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DirecTV has made good on its plans to launch a sports and broadcast streaming package for less than its standard TV plans, but the savings aren’t enormous. The DirecTV Stream MySports plan costs $70 per month (with an extra $20 off for the first three months) and includes a mix of local broadcast channels, national sports networks, league-specific channels such as NFL Network, and access to ESPN+. This is uncharted territory for pay TV service, which typically requires paying for a big bundle of news, entertainment, and family programming just to access live sports (and vice versa). Still, DirecTV’s new sports package is missing some major sources of sports—notably CBS and regional sports networks—and is not even available yet in every U.S. market. It can save money in some scenarios, but only if you make some trade-offs. What’s included with DirecTV MySports Here’s the full DirecTV MySports channel list: Broadcast channels: ABC, NBC, and Fox National sports channels: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, TBS, TNT, TruTV, USA Network, Golf Channel. League channels: MLB Network, NBA TV, NFL Network, NHL Network, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, SEC Network Other: DirecTV 4K Live, DirecTV 4K Live 2 Streaming services: ESPN+ (coming soon) The package isn’t entirely limited to sports programming. You’ll also get prime-time and daytime shows on the broadcast channels, along with any movies or shows airing on channels like TBS and TNT. Everything will be available through DirecTV’s existing apps for Roku, Fire TV, Google TV/Android TV, Samsung TVs, Apple TV, iOS, and Android mobile. Those apps also include dozens of free streaming channels, whether you subscribe to the sports package or not. As with DirecTV’s other packages, Cloud DVR service is included and lets you record an unlimited number or programs, saved for up to nine months. Limited availability (for now) At launch, DirecTV MySports is only available in 24 U.S. markets, and local channel coverage might be patchy where you live. As Variety reports, subscribers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay Area will get local feeds of NBC, ABC, and Fox. Subscribers can expect partial local channel coverage in the following markets: Houston, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Austin, Detroit, Gainesville, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Orlando, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa, Miami, Boston, New Haven, and San Diego. This is all reminiscent of live TV streaming’s early days, in which local station affiliates were not all on board, but DirecTV says it will bring more markets (and more station within those markets) online “soon.” What’s missing With any live TV streaming service, the omissions are as important as the inclusions, and DirecTV MySports has its fair share. The big one is CBS, which is a major source of NFL coverage (including the Bills-Ravens AFC divisional round and the AFC championship) and March Madness college basketball games. A DirecTV spokesperson said that it’s in “in discussions” with CBS, which alone would make the service more compelling. Regional sports channels such as Fanduel Sports Network and YES Network are also absent for now, though the spokesperson said that it plans to offer regional sports as an add-on later this year. Meanwhile, a growing body of sports coverage is being split off to individual streaming services. Amazon Prime Video gets Thursday Night Football, for instance, and Netflix had its exclusive NFL games on Christmas Day. Apple TV+ has Friday Night Baseball along with every Major League Soccer match. The sad reality is that no pay TV package carries complete coverage of the most popular sporting events anymore. Adding it up With those caveats in mind, are there any scenarios in which DirecTV MySports makes sense? Consider the following: The new MySports package costs $70 per month, but lacks CBS and regional sports. Fubo costs $80 per month, but lacks TNT, TBS, and ESPN+. Regional sports adds $12 per month or more to your bill, and you must pay $8 per month more for an add-on with MLB Network, NBA Network, and NHL Network. YouTube TV costs $83 per month, but lacks ESPN+, MLB Network, NHL Network, and most regional sports (except NBC Sports). Hulu + Live TV costs $83 per month, but lacks NBA TV, NHL Network, and most regional sports (except NBC Sports). DirecTV’s Stream’s “Entertainment” package costs $87 per month but lacks ESPN+ and regional sports, and you must pay $15 per month for an add-on with the league-specific networks. DirecTV Stream’s “Choice” package