Is Paramount Plus free with a cable subscription?

Paramount Plus on Roku
(Image credit: WhatToWatch.com)

CBS All Access used to let live TV streaming service subscribers log in to watch all the best Paramount and CBS-produced shows and movies... but now that CBS All Access has been replaced with Paramount Plus, is the same the case?

Paramount Plus retains CBS All Access' large library of original series and classic movies, and also lets you stream live sports, but unfortunately, you can no longer use your cable or live TV subscription to stream from it.

Consumers must sign up for Paramount Plus with either its ad-supported Essential plan or its ad-free Premium plan to watch any of its content. However, the Essential plan doesn't have a live stream of your local CBS affiliate, for that you will need to be signed up for Premium; the lone exception is for certain live sports, including the NFL

You can always try before you buy, as there is a Paramount Plus free trial period of seven days available.

There are still ways though to use your cable subscription to watch CBS content without Paramount Plus.

How to stream CBS if you don't have a Paramount Plus account

Anyone with a pay-TV cable subscription or live TV streaming subscription that includes CBS can access new and past CBS content online through CBS.com and the CBS app. You can login to these options with your cable subscription credentials.

The CBS app is available for download on the App Store, Google Play or Amazon. 

Here are the services with which you can access live streams of CBS:

  • Altice One
  • Armstrong
  • BendBroadband
  • BEVCOMM
  • Blue Ridge
  • Blue Stream
  • Breezeline
  • Buckeye Broadband
  • Consolidated
  • Cox
  • DirecTV
  • DirecTV Stream
  • Dish
  • Frontier
  • fuboTV
  • Grande Communications
  • Great Plains Communications
  • Hulu with Live TV
  • Mediacom
  • Optimum
  • Paul Bunyan Communications
  • RCN
  • Service Electric Broadband Cable
  • Service Electric Cable TV and Communications
  • Service Electric Cablevision
  • Spectrum
  • Suddenlink
  • TDS
  • Vast Broadband
  • Verizon
  • Volcano Vision, Inc.
  • WOW!
  • Wave Broadband
  • Xfinity
  • YouTube TV
  • Ziply Fiber
  • Zito Media
Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.