Best Satellite and Cable TV Deals for April 2024

April 2024 TV deals and promotions

We’ve combed through cable and satellite TV providers’ websites to find the best limited-time-only TV deals. Here’s what we found—get ’em while they’re hot. Note: Most of these are for new customers only. If we find a TV deal for current customers, you’ll see it here (clearly marked, of course).

• Spectrum: New Spectrum TV customers get the Xumo Stream Box free for 6 months. Spectrum’s TV Select plan comes with free Disney+, and TV Select Plus comes with free Disney+ and free ESPN+.
• Optimum TV: Enjoy cloud DVR for free with 1 Gig Internet + TV packages. Plus, get up to a $300 gift card (depending on plan choice) from Best Buy or Home Depot.
• Verizon Fios: New customers receive up to a $200 Verizon Gift Card, along with a set-top box rental and unlimited streaming on your own devices.
• DISH: Switch to DISH from DIRECTV and get a $300 gift card with the code “DTV2DISH” (expires April 10, 2024). And for a limited time, new customers with America’s Top 120+ or higher get Paramount+ with SHOWTIME^®, STARZ^®, and the DISH Movie Pack free for 3 mos.
• DIRECTV: Two-year price guarantee, plus 3 mos. free of Max™, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, STARZ, CINEMAX^®, and MGM+™ with the ENTERTAINMENT All Included package or higher. (Note: These channels already come in the PREMIER All Included plan.) And for a limited time, get up to a $300 Visa^® Reward Card when you sign up.

Jump to:

• Monthly promotions
• Best TV packages
• Best TV and internet bundle
• What to look for

Best TV packages and plans

These cable deals have so much to offer it may be hard to choose just one.

• Spectrum TV^® Select ($69.99/mo for 12 mos.**)—Cheapest TV package
• Optimum 1 Gig (or Fiber Internet 1 Gig) + Premier TV ($215.00/mo.†)—Best internet and TV bundle
• Verizon Fios: The Most Fios TV ($129.00/mo.)—Best current promotion
• DISH America’s Top 200 ($104.99/mo.)—Best overall package, best family package
• DIRECTV PREMIER All Included ($159.99/mo.*)—Best sports package

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
* w/ 24-mo. agmt. AutoPay and Paperless Bill req’d. Advanced Receiver Service Fee $15/mo. and Regional Sports Fee up to $13.99/mo. are extra & apply.
** For the first 12 mos. See full disclaimer for details.
† For the first 12 mos. Wireless speeds may vary.

Compare the best TV plans and pricing

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
* w/ 24-mo. agmt. AutoPay and Paperless Bill req’d. Advanced Receiver Service Fee $15/mo. and Regional Sports Fee up to $13.99/mo. are extra & apply.
** For the first 12 mos. See full disclaimer for details.
† For the first 12 mos. Wireless speeds may vary.

These are four of the best TV packages out there, and each appeals to a different lifestyle.

For the budget-conscious TV lover, we suggest cable TV provider Spectrum’s TV Select package ($69.99/mo, 155+ channels). Also, new Spectrum TV customers get a Xumo Stream Box free for 12 months, plus free Disney+.

Although it’s a more expensive option, if you’re looking for a quality bundle, we recommend bundling Optimum 1 Gig or Fiber Internet 1 Gig ($80.00/mo., 940 Mbps*) with Premier TV ($135.00 monthly for 420+ channels, including Max, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, and STARZ at no extra cost. (Optimum offers both cable and fiber internet, depending on your location. Both plans are currently the same price, but fiber-optic internet speeds are faster—when downloading and uploading.)

Verizon Fios’ The Most Fios TV package is a great deal in its own right, providing over 425 channels for only $129.00 per month. But the cable TV provider has our best current promotion due to their new-customer incentives—a $200 Verizon gift card, one set-top box rental included, and unlimited streaming on your own devices.

Families will love DISH for its education and kids channels, excellent parental controls, and Hopper 3 DVR, which stores 500 hours of HD content—and can record up to 16 movies at once. We recommend America’s Top 200 ($104.99/mo., 240+ channels). Since DISH charges $10 a month for the Hopper 3, your total payment for this plan would be $114.99 monthly.

