# DirecTV & DISH Network HD Channel Lineup Comparison



## James Long

Attached is a HD channel comparison between the two satellite providers, DirecTV and DISH Network. Presented in PDF form, channels available on either DirecTV or DISH are listed along with the usual package needed to see that channel and channel number.

Note - for the most part only channels that are carried in HD on DirecTV or DISH are included. Channels that are not carried in HD by either satellite carrier are generally not included.

The file attached to this initial post will be updated as the channel lineups change. A post will be made in the thread at the time of the change to let people know what changed.

As with previous threads, this is *NOT* a thread to attack either provider or other members. This is NOT a thread for comparing DirecTV and DISH Network in other ways than their HD lineup. A reminder - There are threads in each of the provider forums here at DBSTalk for channels one might desire or anticipate their carrier adding.

The intent of this thread is to provide a simple reference for people wondering what HD each satellite carrier carries. Enjoy!


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## mokosmith

James,
Thanks so much for creating this list. It's really helpful to see how it compares. Is there a way to get it in spreadsheet form? And do you know of a forum that does channel comparisons for comcast/time warner?
Thanks again for any help.


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## James Long

AVSForum has a chart that has channels on cable and channels no one carries. It was the inspiration for this chart ... with this chart listing (for the most part) only channels that either DISH or DirecTV carries. Keeping it to two providers keeps it simple. (It is enough of a challenge to keep up with two providers let alone a half dozen, some with regional differences in channel offerings.)


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## James Long

DirecTV adds Longhorn and Fusion ... in HD only. Charts updated.


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## zippyfrog

I think DirecTV has also launched Buzzer Beater in HD.


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## James Long

Thanks for the reminder. Updated!


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## coolman302003

DirecTV added NBC Universo in HD (formerly mun2) on January 30th.

NHL Network is now available in Xtra package & above for DirecTV. LINK LINK #2


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## James Long

Thanks for the updates and the link ... I wish that more of the channels were "real" and not alternates turned on or off as needed. The extra channels have pushed the chart to four pages. I've moved a few other channels around to make room for more "basic" channels.


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## coolman302003

DirecTV added We TV HD, BBC World News HD [HD only] and SundanceTV HD on March 6th.

Also, NHL Network is now available in Xtra package & above for DirecTV. (Chart shows Ultimate package)
http://www.dbstalk.com/topic/215308-nhl-network/
http://www.dbstalk.com/topic/215607-nhl-network-now-on-xtra-package/


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## James Long

File updated.


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## James Long

A couple of updates ...
DISH no longer caries MavTV but added WeatherNation and MBC (international channel).
DirecTV added Fox Deportes.


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## coolman302003

DirecTV added Nick Jr. HD on June 1, 2015.


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## zippyfrog

A general DirecTV question as I look at this chart - for the alternate RSN's, such as Fox Sports Kansas City, Fox Sports Carolina, etc. I know they are subfeeds of Fox Sports Midwest and Fox Sports South. Does DirecTV keep a 24/7 SD feed of all the subfeeds, then only turns on HD for games? Or do people in those areas go to the main RSN's and the subfeeds are only turned on during a game?


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## coolman302003

zippyfrog said:


> A general DirecTV question as I look at this chart - for the alternate RSN's, such as Fox Sports Kansas City, Fox Sports Carolina, etc. I know they are subfeeds of Fox Sports Midwest and Fox Sports South. *Does DirecTV keep a 24/7 SD feed of all the subfeeds, then only turns on HD for games? Or do people in those areas go to the main RSN's and the subfeeds are only turned on during a game?*


No, they don't keep any of the subfeeds SD or HD on 24/7, it's game only (and usually the pre and post game shows). Occasionally there are times where they might have the SD subfeed active for content other than a game (special news conference etc.) and may not have the HD subfeed active but it's a more rare case. The subfeeds don't really exist 24/7 either, as it's just switched remotely for cable companies at the master headend by FOX Sports. KyL416 has explained it in more detail before:



KyL416 said:


> It's not just Wisconsin and it's because of how they originate. The 24/7 versions of FS Wisconsin, Kansas City, Indiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Carolinas and New Orleans that you see on cable are created on the fly by Fox remotely controlling the receivers at the cable headend and switching between the main North, Midwest, South or Southwest feed, random alternate feeds for individual events and a national base feed if the main Fox Sports channel is airing something that can't be shown locally. There's even more local variations because the NBA, NHL and MLB don't have uniform territories. (i.e. FS Midwest distributes schedules for 11 variations)


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## zippyfrog

Thanks - that is what I needed to know, and that extra tidbit from KyL416 is extremely interesting - never knew those RSN's were so complicated, but makes sense given how each of the different sports leagues have different territories for different teams.


