Best Satellite TV Providers 2024: DISH or DIRECTV—Who Wins?

DISH Network is our Editor’s Choice for the best overall TV provider for the last three years due to its high channel count, industry-leading DVR, and two-year price guarantee. DISH is also our best TV provider for families, with tons of kids’ channels and excellent parental controls. So we highly recommend DISH for almost everyone.

DIRECTV packages once had more live TV channels than DISH TV plans, but as of this year, it offers half as many. Now the satellite TV service is an even poorer value, despite adding a two-year price guarantee and at least flirting with pricing transparency in 2023. DIRECTV still has plenty of sports channels and regional sports networks (RSNs), though, so we recommend it for sports fans who don’t mind paying a premium for live sports. Just watch out for the $15.99 monthly RSN fee and another 2023 addition—a $15 monthly Advanced Receiver Service Fee for its Genie DVR (formerly included).

Jump to:

• Best overall: DISH
• Best for sports: DIRECTV
• What to look for

Best satellite TV providers

• DISH ($84.99–$114.99/mo.)–Best overall, best for families
• DIRECTV ($69.99–$159.99/mo.)—Best for sports

For a more in-depth comparison of satellite TV providers, read our DISH vs. DIRECTV guide. It covers everything from DVRs to installation to DIRECTV bundles available through internet providers like AT&T Internet and Centurylink Internet.

Best overall: DISH Network

DISH Network has four main satellite TV packages priced $84.99–$114.99/mo. (and two current-customer plans that you can read about in our DISH review). We recommend America’s Top 200 ($104.99 a month) because it has 240+ live TV channels for a great price (especially compared to DIRECTV, which we’ll cover next).

Like DIRECTV, DISH has two-year contracts, but it locks in your price for two years—that’s why DIRECTV added its own two-year price guarantee last year.

DISH also has the best DVR in the business: the Hopper 3, which records up to 16 shows at once and stores up to a whopping 500 hours of HD movies and shows. The Hopper 3 does cost an extra $10 per month, but that’s an amazing value considering what you get with the receiver/DVR.

If you don’t wanna pay the extra $10 for the Hopper 3, DISH offers the Hopper Duo for $5 a month. The Duo stores only 125 hours of HD content and records only two shows at once, but that’s plenty for smaller households.

Best for sports: DIRECTV

We’ve already established that DIRECTV has even worse value now that it’s slashed its live TV channel lineup in half without cutting its already high prices. So let’s get deeper into DIRECTV’s value problem.

DIRECTV’s value is poorest when compared to its main satellite TV rival, DISH, and top cable TV providers. With the $15-a-month Advanced Receiver Service Fee for the Genie DVR, and the regional sports network (RSN) fee (up to $15.99 a month), the advertised plan prices rise by 19%–44%. To put that into perspective, remember you’re paying the same or (much) more than DISH for half the channels, and DISH charges $5 less for its—superior—Hopper DVR.

If you’re set on DIRECTV, consider this: The ENTERTAINMENT ($69.99 monthly, 75+ channels) and CHOICE ($84.99 monthly, 105+ channels) plans compare more favorably to some live TV streaming services. So, if you don’t want to pay the $15-a-month Advanced Receiver Service Fee for the Genie DVR, or other DIRECTV hidden costs, check out DIRECTV STREAM, which has no equipment fees if you supply your own streaming TV device (otherwise, it costs $5.00 monthly to rent one from DIRECTV)

A downside of DIRECTV STREAM is that you’ll still have to pay the RSN fee. Also, without the Genie HD DVR, you won’t have some of the fun features sports fans love, like Mix Channels (watch up to six sporting events at once) and 72-hour rewind (catch missed events up to 72 hours later).

We don’t recommend the ULTIMATE ($114.99 monthly, 140+ channels) or PREMIER ($159.99 monthly, 150+ channels) plans for either DIRECTV or DIRECTV STREAM. Sigh. At least DIRECTV now has a two-year price guarantee, which means there’s no longer a massive, second-year rate increase.

We think DIRECTV’s CHOICE™ All Included package ($84.99 a month, 105+ channels) is a decent deal, especially when you consider the added value of free three-month trials of Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, Max, STARZ®, Cinemax® & MGM+™.

Again, for perspective, DISH offers 190 live TV channels with America’s Top 120 ($84.99 a month) or 190+ channels with the more sports-oriented America’s Top 120+ ($99.99 monthly).

What to look for in satellite TV providers

What are the most important qualities of a satellite TV provider (besides a good personality and sense of humor)? If you said channel count or DVR equipment, you’re right.

It’s also smart to see if the provider has an app for mobile watching and account management, value-adding perks, and good customer satisfaction ratings.

Let’s dive deeper into why these are key features.

Channel count

For TV providers, channel count is a crucial stat. The higher the number, the more impressive. But quality also matters: to make sure you can get the channels you want, check out our channel guides for each provider.

DVRs and other equipment

When you sign up for satellite TV service, you’re also committing to a DVR/receiver unit—and possibly a monthly rental fee. Make sure the machine meets your needs.

• Is the DVR included or is there a rental fee?
• Is there also a separate fee for DVR service?
• How many hours of HD content does the DVR store?
• Can you buy separate DVRs or receivers for multi-room viewing?
• Does the DVR have cool, exclusive features?
• Does the remote control have voice search capabilities?

Also, many providers offer access to your DVR content (and maybe even your channel package) via a mobile app. Let’s discuss, shall we?

Mobile apps

Most cable and satellite service providers have apps that allow account management (bill pay, support, etc.), watch-anywhere streaming, or both. You should get some of that convenience in your life.

DIRECTV (Android, iOS) and DISH (Android, iOS) both have mobile apps that allow you to watch your live channels, on-demand content, and DVR recordings on your smartphone or tablet. You can also use both apps to set and manage DVR timers and parental controls.

Perks, deals, and other promotions

DIRECTV and DISH sell pretty much the same product for the same price. So, to get your business, they regularly offer deals to entice new customers to sign up.

Check out our DISH Deals and DIRECTV Deals pages for the most current offers.

Customer satisfaction

It’s always smart to see what other customers think of a provider before you commit.

In our annual customer satisfaction survey, we asked customers of the top cable and satellite TV providers* to rate providers on billing, channel selection, customer and technical support, DVR satisfaction, installation, signal reliability, user experience, and overall satisfaction.

DIRECTV finished second in overall customer satisfaction with 69% indicating complete or very high satisfaction. DISH finished 7th with 62% (remember, these are customer ratings, not CableTV.com’s editorial ratings).

Is DISH or DIRECTV more worth it?

So which satellite TV service is best? We say you should put a DISH Network satellite dish on your roof (or, alternatively, a pole in your yard).

DISH beat its satellite TV provider rival DIRECTV and 9 top cable TV providers to earn our Editor’s Choice Award as the best overall TV provider. That’s thanks to its high channel count, transparent pricing and two-year price-lock, the awesome Hopper 3 DVR, and excellent parental controls.

DIRECTV is just too expensive for anyone but sports fans who’ve come to rely on DIRECTV’s live sports offerings, including the Genie HD DVR and its sports-friendly Mix Channels and 72-Hour Rewind features.

Best satellite TV providers FAQ

Methodology

Our experts employed hours of hands-on testing and crunched the numbers, rating DISH and DIRECTV on bang for your buck, reliability, features, and customer satisfaction.

Then we matched up the satellite TV providers head to head to give a clearer picture of their strengths and weaknesses. For more information on our methodology, check out our How We Rank page.