Price: $64.99–$154.99/mo.*
Channels: 165–340+
DVR: 200 hrs. included
Contract: 2 yrs.
DIRECTV always has deals available for new customers. One of its most popular deals is involves the best sports TV add-on around, NFL SUNDAY TICKET—new customers get the current season free (a $395.94 value). Check out our DIRECTV deals page for more promotions.
*for 12 mos. plus taxes. AutoPay & Paperless bill req’d. Prices higher in 2nd year.
** for 12 mos. plus taxes. AutoPay & Paperless bill req’d. Prices higher in 2nd year. Regional Sports Fee up to $11.99/mo. is extra & applies.
With four packages to choose from, it can be hard to nail down your best option with DIRECTV. We recommend ENTERTAINMENT All Included for its excellent basic channels and PREMIER™ All Included because it lavishes you in premium channels. The latter package basically makes you TV-watching royalty.
| Package | Price (first year) | Price for mos. 13–24* | Channel count | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENTERTAINMENT All Included | $64.99/mo.* | $107.00/mo. | 165+ | View plan |
| CHOICE™ All Included | $69.99/mo.* | $129.00/mo. | 200+ | View plan |
| ULTIMATE All Included | $89.99/mo.* | $159.00/mo. | 270+ | View plan |
| PREMIER™ All Included | $139.99/mo.* | $214.00/mo. | 340+ | View plan |
* Offer ends 1/21/2023. New approved customers only w/24-mo. agmt. Autopay & Paperless bill req’d. Prices higher in 2nd year. Regional Sports Fee up to $11.99/mo. is extra & applies.
With DIRECTV, as your monthly price increases, so does your channel count. That’s pretty standard as far as TV packages go. What you’ll want to consider, however, is that a lot of the channels included with the more expensive DIRECTV packages are filler channels that you might not need.
Like we said before when it comes to DIRECTV packages and pricing, ENTERTAINMENT gives you tons of popular channels for a decent price.
Check out the full DIRECTV channel lineups of each package before going for broke. The package comparisons break it all down for you.
And, when you’re checking out the prices above, remember that every DIRECTV plan requires a two-year contract. That’s rude, and it probably has something to do with the ugly satellite dish it’ll put up on your south-facing roof. But even worse, DIRECTV raises its prices in the second year, which is a hassle to budget.
DISH, the other prominent satellite TV provider, maintains the same prices for its full two-year contract, so that might be a better option if DIRECTV’s change makes you uneasy.
| Provider | Pricing | Editorial star rating | Channel count | DVR storage (HD) | Simultaneous recordings | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DIRECTV Best for sports |
$64.99–$139.99/mo.* | 4.21 / 5.00 | 165–340+ | 200 hrs. | 5 | View plans |
|
DISH Best overall, best for kids |
$79.99–$109.99/mo. | 4.71 / 5.00 | 190–290+ | 500 hrs. | 16 |
View plans Read DISH review |
|
Spectrum Cheapest |
$59.99/mo. for 12 mos.‡ | 4.06 / 5.00 | 125+ | varies | 2–6 |
View plans Read Spectrum review |
|
Verizon Fios Best value |
$70.00–$110.00/mo. | 4.63 / 5.00 | 125–425+ | 50–200 hrs. | 2–12 |
View plans Read Verizon review |
|
Xfinity Excellent user experience |
$20.00–$89.99/mo. | 4.27 / 5.00 | 125–185+ | 20 hrs. included (upgrades available) | 6 |
View plans Read Xfinity review |
| Astound Broadband powered by RCN | $99.51–$141.81/mo. | 3.63 / 5.00 | 55–304+ | 125–250 hrs. | 2–6 |
View plans Read Astound Broadband review |
|
Optimum $500 contract buyout |
$75.00–$115.00/mo. | 3.88 / 5.00 | 220–420+ | 25–150 hrs. | 15 |
View plans Read Optimum review |
|
Cox Excellent DVR |
$53.00–$138.00/mo. | 3.69 / 5.00 | 75–250+ | 250–1,000 hrs. | 2–24 |
View plans Read Cox review |
Data as of post date. Offers and availability may vary with location and are subject to change.