DIRECTV is the way to go for sports fans because it has the most sports channels of any TV provider—although it no longer includes NFL Sunday Ticket (YouTube TV snagged that one). New customers who choose the ENTERTAINMENT™ All Included plan or higher get three free months of Max™, CINEMAX®, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, MGM+™, and STARZ. Plus, get up to a $300 Visa® Reward Card when you sign up. For the most sports channels, we recommend going with PREMIER All Included ($159.99/mo., 340+ channels).

Spectrum: Cheapest TV package

Spectrum TV Select ($69.99/mo. for 12 mos., 155+ live TV channels) is the cheapest standalone TV package we’ve found. (Note: In Xfinity’s Western region—where it competes with Spectrum—it offers the Popular TV package, which is cheaper and has 125+ channels. So you lucky Westerners have options.)

If you’re sick of your current TV plan but worried about paying cancellation fees, Spectrum is eager to steal you away. When you bundle Spectrum TV with Internet and phone services, it’ll buy out your contract (up to $500) to rescue you from the dungeon of your current provider’s plan. Don’t keep settling for a plan you don’t love.

But Spectrum’s DVR service is kinda weird. Most TV providers measure DVR storage in hours, but Spectrum lets you record a certain number of movies and shows, regardless of length. For some customers, that makes sense, but for others, that can get really confusing, and it could lead to the accidental deletion of your recordings. For a more straightforward DVR experience with more storage, consider buying your own Spectrum-compatible DVR, like the TiVo EDGE for Cable.

Optimum: Best TV and internet bundle

The TV portion of the bundle, Premier TV, has 420+ live TV channels, including big-time premium channels like Max, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, and STARZ for $135.00 a month.

But you can’t purchase Optimum TV without first picking an internet plan. You can choose internet speeds of 300 Mbps ($40 monthly), 500 Mbps ($60 monthly), and 1 Gig ($80 monthly), although whether this service is delivered via traditional cable or fiber is entirely dependent on your location. Both cable and fiber cost the same, but fiber offers symmetrical upload and download internet speeds, which means a better experience overall.

As for current deals, depending on which internet option you choose, you could receive a free gift card up to $300 from either Home Depot or Best Buy. For more information, head over to our Optimum TV deals page.

Verizon Fios: Best current promotion

For customers who want every channel at their disposal, Verizon Fios’ The Most Fios TV package does it all and then some. You won’t find a cable or satellite package that gives you more than 425 live TV channels at just $129 a month. 

Besides the price being a great deal, Verizon Fios is offering some extra incentives when you sign up for The Most Fios TV. Currently, new customers who sign up for The Most Fios TV package will get one set-top box rental included, as well as unlimited streaming on your own devices with the included streaming device connection bundle. Plus, you also get up to a $200 Verizon gift card, depending on your plan choice. Not bad.

DISH: Best for families

DISH offers Disney Channel in America’s Top 120+, but America’s Top 200 is where you start getting more specific family favorites. If you’re an Animal Planet, Disney XD, or Nick Jr. fan (or if at least your kids are), America’s Top 200 will meet all your needs for $104.99 a month.

What really sets DISH’s plan apart is its partnership with Common Sense Media. Using the Hopper 3 DVR, you can tailor your child’s viewing experience with age-appropriate recommendations and ratings in eight different categories:

1. Educational value
2. Positive role models
3. Positive messages
4. Sex
5. Violence and scariness
6. Language
7. Drinking, drugs, and smoking
8. Consumerism

For keeping kids happy on the go, you’ll appreciate the DISH Anywhere App. It lets you watch your live TV channels, on-demand content, DVR recordings, and more while you’re away from home—like on long road trips, where satellite TV is a wonderful thing. This, while still allowing you to filter content by age and set up separate accounts for each of your children. That’s a lot of peaceful car rides for you—and no worries about inappropriate shows popping up for your kids.

DIRECTV: Best for sports

DIRECTV is the best TV provider for sports programming, even after losing NFL Sunday Ticket to YouTube TV and trimming channel lineups to 75–150+ channels to match its sister product, DIRECTV STREAM. It still has plenty of sports channels, loads of regional sports networks, and four big sports add-ons: FOX Soccer Plus, MLB Extra Innings, NBA League Pass, and NHL Center Ice.

If sports is your main concern, you’ll do fine with CHOICE™ All Included ($84.99 a month, 105+ channels) or ULTIMATE All Included ($114.99 monthly, 140+ channels). But DIRECTV’s best TV package is PREMIER All Included, which has 150+ channels (every live TV channel DIRECTV carries except for add-ons) including Max, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, Cinemax, and STARZ, for $159.99 per month.

