Dallas, TX

Cable TV and internet in Dallas, TX

With a population approaching 1.4 million, Dallas, TX, is the ninth biggest city in the United States. That’s a lot of Dallasites to connect and entertain.

Fortunately, there are plenty of internet and TV service providers competing with each other for customers, which means you’ll probably find a decent deal.

What are the best TV and cable companies in Dallas, TX?

• AT&T ENTERTAINMENT TV—High channel count
• DIRECTV—NFL SUNDAY TICKET
• DISH—Hopper DVR
• Spectrum—included premium channels on high-end packages

What are the best internet providers in Dallas, TX?

• AT&T Internet—great value; 1,000 Mbps fiber plan
• Spectrum—Cable speeds up to 940 Mbps

Internet

AT&T covers 99.2% of the Dallas area and offers the cheapest fiber internet (up to 1 Gbps). Actually, it’s pretty much the only fiber provider in town, since only about 6% of Dallas residents can get Frontier’s 500 Mbps fiber plans and 1.2% can get NextLink’s gigabit service.

AT&T is also the only DSL provider, offering up to 100 Mbps for $50 a month, which isn’t bad. But cable is faster than DSL. Actually, it’s nearly as fast as fiber—at least on download speed. Cable upload speeds are much slower, though.

For cable, we recommend Spectrum, which offers up to 940 Mbps download speeds (and 35 Mbps upload speeds).

A fraction of Dallas residents (7%) can find up to 1,000 Mbps connections through Suddenlink.

In Dallas’s surrounding rural areas, the only options fixed-wireless and satellite internet, which are pretty slow. If that’s what you need, check out HughesNet or Viasat.

TV

There are more choices in Dallas when it comes to TV. AT&T is still the boss, with 100% coverage, more channels than any other provider (up to 550+), and two service options: AT&T U-verse TV* (fiber) and DIRECTV (satellite).

(Note: AT&T is slowly phasing out its U-verse service. It’s still available, for now, but its replacement will be AT&T TV, a streaming service you can get only with AT&T fiber interenet.)

DISH (290+ channels) also offers 100% satellite TV coverage in Dallas, and Spectrum (307 channels) covers 100% of the area with cable TV service.

So who’s best for internet and TV in Dallas?

AT&T is tops in Dallas for both internet and TV with 1G fiber internet—which also gives you equal download and upload speeds, and heaps of channels.

Cable internet provider Spectrum follows in second with 940 Mbps download speeds (but only 35 Mbps upload speeds) and TV packages that include premium channels free.

Cable TV and internet bundles in Dallas, TX

Bundling can save you money, and it’s convenient to have internet, phone, and TV service under one provider.

You’ll probably want to bundle the best with the best, which means going with AT&T’s fast fiber internet, vast channel selection, and unlimited calling. You can also get AT&T DSL internet bundled with DIRECTV, which is the only place to find NFL SUNDAY TICKET.

Spectrum’s cable connection doesn’t offer as high of speeds, and the company carries far fewer channels. But its three TV packages aren’t bloated with music and shopping channels, and they build on each other so you won’t lose any channels if you upgrade to a better plan.

It gets better. Spectrum’s Silver package includes HBO®, NFL Network, and SHOWTIME®. Gold has those premiums as well as STARZ®, STARZ ENCORE, and TMC.

Top TV and internet bundles in Dallas, TX

• AT&T: up to 1G fiber internet, tons of channels
• Frontier: up to 500 Mbps fiber internet, affordable bundles, lots of channels
• Spectrum: up to 940 Mbps cable internet, premium channels included

Summary of TV and internet providers in Dallas, TX

Most popular TV channels in Dallas, TX

The Dallas area is big on church and sports, with a large bilingual community. That’s likely why you’ll see Daystar, ESPN, and Estrella TV in the top three most popular stations overall. And, of course, some of the usual local network affiliates are widely watched in Dallas, too.

Dallas, TX’s most popular TV channels

All of the most popular channels in Dallas are available from all major local providers. (Suddenlink lacks the Big Ten Network, but that affects only 7% of Dallas residents.)

TV packages featuring Dallas, TX’s most popular channels

Data effective 1/15/20. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.
*/mo. for 12 mos plus taxes.
† /mo. for 12 mos plus taxes and RSN fee.
‡ for 24. months. New customers only. All offers require 2-year commitment with early termination fee and eAutopay. Price includes Hopper Duo for qualifying customers.

• for 12 mos.

The TV packages above include all eight of Dallasites’ favorite channels. With 370+ channels, AT&T U-verse U200 ($79.99 a month) beats the similarly priced DIRECTV XTRA and DISH AMERICA’S TOP 200.

Spectrum Gold, however, includes HBO, NFL Network, SHOWTIME, STARZ, STARZ ENCORE, and TMC for $10 more per month. It’s hard to pass up that kind of deal on premium content.

Dallas, TX sports coverage

Everything’s bigger in Texas, so the pro sports teams are a huge deal. You’ve got the Texas Rangers (baseball), Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Wings (basketball), Dallas Cowboys (football), FC Dallas (other football, or “soccer”), and Dallas Stars (ice football, a.k.a. “hockey”).

Here’s a big ole table to show you where to find the channels that carry all that Texas-sized sportsball action.

How to watch Dallas, TX sports

Data effective 1/15/20. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.
*/mo. for 12 mos plus taxes.
† /mo. for 12 mos plus taxes and RSN fee.
‡ for 24. months. New customers only. All offers require 2-year commitment with early termination fee and eAutopay. Price includes Hopper Duo for qualifying customers.
§ for 12 mos.

If you want to watch televised Dallas sports, you’ll need FOX Sports Southwest, which broadcasts games by the Mavericks, Rangers, Stars, and Wings. You can find the channel in plans from AT&T, DIRECTV (but only in its most expensive package), and Spectrum.

Beyond FOX Sports Southwest, you’ll be able to find most of those teams on local independent channels like KTXA as well as the network affiliates—AT&T, DIRECTV, DISH, and Spectrum carry all of them.

Dallas Cowboys fans have an easier time because, hey—it’s the Cowboys. You’ll find those games on CBS, ESPN, FOX, NBC, and NFL Network. (You can watch them on NFL RedZone through Spectrum until Dec. 30, 2019, when Spectrum drops RedZone.)

Soccer fans will be happy to know that KXTA broadcasts FC Dallas games, with Unimás and Univision providing simulcasts in Spanish.

These six Dallas-area TV providers carry all 16 of these channels. Here’s a list of TV-only packages (and a Frontier bundle) that offer all or most of them for a reasonable price.

• AT&T U-verse TV U-Family ($59.99/mo.*): 16 of 16 local channels
• DIRECTV SELECT ($59.99/mo.˚): 16 of 16 local channels
• DISH America’s Top 200 ($84.99/mo.‡): 14 of 16 local channels
• Frontier FiOS 50/50 + FiOS TV Prime ($99.98/mo.¶). 16 of 16 local channels.
• Spectrum Select ($44.99/mo.§): 16 of 16 local channels

* /mo. for 12 mos plus taxes.
˚/mo. for 12 mos plus taxes
‡ for 24. months. New customers only. All offers require 2-year commitment with early termination fee and eAutopay. Price includes Hopper Duo for qualifying customers.
¶ for 12 months. Actual speeds may vary. Installation, equipment fees, DVR service fee, broadcast fee, RSN fee, taxes & other fees apply. Services subject to availability and all applicable terms and conditions.

§ for 12 mos.