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## Laxguy

Another point of reference: We have Comcast Sports Net in the greater Bay Area, and they have dead air but not a lot. But they rebroadcast the baseball games and the pre and post shows; that takes up 4-6 hours! 

I must say that the local CSN broadcasts are very high quality, better than Fox's national offerings. Both on field camera work and announcers are way better than Fox ever has been, except maybe playoffs in the Fall.


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## zippyfrog

Agreed - I live just outside of Chicago, have CSN Chicago, and I agree - the only time there is "dead air" is the early morning hours with the Paid Programming. We have the replays of Sox, Cubs, Bulls, and Hawks games, and we have the talk shows as well as Sportsnet Central. CSN Chicago also has the rights to our high school championship games, so we get Boys and Girls Soccer, Boys and Girls Basketball, 8 classess of football playoffs. This past year, CSN Chicago Plus went to a full time channel, and it is full of programming. So I definitely agree on the Comcast side of things


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## RAD

James, you might want to update the list, DIRECTV added XTRA network HD on channel 255.


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## James Long

RAD said:


> James, you might want to update the list, DIRECTV added XTRA network HD on channel 255.


I'll update the list eventually ... perhaps after 1000 people have actually watched the infomercial channel DirecTV upgraded to HD. 
(It only went HD this morning.)


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## James Long

RAD said:


> James, you might want to update the list, DIRECTV added XTRA network HD on channel 255.


Now moved to channel 358 as CASH HD and added to the chart. (I was holding out for other channels ...)


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## James Long

DirecTV lit up fuse in HD on Wednesday ... file updated.


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## James Long

DISH added the Outdoor Channel (396) on October 14th.
DirecTV added Al Jazeera America (347) and a second infomercial channel on November 2nd.

(DISH is testing Al Jazeera America and may add it soon - channel 216.)


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## zippyfrog

Since this was updated, Dish has formally added AJ America, as well as added Smithsonian Channel in HD.


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## James Long

End of the year updates completed (unless there are more this week).

The thread has also been cleaned up to 2015 changes and less chatter.


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## camo

I don't see Smithsonian Channel HD added to Dish on the new list.


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## James Long

Corrected.


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## HuskerHarley

Thanks for the update.


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## zippyfrog

A lot of things have been changing over the past couple of months, at least on the Dish side of things. I don't know a thing about DirecTV. But for Dish:

ABC Family is now Freeform
ESPN Desportes is now in HD
Fox Sports 2 is now channel 149
Fox Deportes is now in HD
FXX is in AT120+ and channel 125
History Channel 2 is now Viceland
FXM (channel 384) in now in HD
Big 10 Network is now available Nationwide in 120+ and on channel 410
SportsSouth is now named Fox Sports Southeast


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## slice1900

The name changes for ABC Family and H2 were their network's doing, not Dish's, so they changed on all cable/satellite providers.


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## KyL416

Any chance you can do an updated one? In addition to the Dish things and renames mentioned by zippyfrog, DirecTV had a bunch of changes.

Al Jazeera America folded

DirecTV joined Dish in dropping Esquire

DirecTV added the following:
233 GSN HD (Choice, no longer part of Entertainment)
251 Oxygen HD (Xtra)
386 FM HD (Xtra)
623 One World Sports HD (Premier/Sports Pack)
669 FS Wisconsin HD 24/7
(The Part time FS Wisconsin Alternate is now on 669-1)
675 FS Oklahoma HD 24/7
2080 SBS HD (International Korean Channel)

You list the Blockbuster/Promo channel for Dish, so these should probably be included too:
111 Interactive Advertising Channel HD (Entertainment)
125 DirecTV Cinema Screening Room HD (Entertainment)
205 SportsMix HD (Choice)

Part time sports channels, I don't know if Dish carries them, but other cable providers do:
491-495 Premier League Extra HD (Xtra)
788-798 ESPN College Extra HD (Sports Pack/Premier)

DirecTV Cinema 3D moved to channel 103
MTV2 moved to channel 332
IFC moved to channel 333

