it can all be had with a few apps and subscriptions, ultimately cheaper than cable and the vast wasteland of packages you’d have to pay for.

Next: iTunes Radio