‡ For 12 mos.
If you’re set on getting satellite TV, DIRECTV really only has one direct (see what we did there?) competitor: DISH Network.
There really are only three main considerations when comparing DIRECTV vs. DISH Network: channels, contracts, pricing, and sports.
DIRECTV has more channels (340+) and more sports channels, including NFL SUNDAY TICKET (see deal) than DISH (290+ channels). That’s why it’s our pick for the best TV provider for sports. DIRECTV also includes its Genie DVR (200 hours, 5 simultaneous recordings) free with every plan. Unfortunately, DIRECTV is a lot more expensive than DISH, and DIRECTV plan prices go up by 30%–38% percent in the second year of your contract.
DISH also has two-year contracts, but it offers a three-year price guarantee, which will save you money over the long haul. That remains true even though you’ll pay $10 a month for its DVR, the more powerful Hopper 3 (500 hours, 5 simultaneous recordings). DISH also has more kids’ channels and some fantastic parental controls. Now you can see why we call DISH the best overall TV provider and the best TV provider for families.
For more details, read our helpful DISH vs. DIRECTV guide.
DIRECTV’s ENTERTAINMENT package covers family-favorite channels like ABC and popular sports channels like ESPN. And it’s the cheapest DIRECTV package.
At CHOICE™ and above, you get access to DIRECTV’s perks with no extra cost: a season of NFL SUNDAY TICKET and three months of premium channels for first-time sign-ups.
Again, check out the full channel lineup to make sure you get a package with all the channels you want. If you’re into beIN SPORTS or Pac-12 Network, tough luck—DIRECTV doesn’t offer those.
Still, DIRECTV’s channel lineups are well balanced, with PREMIER™ standing out as one of the few packages out there to include all the big premium channels in its lineup. It’s a go-big-and-go-home situation, where you can get everything you want and never have to leave your couch again.
So, if you have the cash for DIRECTV PREMIER, it’s pretty sweet to have a package that includes NFL SUNDAY TICKET, HBO Max, SHOWTIME, CINEMAX, STARZ, and EPIX.
| Package | Description | Details |
|---|---|---|
| MLB Extra Innings | Up to 90 out-of-market MLB games each week throughout the MLB regular season. |
View plan Read MLB Extra Innings review |
| NBA League Pass | Around 40 out-of-market NBA games per week during the NBA regular season. |
View plan Read NBA League Pass review |
| NHL Center Ice | Up to 40 out-of-market NHL games a week plus NHL Network included. |
View plan Read NHL Center Ice review |
DIRECTV sports packages don’t stop at NFL SUNDAY TICKET. The satellite TV provider also has add-on packages that provide out-of-market access to other top sports leagues in the US.
With both the NBA and the NHL now in season, NBA League Pass and NHL Center Ice are essential for megafans of basketball and hockey. After all, 40 out-of-market games per week from each league is a lot to miss.
Now that you have a good sense of the pros and cons of DIRECTV packages, you’ll probably want to check out some of DIRECTV’s main competitors.
Now that DIRECTV is no longer property of AT&T, you might think that bundles with DIRECTV and AT&T Internet can’t happen. That’s untrue. You can still add AT&T Internet service when you order DIRECTV—just don’t expect a discount.
To see your bundle payment, add the price of the AT&T Internet plan (see table below) you want to your chosen DIRECTV plan.
| Package | Price for first year† | Download speeds up to | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T Internet 100 | $55.00/mo. | 100 Mbps | View plan |
| AT&T Internet 300 | $55.00/mo. | 300 Mbps | View plan |
| AT&T Internet 500 | $65.00/mo. | 500 Mbps | View plan |
| AT&T Internet 1 Gig Internet | $80.00/mo. | 1,000 Mbps | View plan |
| AT&T Internet 2 Gig Internet | $110.00/mo. | 2,000 Mbps | View plan |
| AT&T Internet 5 Gig Internet | $180.00/mo. | 5,000 Mbps | View plan |
Data as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
*for 12 mos. plus taxes.
†for 12 mos. plus taxes and RSN fee.