Several other channels changed packages since this was last updated
219 Fox Sports 1 is now in Entertainment
220 NBCSN is now in Choice
256 TCM is now in Entertainment (and Select)
259 FXX is now in Entertainment (and Select)
271 Viceland is now in Entertainment (and Select)
307 WGN America is now in Choice
359 Fox Business is now in Entertainment (and Select)
557 Sundance is now in Choice

New RSN Alternates:
630-1 CSN New England Plus
696-2 CSN Bay Area Plus 2

The HD Cinema block is really a floating number on DirecTV. Right now it goes from 126-172, with gaps on 131, 135, 138, 146, 167 and 170, which were previously occupied by HD cinema channels that became new HD channel additions. They also have 3 part time HD PPV Event channels, 119, 121 and 123.

105 3D On Demand no longer exists
608 Fox College Sports is SD only and shouldn't be counted as a part time HD channel
690-1 RSN Alternate no longer exists


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## zippyfrog

Haven't checked this thread in a long time. But on the Dish side there are a couple more updates as well:

Fox Sports 1 is now in AT120 and above
TAG has been added and in HD on 278 and available in all packages
PAC 12 network and it's alternates is now available nationwide in AT120+ and above
Tennis Channel is now in AT200 and above


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## James Long

I need to check all of the changes since the last update. Every time I think about it I move on to something else.

Not every channel will be listed. I may pull some off the list if they are not worth mentioning.


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## zippyfrog

And less than 2 weeks after I post that updated about TAG being in all packages, it appears that Dish has dropped the channel as I no longer see it in the program guide, and no mention of it anymore on Dish's website.


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## RAD

James, I see you're still showing GSN not in HD on DIRECTV.

Also don't know if you should include the 4K channels since you're still showing the 3D channel, which BTW is one channel 103 which is a PPV channel.

104 is the DIRECTV 4K channel showing various 4K programming
105 is the 4K PPV channel
106 is the 4K channel which shows occasional live programming.


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## James Long

I have still been doing other things.


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## KyL416

RAD said:


> James, I see you're still showing GSN not in HD on DIRECTV.


It's from December 2015, so it's not going to have that and other things that have changed since then. (i.e. DirecTV getting Oxygen, FM and One World Sports, Dish getting FXM, Fox Deportes and ESPN Deportes, ABC Family becoming Freeform, H2 becoming Viceland, Al Jazeera America folding, both of them dropping Esquire, etc)

If you can't wait for him to update it, just look at mine and zippyfrog's last few posts after you look at it. We pretty much cover everything that has changed since then on DirecTV and Dish.


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## KyL416

A few more updates for those keeping track:
One World Sports rebranded to Eleven Sports
CSN Bay Area and CSN California are rebranding to NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California on Sunday

DirecTV:
Added Pursuit HD and made it HD only (It's a channel that pays to be on the lineup so it's available in all Packages)
One America News and AWE TV are in test mode and will go live on 4/5 (Don't know the package placement yet)
LMN is now in Xtra and higher (although it's grandfathered in Choice for existing subscribers)
NBCSN is now in Entertainment

Dish:
QVC HD is in test mode
There might have been some other package changes involving channels like NBCSN


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## zippyfrog

KyL416 said:


> A few more updates for those keeping track:
> Dish:
> QVC HD is in test mode
> There might have been some other package changes involving channels like NBCSN


Yes - Dish added NBCSN to their Top 120 package and above (as opposed to the Top 200). Also, it appears that NFL Network is now in the Top 120+ package and above (instead of Top 200 or needing Multi-Sport pack on Top 120+). America's Top 120 Plus | English Programming | MyDISH | DISH Customer Support I can't get verification on it from anyone, but everywhere on Dish's site says Top 120+ now.

The other one that I have seen a change for is NBA TV, it is listed in all packages on Dish's site - Smart, Flex, Welcome - but I find that hard to believe that NBA TV would be added to all packages.


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## KyL416

Does Dish modify their list during previews? NBA TV might be in preview right now for the end of the regular season.


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## zippyfrog

KyL416 said:


> Does Dish modify their list during previews? NBA TV might be in preview right now for the end of the regular season.


True - didn't think about that. Yes, some of their pages do update for previews and there is a warning on some of the pages that free preview channels do show up. Wish it were consistent though.


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## James Long

DISH lists are not accurate during previews.


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## zippyfrog

Thanks - looked like it was in some sort of preview through the end of the month. Your uplink report has NBA TV as being removed from 7 channel groups within the last hour.


