Best Satellite TV Service Providers

DIRECTV reigns supreme when it comes to premium channels, but DISH offers more available channels and a consistent monthly price throughout your second and third year of service.

Between the two giants of satellite TV, DISH is the cheapest satellite TV provider. Each channel costs an average of 37 cents with Dish, and DIRECTV's cost over a dollar. And your monthly price with DISH stays the same for a longer duration. 

If you're interested in bundling DISH TV with satellite internet, check out our best DISH bundles piece. Bundling is convenient so you only have to worry about one bill, but I recommend DISH's bundling options if you don't have other high-speed internet providers in your area.

Viasat satellite internet is on the pricey side for the low download speeds it offers.

DIRECTV offers the most premium channels between these two satellite TV providers. So if you want all your major premium services like Max, Apple TV, and Peacock at a discounted rate, DIRECTV is at your service.

DIRECTV requires you to sign a two-year contract with it satellite service, but DISH has a no-contract or two-year contract option.

The no-contract Flex TV option through DISH allows you to prepay for your satellite TV package and pay monthly. Your monthly bill will be $10–$15 more than advertised. But you won't have to worry about weaseling your way out of a contract if you decide to cancel.

If you sign a contract, you’ll have to commit to the satellite TV service to avoid the early termination fees (which can get a bit pricey).

DISH early termination fee: 

• $20 for every month left on your contract

DIRECTV early termination fee:

• Up to $20 per month left on your contract

DISH and DIRECTV both charge some DVR and equipment fees that can be an additional $25–$40 on your monthly bill. 

Let’s start with DISH because their receiver fees can get a little confusing. The Hopper Duo (125 HD hours) with DVR service is included in all TV packages.

But you're still required to order a Hopper 2 (500 HD hours), at minimum, as your main receiver for $10 per month. So you'll check out with two receivers for two TVs when you order. 

And for $5 more a month, DISH can upgrade your main set-top box to the Hopper 3. The Hopper 3 can store 2,000 HD hours.

The additional receiver you order is called a Joey ($7–$10 per month each).

DIRECTV says the Genie DVR (200 HD hours) is included with your plan, but they've recently started charging an "advanced receiver service fee" of $15 a month. That's code for charging monthly for your set-top box rental. But it used to be free, DIRECTV! Still, I guess it's better than the second-year price hikes DIRECTV used to hit you with.

Similar to DISH, it’ll cost $7 per month for each additional DIRECTV receiver.

Bonus: Many major satellite TV providers charge a hefty fee when customers need to move their equipment. DISH offers free in-home installation to existing customers planning to move at no additional cost. 

DISH offers customers 55+ and up a variety of discounts, including free in-home installation, discounted Stars & Stripes package upgrades, identity protection, free monthly movies, and a 2-year price guarantee. DISH also offers discounts to veterans, healthcare providers, teachers, and first responders. 

Good news: you’ll get most of your favorite channels with both satellite TV providers, like CNN, Disney Channel, MSNBC, and NFL Network.

If you're like me, you need your daily NFL Total Access. And if you need to distract the little ones, you can turn on Bluey.

DISH has about the same sports coverage as DIRECTV, but DISH has all of the NCAA channels. DIRECTV used to offer NFL SUNDAY TICKET that gave you all out-of-market NFL football games. But for the 2024–2025 NFL season, NFL SUNDAY TICKET will officially be moving to YouTube TV.

DIRECTV is one of the only providers outside of Verizon Fios TV and Hulu + Live TV that offers ESPN College Extra, though, so this is also a big college sports win.

You might find it useful to compare the channel lineup of DISH and DIRECTV to determine which suits your entertainment, sports, lifestyle, or reality TV needs.

DISH and DIRECTV both offer the major premium channels, but you'll get more options with DIRECTV. Whether you have DISH or DIRECTV, you can catch up on House of the Dragon on Max or Warrior on CINEMAX. And both DISH and DIRECTV give you some intro perks.

If you order any of DIRECTV's packages today, you'll get free subscriptions to Max, CINEMAX, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME®, Starz, and MGM+ for three months. And if you order PREMIER, you get all premium packages (besides MGM+) included in your package. You'll also have the option to add AMC+, Peacock Premium, or even Fox Nation to your DIRECTV satellite service. 

DISH offers a free 3-month subscription to STARZ, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME®, and DISH Movie Pack, which includes 15 movie channels, like Sony Movie Channel and MGM HD.