Yes, $160 is a big monthly bill, especially with the newly shrunk channel lineups and $15-a-month Advanced Receiver Service Fee for the Genie DVR (formerly included with your plan). And, fortunately, DIRECTV now has a two-year price guarantee, so the satellite TV provider’s notoriously massive second-year price hike is now only a bad memory.

What to look for in TV packages and deals

Not convinced these TV packages are for you? Let us explain what to look for on your quest for the perfect TV package.

TV service types

You should know the different TV services types so you can see which is best for your lifestyle.

Cable TV

This is the classic, transmitted (as you’d expect) via a cable. Availability is often limited to a defined service area. Top cable TV providers include Cox, Astound Broadband powered by RCN, Optimum, Spectrum, and Xfinity—all of which offer cable and internet packages that bundle high-speed internet with hundreds of live channels. This is the service to pick if you have a large household that does a lot of streaming and gaming.

Satellite TV

Also somewhat of a classic, satellite TV signals get beamed from Earth to space, then back to a dish mounted on or around your home. For that reason, satellite TV is available almost anywhere—which is great if you live in a rural area or an ever-rambling RV. DIRECTV and DISH have a duopoly on satellite TV service.

Streaming TV

Some providers, like DIRECTV STREAM and Verizon Fios, are actually streaming services that deliver your TV channels via the internet. These services tend to have more streamlined channel lineups with mainly popular channels so you won’t have to wade through zillions of music, shopping, and weird fringe channels to get to the good stuff.

Channel lineup

The perfect package for you might look completely different from anyone else’s because you have your favorite channels you don’t want to miss out on. Look for packages that include all the channels you want at a good price.

If you’re willing to invest time in examining each package from providers that service your area, you’re much more likely to find exactly what you want.

Area availability

Despite your quest for the best TV package in all the land, you’re limited by what’s in your area. Unless you want to move to a place with all the best TV providers (like Wake Forest, North Carolina), you’re stuck with what you got.

Enter your zip code below to compare TV services near you.

More satellite and cable TV bundle deals

This article focuses on standalone TV packages. If you’re interested in cable and internet bundles (or cable TV, internet, and phone bundles), check out our guides to these TV-and-internet providers’ options:

Find the best satellite and cable TV deals near you

For those ready to commit to a superior TV experience, allow us to recap our best cable TV packages:

• The cheapest standalone TV package is Spectrum TV Select ($69.99/mo. for 12 mos., 155+ channels).
• The best TV and internet bundle is Optimum 1 Gig (or Fiber Internet 1 Gig) + Premier TV ($215.00/mo.)
• The best current promotion goes to Verizon Fios, which has high-value new-customer offers for most of its TV packages including The Most Fios TV ($129.00/mo., 425+ channels).
• The best cable TV package for families is DISH America’s Top 200 ($104.99/mo., 240+ channels) for its exceptional parental controls and many kids channels. DISH is also our pick for best overall TV provider.
• And the best package for sports fans is DIRECTV PREMIER All Included ($159.99/mo.) because it has the most sports channels and all the best premium channels.

Any of these plans should help you binge-watch to your heart’s content. But before you fall in love with one, enter your zip code below to see if it’s available in your area.

Best TV packages and deals FAQ

Methodology

Our monthly promotions are tracked down by a rabid team of data specialists so that you get the most accurate information possible. We also put our editorial know-how to the test by comparing the deals and top packages from nationwide providers so you don’t have to. To learn more about our methods, check out our How We Rank page.

Disclaimer

**Spectrum TV Select Signature: Limited time offer; subject to change; valid to qualified residential customers who have not subscribed to any services within the previous 30 days and who have no outstanding obligation to Charter. Spectrum TV Select Signature promotion price is $64.99/mo; standard rates apply after yr 1. Taxes, fees, and surcharges (broadcast surcharge up to $23.20/mo) extra and subject to change during and after the promotional period; installation/network activation, equipment and additional services are extra. General Terms: TV: TV equipment required; charges may apply. Channel and HD programming availability based on level of service and location. Account credentials may be required to stream some TV content online. Services subject to all applicable service terms and conditions, subject to change. Services not available in all areas. Restrictions apply. Enter your address to determine availability.