Quick Answer: TNT is 245 on DIRECTV and 138 on DISH, both national numbers. On cable it moves by market, sitting around 103 on Spectrum and 551 on Verizon Fios. The bigger thing to know is that TNT no longer carries the NBA. Those rights ended after the 2024 to 2025 season and moved to ESPN, NBC and Amazon. If you are turning to TNT looking for basketball, what you will now find is the NHL, NASCAR, March Madness and the French Open instead.
The Channel You Remember Is Not the Channel You Will Find
For nearly forty years TNT meant the NBA. Thursday doubleheaders, the playoffs, and Inside the NBA afterwards. That era is over. The NBA’s new media deal took effect for the 2025 to 2026 season and split the league between three other homes, and Warner Bros. Discovery was not one of them.
So a lot of people arriving at TNT are looking for something that is not there any more. Here is where the basketball actually went:
| What you are looking for | Where it is now |
|---|---|
| NBA regular season | ESPN and ABC, NBC and Peacock, Amazon Prime Video |
| NBA playoffs | Split across the same three |
| Inside the NBA | Still produced by TNT Sports, but now licensed to and aired on ESPN |
| NBA TV | No longer operated by TNT Sports |
Worth knowing: Inside the NBA is the one that confuses people most, because the show survived the split. Same cast, same production team, different channel. If you want the studio show you now want ESPN, not TNT.
TNT Numbers by Provider
| Provider | TNT |
|---|---|
| DIRECTV | 245 |
| DISH | 138 |
| Verizon Fios | 551 |
| Spectrum | Around 103, varies by market |
| Xfinity | Varies by market |
| Cox, Optimum, Mediacom, Astound | Varies by market |
The satellite numbers are the dependable ones because DIRECTV and DISH use a single national map. Cable companies rebuild their lineup per system, so treat the Spectrum and Xfinity figures as a starting point and confirm in your own guide.
TNT sits in the basic entertainment tier on essentially every provider, so if you have any television package at all you almost certainly have it. That is different from the sports channels people often assume it sits beside.
What TNT Actually Carries Now
The replacement lineup is more seasonal than the NBA era, which means TNT is genuinely busy for part of the year and fairly quiet for the rest.
| Sport | When |
|---|---|
| NHL | October to April, Tuesday and Wednesday doubleheaders, plus the Winter Classic |
| March Madness | March and early April, shared with CBS |
| NASCAR | An in-season package |
| French Open tennis | Late May into June |
| College Football Playoff | Selected games, via sublicence |
| Films and drama reruns | Everything else, year round |
The NHL package is the closest thing TNT now has to a signature property, and it runs on a similar midweek rhythm to the old NBA slate.
The March Madness Complication
This is the one time of year when knowing the TNT number is not enough. The men’s tournament is split across four networks, and games move between them constantly. For the broadcast half, see what channel CBS is on in your area.
| Channel | DIRECTV | DISH |
|---|---|---|
| CBS | Your local station | Your local station |
| TNT | 245 | 138 |
| TBS | 247 | 139 |
| truTV | 246 | 242 |
Note: for the 2026 tournament the Final Four and the national championship are on cable rather than CBS, airing across TBS, TNT and truTV. If you rely on an antenna, that is the year’s biggest gap in your coverage and it is worth planning for in advance.
truTV is the one people cannot find. It is a real channel with a real number, it just sits far enough down most lineups that nobody has ever tuned to it before tournament week.
Watching TNT Without Cable
| Service | TNT included? |
|---|---|
| YouTube TV | Yes, base plan |
| Hulu + Live TV | Yes |
| DIRECTV STREAM | Yes, from the Entertainment plan up |
| Fubo | Yes on the higher plans |
| Sling TV | Yes, on Sling Blue |
| HBO Max | Some TNT Sports events stream here, but it is not a live TNT feed |
| Antenna | No. TNT is cable only |
Sling Blue is normally the cheapest route to a live TNT feed, and our Sling Orange and Blue comparison shows what else each plan carries. The HBO Max row is worth reading twice, because Warner Bros. Discovery puts some of its sports on the streaming service without that being the same thing as carrying the channel.
When TNT Will Not Come Up
| Problem | Likely fix |
|---|---|
| No NBA game on TNT | Correct and permanent. The rights moved to ESPN, NBC and Amazon. |
| Looking for Inside the NBA | It airs on ESPN now, even though TNT Sports still makes it. |
| 245 or 138 shows nothing | Reboot the receiver so it refreshes the guide, then rescan. |
| Cable number does not match this page | Cable maps vary by system. Search the guide for the name instead. |
| Tournament game is missing | It is probably on TBS or truTV rather than TNT. |
| Antenna will not pick it up | It never will. TNT has no broadcast signal. |
| TNT appears twice | One entry is standard definition and one is HD. |
The author specializes in U.S. cable, satellite, and streaming TV services, with hands-on experience analyzing channel lineups, regional restrictions, equipment requirements, and contract terms. All the content is written with clear, easy-to-understand explanations to help readers compare services accurately and make informed decisions.