DIRECTV is the only TV provider to have NFL SUNDAY TICKET, you’ll get a sufficient DVR storage space, but you’ll have second-year price hikes. Yikes. Charter Spectrum TV has an inexpensive starter package, you won’t have to sign a contract, but your DVR storage will be scarce. The winner is Spectrum TV, but just by the narrowest of margins. The pricing is still fair for the number of channels you’ll receive, but the pricing increases by 30–40% during year two. We go into more detail below, but you’ll have to sign a 2-year contract with DIRECTV, which includes second-year price hikes (why, DIRECTV, why?). We like the channel lineups in all of DIRECTV’s plans, but we could do without spending close to double the following year. The advertised pricing is what you’ll be paying monthly for year one, and we especially like Spectrum TV® Select’s pricing. In fact, the TV® Select plan is one of our favorite cheap cable TV packages (that’s a mouthful). For $60 per month, you’ll get a full channel lineup with over 125 channels, including most of the popular channels like Disney Channel and ESPN. DIRECTV likes to sweeten you up with access to more than 340 channels, NFL SUNDAY TICKET (every NFL fan’s dream), and a 200-hour DVR, and then bam! your monthly bill increases by nearly double. Spectrum has its own type of game. No, you don’t have the second-year price hikes, but you do get some kind of hike. Spectrum just isn’t transparent as to how much your monthly bill increase. At least DIRECTV gives you an idea of how much you’ll need to budget. But on the upside, since you don’t have to sign an annual contract with Spectrum, you can always cancel your service if you don’t find it worth the inflated price. DIRECTV includes the first set-top box into your plan, and then each additional boxes are $7. So you could be paying $14 for three TV receivers for your living room, bedroom, and kid’s bedroom. For Spectrum, you’d have to pay $27 per month for three set-top boxes along with $10 for the DVR service fee. And lastly, DIRECTV’s regional sports fee is significantly lower than Spectrum’s broadcast fee. You can’t get away from these fees if you want to watch sports or the news. You’ll get most of the popular channels in the entry-level packages with both TV providers, but you’ll get more with DIRECTV’s ENTERTAINMENT plan. Before you commit, check the full channel lineups of DIRECTV and Spectrum to see if this could be your longtime service. But don’t forget to cancel your subscriptions after your free trials are up. Set a reminder in your phone for when you’ll need to call DIRECTV to cancel your subscriptions before you’re charged (because you know you’ll forget if you don’t). NFL SUNDAY TICKET gives you access to every single out-of-market NFL game of the regular season. So if you’re a Kansas City Chiefs fan but live in Salt Lake City, you’ll want this TICKET to watch all of Mahomes’ no-look passes. With DIRECTV, you could get up to 19 sports channels, but with Spectrum, you could get 26 (including Español sports channels). DIRECTV includes only three sports channels (ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN3) in its entry-level package, while Spectrum includes eight (including NBC Sports Network and Big Ten Network). So we think DIRECTV is best for the NFL fans, and if you’re an all-around sports fan, Spectrum might be your No. 1 pick. Both have their ups and downs, and you can check out our reviews on DIRECTV and Spectrum to get an idea of which package is best for you. DIRECTV has the following sports channels: DIRECTV’s Genie DVR has more than 4x the storage space, more than double the simultaneous recordings, and it costs $2 less per month. (Enough said, right?) According to Spectrum, there is a DVR with 150 storage hours available. We couldn’t find this option at checkout online, so if you choose Charter Spectrum TV as your next provider, we’d suggest calling to order the enhanced DVR.
