DIRECTV Takes a Page From YouTube TV With This Expanded Sports Feature

DIRECTV adds customizable sports multiview experience for streaming customers

Sports fans looking to watch multiple games simultaneously on one screen just got some good news.

This week, DIRECTV unveiled a new feature: a customizable multiview experience catered specifically to live sports. The company launched the new multiview option on October 13.

“DIRECTV has been at the forefront of Multiview innovation for nearly two decades, and we continue to evolve the experience around how fans want to watch,” Vikash Sharma, head of product at DIRECTV, said in a statement. “Giving fans the ability to build their own lineup is the next step, offering even more choice and control over how they follow the games that matter most to them.”

The new feature is the second iteration of multiview that DIRECTV has rolled out in the last two months. The first was a curated multiview with preselected live sports matchups. Both are separate from DIRECTV’s existing Mix Channels, which offer preset, always-on channel combinations for sports, news, weather, and more.

The new multiview appears to be limited to live sports

Is DIRECTV’s new feature really customizable? Yes and no.

If a viewer wants to watch up to four channels at once, they’re currently limited to networks that show live sports, such as ESPN, FS1, NFL Network, CBS Sports Network, Tennis Channel, and others. The company says that local and national channels could be available for multiview “when they’re carrying eligible live sporting events.”

Of course, which channels you have depends on the DIRECTV package.

Compare that to YouTube TV‘s multiview feature, and you start to see just how different it is. I tested the YouTube TV one recently and put together a multiview of MS NOW, ESPN, CNBC, and whatever channel was currently showing “The Last Duel.” That’s true customization.

CableTV.com verdict: A step forward, but still behind YouTube TV

Multiview is one of those features that seems great in theory, but serves a niche audience. Still, multiple TV providers have developed their own multiview experiences, some more extensive than others.

DIRECTV made a huge leap in the space earlier this year with its curated multiview, a predetermined set of live sports broadcasts dependent on how many marquee games were airing on any given day. That development came a few months after Spectrum unveiled its own curated multiview in advance of March Madness.

DIRECTV took yet another step with its new Build Your Own offering, but it’s still inferior to the multiview options from YouTube TV and Fubo. To be fair, Fubo has its own limitations: Its multiview is available only on Apple TV, select Roku devices, and some LG TVs. When it comes to DIRECTV’s rollout, users on Reddit seem mixed or even dismissive of the new feature.

Saying people can build their own experience of up to four channels, then limiting the channels available, is a bit misleading. But the option of having two, three, or four games on one screen definitely is pretty cool and useful.

A huge caveat: The feature is only available on DIRECTV Gemini or Roku devices to start, with additional devices coming down the pike. That feels like another limitation to the multiview, at least for now. Once Android TV, Fire TV, Vizio, LG, Apple TV, and Tizen TV enter the field, the situation will be better for fans and consumers.

Don’t get me wrong: Sports fans who are DIRECTV users are gonna love this feature, so long as it doesn’t lag or introduce other tech issues. But is it the best out there? Not yet.

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