TV Answer Man, I am thinking of cutting the cord from cable TV. But sports is very important to me. If you had to pick, which streaming outfit has more sports? DIRECTV Stream? Or Hulu? Or YouTube TV? Your answer will determine which one I pick so please respond soon! — Aaron, Marina Del Rey, California.
Aaron, this will determine your decision? No pressure, huh? Well, let me get right to it.
The answer is: DIRECTV Stream.
In fact, it’s not even close. DIRECTV Stream, which was renamed last month from AT&T TV, carries numerous sports channels that are not available on Hulu, YouTube TV, or FuboTV and Sling TV. For instance, DIRECTV Stream has SportsNet LA, the TV home of the Los Angeles Dodgers in your market, as well as Altitude (Denver Nuggets, Colorado Rockies), MASN (Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals) and the 19 Sinclair-owned Bally Sports regional sports networks.
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The DIRECTV-owned streamer also has AT&T Sportsnet Pittsburgh (Pirates, Penguins ) Root Sports Northwest (Mariners), AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Rockies), AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Astros), NESN (Red Sox), Yes Network (Yankees), the NBC Sports regionals, and the Marquee Sports Network (Cubs).
You might find a few of those on DIRECTV Stream’s rivals, but not all of them. The other streaming services have decided, at least for now, that it doesn’t make economic sense to carry all, or even most of them. The carriage fees are relatively high by industry standards, but the interest is relatively small among subscribers. The streamers try to keep their monthly subscription fees lower than cable and satellite, but they would have more difficulty doing that if they added the sports channels.
But there is a catch to DIRECTV Stream. The service’s plans that include regional sports channels start at $84.99 a month, which is roughly $20 more per month than Hulu Live, YouTube TV and FuboTV, and $50 more a month than Sling TV.
DIRECTV Stream is basically paying the price to carry the regionals and passing it along to sports fans. But the good news is that there’s no regional sports fee.
Aaron, hope that answers your question. Happy viewing, and stay safe!
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvpredictions.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
They may have more regional sports but they don’t have the NFL Network nor do they have NFL Redzone.
And Sunday NFL Football package not even available on DirecTV. stream. So streamers wanting more options for games than they can get over the air for free they may need to switch now that football season is here.
Deal breaker …. I at least need NFL Network
They do not have pac 12 network!
85 bucks a month plus plus tax plus plus oh yeah let’s not forget the cost for your internet you got a really love sports to give up that kind of money but if you’re looking to save money forget DirecTV there’s only one place those prices go straight up and as long as AT&t is involved in any way shape or form DirecTV stream or no stream is finished
Dave, You Forgot the “Receivers”,
the DVR Charge
and sometimes the HD FEE.
Sounds like the “New” DirecTV.
Satellite or Streaming
is Not going to be any better.
Think they will ever get the message,
Do what the customers Want ?
DUMP AT&T Management COMPLETELY.
and Phillip is right:
the interest is relatively small among subscribers.
Put SPORTS in an a-la-carte group
like the Movie Channels.
and “ALL” Non Sports in a
“SEPARATE” Package.
Don’t leave any out.
Customer can choose one or the other, or Both.
LOTS of Viewers want ONLY Sports or NON Sports.
Now if you want just “ONE” Channel,
NOT in the “Select” package (non sports package)
like DIY, Travel, Destination America, CMT,
The REAL Weather channel, etc.
You are FORCED to subscribe to a
Higher Sports package.
Somewhere between $ 20.00 and $ 40.00
extra for that “ONE” channel.
Complete RIP OFF if you Don’t watch sports.
It is going to be tough getting the 7 Million PLUS
subscribers back with OUT these changes.
Don’t get Dave started.
I think Mr. Swann means the Denver Nuggets vice Denver Rockets. The Rockets were an old ABA franchise that became the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets were one of four ABA franchises that were taken in by the NBA. The other three being the New York Nets, San Antonio Spurs and the Indians Pacers.
Indeed. 🙂
All depends on which sports packages you want.
This BS, Dave & Taylor spout, make no sense. Everyone is in business to make a profit, not to make it to everyone’s convenience
Personally, I’ll stick w/ Direct, as they have been very very good to me over the years, many many freebies, helping with discounts, etc. YES, even now, with AT& T running it, another year of Sunday ticket Max (that’s a 400$ extra DAVE!
Also i’ll wager both Dave and Mr. Taylor spend $$$ somewhere I don’t… Everyone has an “entertainment dollar” I choose DirecTV, Thank you
Thom R.
What parts was BS ?
AT&T Didn’t do so well loosing 7 Million + Customers.
DirecTV was mainly for NFL Sunday Ticket.
For those who considered another reason, it was with DirecTV (and Dish) being ahead of cable-television companies on numbers of channels.
For some time, DirecTV (and Dish) was ahead of cable-television companies on HD channels.
Now enough time has passed. What is important more than anything else is Internet.
This is the problem with DirecTV (and Dish).
It is not the only problem.
But it is the No. 1 problem.
As for all other problems—how a company is run—it’s interesting to mention, and to discuss, but it doesn’t change the fact that too many people have moved on.
Unless I read the terms and conditions wrong, the “catch” with Directv Stream is that the $85 is only for 1 year. After that it goes up to $151. I loved DirecTV when I had the dish years ago but when this type of “promo” rate ended and I asked for them to continue it so I could remain a subscriber they refused. Obviously $$$ is more important to them than their subscribers. This was ultimately when I decided to cut the cord about 5 or 6 years ago.
It sucks that I can’t watch my regional sports networks on Hulu with Live TV, or even MLB or NHL networks. But it doesn’t suck enough that I’d go back to paying $151 a month for it.
Hoping that eventually the Bally networks will finally be offered as an ala carte seperate service, but until they are I’ll live with what I have.
No, the $151 in year 2 is for Directv, not Directv Stream.
The online experience at DirecTV had to be one of the worst I’ve seen in a long time. If they didn’t have the regional sports channel I want I would have moved on from them. It was like a signup from 2005.