Just make sure you cancel them at the end of your free period, or you’ll get charged.

DIRECTV and DISH have similar sports coverage, but there are some differences. DIRECTV's PREMIER package includes NFL RedZone, while DISH is the only one between the two that offers beIN Sports. Sadly, neither provider offers ESPN College Extra or Pac-12 Network.

Also, DISH has 10 more sports channels than DIRECTV.

DIRECTV has the following sports channels:

But make sure the package you plan on getting has the sports channels you need. You'll get all of them with the ULTIMATE plan ($98 per month), but you'll have to upgrade to the most expensive DIRECTV package if you want ESPN College Extra or NFL RedZone, which will cost $143/month.

As I mentioned earlier, DISH has 10 more sports channels. And you get all of them (besides the beIN channels and Sportsman channel) with the $113 monthly plan.

This same $113 per month plan (America's Top 200) even made our list of the top providers for the NBA season.

DISH has the following sports channels:

If you’re a huge sports fan, be sure also to check out our roundup of the best sports packages from cable and streaming TV providers.

DISH and DIRECTV have some of the best DVRs in the traditional TV industry. DISH's Hopper has a unique pricing system, but offers the most DVR storage. DIRECTV's Genie is less expensive but includes only 200 DVR hours. 

DISH's Hopper DVR storage space is the bee's knees. What's not so sweet is the new confusing pricing.

When you order one of DISH's TV packages, you'll get DISH's Hopper Duo for free, which gives you 125 HD recording hours. But you'll also need to order a Hopper 2, at minimum, as your primary receiver. 

The Hopper 2 stores 500 HD hours and costs $10 per month.

And you can upgrade to the Hopper 3 ($15/month) if you'd like 2,000 recording hours.

You can record all 201 episodes of The Office, the weekend’s 16 NFL football games, and over 170 movies and still have room for more. And if you're interested in adding TVs to your entertainment system, you can add up to six "Joey's" for $7 to $10 more a month. 

And DIRECTV so kindly includes the Genie DVR with your plan, giving you 200 HD recording hours. You’ll be able to record all 130 episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and 120 of Saturday Night Live before you even sit on the couch to binge-watch.

After comparing price, contracts, overall channel count, sports channel availability, and DVR storage, DISH comes out ahead of these two satellite providers.

DIRECTV does offer more premium add-ons and an impressive sports lineup, but DISH has a better dollar-to-channel ratio. 

• Pricing: DISH offers more bang for your buck because you get a 3-year locked-in price when you sign a 2-year contract. You can choose the Flex TV no-contract route for $10–$15 more per month. If you want more options for premium channels, make sure you budget for DIRECTV's higher price tag. 
• Channels: You’ll get most of your favorite live TV channels with both providers, and both give you free memberships for premium channels for a period of time. But DIRECTV includes way more premium channels included in their highest-priced package and available for add-on than DISH. Order DIRECTV's PREMIER plan all Max, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME®, CINEMAX, and STARZ channels.
• Sports Channels: DISH has the most sports channels between the two. DIRECTV has NFL RedZone included in its highest package, but college sports fans might pick DISH as it has all NCAA networks. (DIRECTV used to be home to NFL SUNDAY TICKET, but this service will be moving to YouTube TV since the 2024–2025 NFL season).
• DVR: DISH's Hopper 3 can give you loads of storage space with 2.000 HD hours, or save $5 per month with the Hopper 2 (500 hours). DIRECTV's DVR has only 200 HD hours of storage, but the first receiver is free (and 200 hours is still quite a bit).

DISH and DIRECTV are the most well-known and widely available satellite TV providers. 

But if you're considering a cable or fiber-optic TV service, you can check out providers like Xfinity TV, Cox TV, Verizon Fios TV, Spectrum, and Optimum.

Satellite TV isn’t what it used to be, and there are only two providers left in the US. But even though we’re comparing just two services, we still take the research process seriously and strive to gather the best information to help you choose between the two.

We based our satellite TV comparison on dollar-to-channel ratio; contracts and fees; quality and total channel count; and DVR and equipment pricing.

We've researched DISH and DIRECTV across dozens of websites to bring the information into one place for you. We've also considered customer experience to suggest the best satellite TV provider to you, as we would only suggest spending your money on a service we would recommend to our family members.