DirecTV has tried to model its Stream offering as closely to its cable service. That said, there are some minor differences that are worth noting.
Advantages of cable over Stream: price lock + a box
There are two reasons why you would get DirecTV cable over Stream. The first is price lock. With the cable two-year contract, your price stays the same, whereas DirecTV Stream's price is almost certaintly going to increase. Consider this: DirecTV's introduction price back when it was called AT&T TV was $35. Now it's $80.
The second reason to get DirecTV Cable over Stream is that you get the Gemini box included (ex Osprey). DirecTV Stream is a BYOD service (Bring Your Own Device). You can use Roku, Fire TV, or you can buy the Gemini or Osprey boxes second-hand quite easily online.
The advantage of Stream over Cable: freedom to cancel, a trial, and $5/month of savings
The main difference is the contract. DirecTV Cable over satellite or internet comes with a 24-month contract during which cancelling will cost you an "early termination fee" of up to $20 for each month that is left in your contract. With DirecTV stream, you can cancel at any time. As a matter of fact, you can even cancel within DirecTV Stream's 5-day trial period and not even get charged once.
The other notable difference is that with cable: DirecTV makes you pay for a $15/month ARS fee (Advanced Receiver fee for the box). This makes DirecTV cable $5/month more expensive than DirecTV Stream ($84.99 vs $79.99). That $5 might not seem like a lot, but put it this way: it's the monthly cost of Peacock, which gives you access to shows like The Office and live streams of many NBC sports events.
Summary
| Comparaison | DirecTV Stream | DirecTV Cable |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $86.99/month | $85/month |
| Trial | 5 days | No | Our rating | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Number of channels | 123 | |
| Unlimited DVR | Yes | No |
| Parental controls | Yes | No |
| Disney Channel | No | Yes |
| ESPN | Yes | Yes |
| ESPN2 | Yes | Yes |
| Fox Sports 1 (FS1) | Yes | Yes |
| NBC | Yes | Yes |
| Paramount Network | Yes | Yes |
| RSNs | Yes | Yes |
| TNT | Yes | Yes |
Channels on DirecTV Stream and not DirecTV Cable
The channels that DirecTV Stream has and which are not available on DirecTV Cable:
- ACC Network
- Alien Nation
- Anger Management
- Are We There Yet?
- BABY FIRST
- C-SPAN2
- CNNi
- Comedy Dynamics
- Court TV
- Crime 360
- Daystar HD
- Duck Dynasty
- E! Entertainment
- EarthxTV
- Ebony TV
- El Rey Rebel
- ESPN Deportes
- ESPNews
- ESPNU
- FMC
- FOX SOUL
- Fox Weather
- FUEL TV
- Fuse Music
- Hallmark Mystery
- HerSphere
- Home Shopping Network
- Investigation Discovery (ID)
- Jewelry Television
- MovieSphere
- MTV Classic
- NBA TV
- NBC local channels
- News Nation
- Nick Jr.
- One America News
- Oxygen True Crime
- Poker GO
- Racing America
- Scripps Sports
- Somos Novelas
- Spectrum SportsNet
- SportsGrid
- Start TV
- Tastemade Home
- Tastemade Travel
- theGrio
- Up TV
- Women’s Sports Network
Channels on DirecTV Cable and not DirecTV Stream
The channels that DirecTV Cable has which are not available on DirecTV Stream:
- Antena 3
- Aquí
- BabyFirst TV
- Bandamax
- Blossom
- BYUtv
- C-SPAN 2
- CNN International
- CTN
- Daystar Español
- DIRECTV 4K Live
- DIRECTV 4K Live 2
- DIRECTV News Mix
- Disney Channel
- Disney Junior
- Disney XD
- EarthX
- Enlace
- ESNE
- EWTN
- Family Movie Channel
- FETV
- Free Speech TV
- FS1
- FXX
- GEB America
- GOD TV
- Hallmark Movies and Mysteries
- HITN
- Hope
- HSN2
- ID
- Impact Television Network
- INSP
- JBS
- Jewish Life Television
- Living Faith Network
- MavTV
- MUSIC CHOICE
- NASA TV
- National Geographic
- Newsmax
- NewsNation
- NHK
- Nickelodeon
- NRBTV
- ONCE MEXICO
- REVOLT TV
- ShopHQ
- So Yummy!
- SonLife Broadcasting
- TBN
- TBN Inspire
- TCT
- The CW
- The Grio
- The WORD Network
- Victory
- World Harvest Television
Price: DirecTV Cable is cheaper than DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Cable's costs $85 whereas DirecTV Stream costs $87. Getting DirecTV Stream instead of DirecTV Cable will set you back $2 more every month.
Why get DirecTV Stream?
DirecTV Stream is a Live TV streaming platform with a twist: you can download the app on any of your existing devices, or for a $120, you can get a box with a custom remote control for the service. But without the box, DirecTV Stream functions like a Netflix or Hulu, allowing you to stream Live TV from anywhere by downloading the app. Within your home, you can stream on up to 20 devices (!), and from outside your home you can stream on up to three devices.
Why get DirecTV Cable?
DirecTV's cable packages are some of the most comprehensive you'll find on the market. The cheapest plan, known as the Entertainment package, starts at $85/month and comes with 200 hours of HD DVR (unlimited on cloud). As for channels, some of the more notable ones include CNN, ESPN, The Food Network, TBS, The Disney Channel, and local networks where available. During your first three months, you'll also have access to premium channels like HBO and Showtime. DirecTV's other packages are Choice (which has RSNs), Ultimate (which has even more sports and entertainment), and Premier (which has everything plus premium channels). It may not be explicit about it, but DirecTV does have a 2-year contract, the early termination of which will cost you $20 for each of the remaining months. If this is a deal-breaker, you might want to consider DirecTV Stream, which is the provider's cordless and contractless alternative.
Devices: DirecTV Stream and DirecTV Cable have the same availability metric
DirecTV Stream is available on Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, iOS, Roku or Samsung TV.
Whereas DirecTV Cable is available on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Google TV, Roku TV, Samsung TV or Vizio. That's 0 less devices than DirecTV Stream.
Trial: DirecTV Stream offers a trial
DirecTV Stream has a trial. The trial duration is 5 days.
Find out more on DirecTV Stream
Trial: DirecTV Cable does not offer a trial
DirecTV Cable does not offer a free trial.
Find out more on DirecTV Cable
Channels on both DirecTV Cable and DirecTV Stream
The channels that are available on both DirecTV Cable and DirecTV Stream are:
- ABC
- AccuWeather
- AMC
- Animal Planet
- AXS TV
- BabyTV
- BBC America
- BET
- Bloomberg Television
- Boomerang
- Bravo
- C-SPAN
- Cartoon Network
- CBS
- CBS local channels
- Cleo TV
- CMT
- CNBC
- CNN
- CNN en Espanol
- Comedy Central
- CW
- Discovery
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- Food Network
- FOX
- Fox Business Network
- Fox Sports 1 (FS1)
- Freeform
- FX
- Galavision
- Hallmark Channel
- HGTV
- HLN
- HSN
- IFC
- ION Television
- MotorTrend
- MSNBC
- MTV2
- NBC
- Ovation
- Paramount Network
- PBS
- PBS Kids
- PBS local channels
- Pursuit Channel
- QVC
- QVC2
- QVC3
- REELZ
- REVOLT
- RFD-TV
- RSNs
- Scientology Network
- Shop LC
- SundanceTV
- SYFY
- TBS
- TCM
- TeenNick
- Telemundo local channels
- The First
- TLC
- TNT
- TV Land
- TV One
- Univision
- USA Network
- VH1
- WE tv
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