costs $115 but lacks ESPN+. Sling TV Orange + Blue costs $61 per month but lacks CBS, ESPN+, and regional sports networks. It also requires an antenna for local channels in many markets, and you must pay $11 per month extra for an add-on with MLB Network, NBA TV, and NHL Network. In other words, none of these services can purport to give you everything. DirecTV MySports at least provides a lower floor from which to decide what’s worth paying for. If you’re willing to finagle a free or cheap Paramount+ subscription, for instance, MySports becomes a decent value. You might also be able to get regional sports on a standalone basis (see my guides for the NBA and NHL) and still come out ahead of FuboTV or DirecTV Stream’s Choice package. By contrast, those who want the convenience of more programming in a single package can pay extra for that luxury. This has always been the case with cord-cutting. Your move, Fubo Regardless of whether DirecTV MySports is a good deal right now, this is a fast-moving situation. The channel lineup might look different in a few months, and other providers could launch their own sports-centric bundles at lower prices. (Fubo has already indicated that it will do so, and I suspect DirecTV is trying to get ahead of that launch.) Either way, note that live sports is the most expensive programming on TV, and it’s only getting worse as sports leagues renew their rights deals for astronomically more money. Someone has to pay for those higher rates, and as more folks abandon their pay TV packages outright, diehard sports fans will be left holding the bag. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV advice. Read...

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One of the most vocal opponents of the never-launched Venu Sports bundle just took the wraps off its own bundle of sports channels—and yes, ESPN stations are part of the deal.  Launching today in 24 metro markets, DirecTV’s MySports package serves up roughly 40 sports-oriented channels, such as ACC Network, Big Ten Network, DIRECTV 4K Live, DIRECTV 4K Live 2, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Golf Channel, MLB Network, NBA TV, NFL Network, NHL Network, SEC Network, TBS, TNT, TruTV, and USA Network.  MySports subscribers will also get access to local ABC, Fox, and NBC stations, with ESPN+ and “additional” local stations (presumably including CBS affiliates, which are currently missing from the list) “coming online soon.”  Besides those sports offerings, MySports subscribers will get the run of MyFree DirecTV ad-supported streaming channels, including ACC Digital Network, Big 12, Fight Network, Fuel TV, Origin Sports, Pickleball TV, Players TV, Sports Grid, Stadium Stream, Surfer TV, Swerve Combat, T2, The Jim Rome Show, TNA, Torque by History, Waypoint TV, and Women’s Sports Network.  The price? At launch, MySports is actually a decent deal at $49.99 a month, just $7 a month more than the $42.99 price point Venu had been eyeing for a similar skinny sports bundle.  But that’s just a three-month promotional offer, provided you sign up by February 28; after that, the monthly price for MySports jumps by $20, to $69.99 a month.  That’s quite a bit more than Venu Sports would have charged—then again, there is no Venu Sports, following word Monday that backers Disney, Fox, and Warner Brothers had scuttled their plans to launch the bundle. If you want a cheaper streaming service that offers the ESPN family of channels, there’s always Sling TV Orange, which has ESPN, ESPN4K, ESPN2, and ESPN 3 for $45.99 a month. But the Sling TV Orange package only offers a smidgen of other sports channels, such as TBS and TNT (which aren’t all-sports, all the time).  Then there’s live streaming TV services like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and Fubo (which just struck a deal to merge its live TV operations with Hulu), all of which charge north of $80/month for access to ESPN and other sports channels.  Even if DirecTV’s MySports offering isn’t to your liking, similar bundles are sure to follow in the wake of Venu’s demise. Indeed, the mere threat of Venu Sports seems to have been enough to shake up the streaming landscape. After all, Fubo’s deal with Hulu owner Disney to join forces with Hulu was contingent on Fubo dropping its Venu lawsuit (a federal injunction against the Venu launch remains in place), and now here’s DirecTV, a strident Venu opponent, with its own take on the skinny sports bundle. And once Disney finally launches its long-awaited ESPN standalone service, sports-minded cord-cutters will have even more options to pick over. Read...

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