A closer look at DirecTV Stream

I said recently that I would be looking at live streaming services. And it's only fair for you to know ahead of time that I don't regularly use a live streaming service. If you want to know why, read my recent post about that.

For now, I'm taking a look at one of the biggest, most inclusive live streaming services: DirecTV Stream.

DirecTV Stream began at DirecTV Now. Then it was AT&T TV Now. Then it was AT&T TV. Now it's DirecTV Stream. Oh, and there was AT&T Watch TV, which was a separate service. And there was some overlap in the services and names of services. But, now it's simply DirecTV Now.

Even with it's confusing upbringing, it's always been a good service, and is a good service today. However, it's usually been the most expensive service as well. Today, it still holds that title, but Hulu+Live TV matches its price.

The interface looks good and is functional. I prefer the guide, but for those that like the modern interfaces, the one on DirecTV Stream works as well as any.

On the guide, you can mark channels as favorites, but they don't move to the top. Rather, you can filter by favorites. Sorting is either alphabetical or by channel number which harks back to cable. The filters by Favorites, Sports, Movies, Kids, TV Shows, and Recent work well enough. One thing you cannot do is remove a channel from the lineup, as you can with YouTube TV. Still, it works well enough.

The large price tag comes with a large number of channels.

Entertainment ($70/month)

• 1+1 International
• A&E HD
• AccuWeather HD
• AMC HD
• Animal Planet HD
• AXS TV HD
• BabyFirst HD
• BBC America HD
• BET HD
• Black News Channel HD
• Bloomberg TV HD
• Boomerang
• Bravo HD
• C-SPAN HD
• C-SPAN2 HD
• Cartoon Network HD
• CLEO TV HD
• CMT HD
• CNBC HD
• CNN en Espanol
• CNN HD
• CNNi HD
• Comedy Central HD
• Discovery HD
• Disney Channel HD
• Disney Junior HD
• Disney XD HD
• E! HD
• ESPN HD
• ESPN2 HD
• Food Network HD
• Fox Business Network HD
• Fox News Channel HD
• FOX Sports 1 HD
• FOX Weather
• Freeform HD
• FX HD
• FXX HD
• Galavision HD
• Hallmark Channel HD
• Hallmark Movies & Mysteries HD
• HGTV HD
• History HD
• HLN HD
• Home Shopping Network HD
• IFC HD
• Investigation Discovery HD
• ION Television East HD
• Jewelry Television
• Jewish Life TV HD
• Lifetime HD
• MotorTrend HD
• MSNBC HD
• MTV HD
• MTV2 HD
• National Geographic HD
• Newsmax HD
• Nickelodeon East HD
• Ovation HD
• Paramount Network HD
• PBS Kids HD
• QVC HD
• QVC2 HD
• ReelzChannel HD
• REVOLT HD
• RFD-TV HD
• Shop LC HD
• SundanceTV HD
• Syfy HD
• TBS HD
• TCM HD
• TeenNick HD
• TLC HD
• TNT HD
• truTV HD
• TV Land HD
• TV One HD
• Univision East HD
• USA Network HD
• VH1 HD
• Vice HD
• WE tv HD

Choice ($90/month)

Choice includes all the Entertainment channels (except Hallmark Movies & Mysteries HD, Ovation HD, and REVOLT HD), plus:

• ACC Network HD
• Big Ten Network HD
• Bounce TV
• Cheddar News HD
• CNBC World
• Comedy TV HD
• Cooking Channel HD
• Cozi TV
• ESPNews HD
• ESPNU HD
• Fuse HD
• GAC Family HD
• Game Show Network HD
• Golf Channel HD
• GRIT
• Heroes & Icons HD
• Justice Central HD
• MLB Network HD
• NBA TV HD
• NewsNation HD
• Nick Jr. HD
• Nicktoons HD
• OWN HD
• Pop TV HD
• Science HD
• SEC Network HD
• ShortsTV HD
• Tastemade HD
• Tennis Channel HD
• The Weather Channel HD
• Travel Channel HD
• TVG HD
• UniMas West HD
• UPtv HD

Ultimate ($105/month)

Ultimate includes all the channels in Entertainment and/or Choice, plus:

• American Heroes Channel HD
• Aspire HD
• BBC World News HD
• BET Her HD
• CBS Sports Network HD
• Destination America HD
• Discovery Family Channel HD
• Discovery Life HD
• FM HD
• FOX Sports 2 HD
• FX Movie Channel HD
• FYI HD
• LMN HD
• Logo HD
• Magnolia Network HD
• MTV Classic
• Nat Geo Wild HD
• NHL Network HD
• Olympic Channel HD
• Oxygen HD
• Smithsonian Channel HD
• Sportsman Channel HD
• Starz Encore Action HD
• Starz Encore Black HD
• Starz Encore Classic HD
• Starz Encore Family HD
• Starz Encore HD
• Starz Encore Suspense HD
• Starz Encore West HD
• Starz Encore Westerns HD
• TUDN HD
• Universal Kids HD
• Universo HD

Premier ($150/month)

Turns out Ultimate isn't the ultimate package. Premier is. It includes everything, meaning all the ones in the other packages, plus:

• Cinemax ActionMAX HD
• Cinemax East HD
• HBO East HD
• HBO Family East HD
• HBO Latino HD
• HBO2 East HD
• Showtime 2 HD
• Showtime East HD
• Showtime Extreme HD
• STARZ East HD
• Starz Kids & Family HD

That's a lot of channels. A lot of channels. Of course, it's a lot of money, so it better be a lot of channels, right? Well, it is.

Is it worth it? That's for you do decide. I already covered what I think about live TV streaming services. But if you want a huge everything plus the kitchen sing package in your Streaming Life, break out the wallet and get DirecTV Stream.