Unfortunately, AT&T Internet speeds vary by location, so you might not be able to get all of these plans in your area.
That said, there are a few more pros and cons to bundling AT&T and DIRECTV, so check those out on our DIRECTV Bundles page before you sign up.
Unlike many TV services, DIRECTV won’t charge you more for a DVR receiver or set-top box. Instead, without spending another penny, you can save up to 200 hours of HD TV—that’s more than enough space for all eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries or about 80 NBA games.
DIRECTV’s DVR is called the Genie. (Very magic, much wow, insert something about making your wishes come true here.) Presumptive name aside, it’s a solid piece of equipment that gets the job done.
The DIRECTV Genie comes in both wired and wireless versions, and you can hook up more TVs for $7 more per TV per month. That’s a lot of pers, we know, but if you’re paying for service already, it just makes sense to be able to watch DIRECTV everywhere in your house.
We can go on for pages about the Genie. In fact, we already have—check out our full Genie DVR review for everything else you’ll want to know.
To sum it up, here are some of the neatest things about DIRECTV:
DIRECTV has some finicky things we don’t like—auto-renewing “free” perks and raising prices after it’s locked you into a contract, first and foremost.
But its perks are pretty impressive, especially its sports programming and included Genie DVR. And if you can bundle it with AT&T Internet, the discounts are peachy keen.
DIRECTV service is available nationwide. With the few exceptions of apartment buildings or houses without a south-facing mounting surface (for the satellite dish), you can get DIRECTV service from way down in the Bayou all the way up to the Northern Lights.
You can’t install DIRECTV yourself. DIRECTV will dispatch a technician to install your satellite dish and get your DIRECTV service up and running.
Your DIRECTV service includes on-the-go viewing with the DIRECTV app. With your smartphone or tablet, you can download the DIRECTV app on the App Store or Google Play.
The app will hook you up with DIRECTV live stream TV, but you’ll need internet access. If you want to watch offline, you can download recordings from your cloud DVR ahead of time.
Heads up: DIRECTV has loads of positive reviews on the App Store, but Google Play users comment that a recent update ruined the functionality of the app. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for patches that fix the problem.
DIRECTV has a mobile app that allows you to watch live and on-demand programming anytime, anywhere. You can stream on five devices at once and stream thousands of movies and shows.
No, DIRECTV does not currently offer any senior discounts.
DIRECTV’s cheapest offering is the ENTERTAINMENT package. At $64.99 a month for the first year, it gives you 165+ channels, including multiple ESPN and Disney channels, along with FX and IFC. A group of premium channels—HBO Max included—are free for the first three months.
If a diverse and hearty DIRECTV channel package is what you’re shopping for, the PREMIER plan is the jackpot. The 340+ channels PREMIER delivers are a robust blend of local stations, a vast amount of sports and entertainment networks, and, of course, premier channels like CINEMAX®, HBO®, SHOWTIME®, and STARZ®.
This one comes in at $139.99 for the first year. You’re locked in a two-year contract, so keep in mind that the price hike falls into place when your second year begins.
Like DIRECTV, DISH is a satellite TV provider. DISH’s America’s Top 250 ($109.99 a month) plan gives this DIRECTV channel package a run for its money with over 290 channels and access to more than 35,000 on-demand titles.
The DISH price is guaranteed for three years. See how the two rate in our DISH vs. DIRECTV comparison guide.
Our TV experts spent over 100 hours studying and analyzing DIRECTV’s plans and features. We hand-tested the service’s signal reliability and overall user experience while also evaluating its different channel lineups and DVR capabilities. Additionally, we pulled data from our annual TV Customer Satisfaction Survey to see how DIRECTV ranked against competitors.
To learn more about how CableTV.com approaches its reviews, check out our How We Rank page.
Disclaimer
**Offer ends 1/21/23. New approved customers only w/24-mo. agmt. Autopay & Paperless bill req’d. Prices higher in 2nd year. Regional Sports Fee up to $11.99/mo. is extra & applies.
Stay updated on the latest products and services anytime anywhere.
DIRECTV not right for you?