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## KyL416

A few updates since March:

DirecTV now has El Rey and Sprout in HD

Dish has Universo and AHC in test mode.


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## zippyfrog

On the Dish side, Fox Sports 2 was added to Top 200, so now you get it as long as you have AT120+. (Previously available in AT120+, AT250, and AEP - skipped AT200 for some reason); Nat Geo Wild also in AT200 now.


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## RAD

DIRECTV added the following HD channels this morning:
FXM 258
AHC 287
DFC 294
RFD 345
Outdoor 606

Your spreadsheet also shows Game Show Network as SD, it is a HD channel.

You also show channels 104 and 105 as 3D on DIRECTV, only 103 is still 3D and it's all PPV movies.

If you want to add 4K
104 24x7 4K programming
105 4K PPV
106 4K Live special event channel


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## zippyfrog

On the Dish side, back in October, the Olympic Channel was also added in HD.


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## zippyfrog

Yesterday, Dish launched their RSN's in HD 24/7. So the 25 RSN's that they currently carry can now be marked as full time instead of part time. The only part time HD RSN now is Longhorn Network, which is HD only during some live events.


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## RAD

It appears that since DIRECTV has continued to add HD channels while DISH lags behind the OP of this thread has stopped updating the PDF since the last few months of additions on DIRECTV have not been added.


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## KyL416

Go read James's post on the previous page, he hasn't had time to update it, it has nothing to do with Dish "lagging behind". If anyone wants updates since December 2015, read mine and zippyfrog's posts. (I gave up on tracking package changes though since between Dish's flex packs and DirecTV's alternative and grandfathered packages like Preferred Xtra and Choice Xtra Classic, it's hard to give a basic minimum package for certain channels)

As for DirecTV last month they added:
MavTV
Pop
Great American Country
TV One

Dish:
Pop was added this week

For 4K, Dish litup their 4K channel again, possibly for Blue Planet II and the Winter Olympics.

And for those keeping track of rebrands: Spike is now Paramount Network


BTW, Dish has been adding HD channels since then too, since the list was last updated in 2015 Dish added the following:
American Heroes
ESPN Deportes
Fox Deportes
FXM
Olympic Channel
Pop
QVC
Universo
UP

Many of the channels DirecTV added since then were ones Dish added before them like Discovery Family (The Hub), FXM, GSN, RFD, AHC and Outdoor Channel, and they have some channels DirecTV still has SD only like UP, Sportsman, Logo and BET Her (Centric), and a bunch DirecTV doesn't carry at all like IndiePlex, RetroPlex, Pac-12, Epix, PixL, Z Living (Veria) and many international channels. (As well as 24/7 HD versions of Fox Sports Ohio and Cincinnati)


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## James Long

zippyfrog said:


> Yesterday, Dish launched their RSN's in HD 24/7. So the 25 RSN's that they currently carry can now be marked as full time instead of part time. The only part time HD RSN now is Longhorn Network, which is HD only during some live events.


DISH has had 24/7 HD RSNs for about two years. They stopped moving RSNs each morning in March of 2016. Only the NHL/NBA type feeds move each morning.


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## zippyfrog

James Long said:


> DISH has had 24/7 HD RSNs for about two years. They stopped moving RSNs each morning in March of 2016. Only the NHL/NBA type feeds move each morning.


To put a bow tie on this - this week Dish changed the RSN's to be "full-time" as the uplink report showed Dish removed the part-time portion from the channel properties, so even on my 211k treats it as a full time HD channel now by hiding the SD equivalent. The only RSN that is given the part time status is Longhorn Network.

Have there really been no other HD channel updates on either the Dish or the Direct side in almost 5 months?!?


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## KyL416

I'm not sure about Dish, but DirecTV had a pay to play addition and a bunch of international HD additions:
320 Scientology Network
2010 Canal + International
2011 CNews
2012 Studio Canal
2040 TV Japan


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## zippyfrog

KyL416 said:


> I'm not sure about Dish, but DirecTV had a pay to play addition and a bunch of international HD additions:
> 320 Scientology Network
> 2010 Canal + International
> 2011 CNews
> 2012 Studio Canal
> 2040 TV Japan


Being a Dish Subscriber, I would have noticed more HD as it was brought in, so I can pretty confidently say that there has been no new standard HD channels. I do know that there have been some HD channels added to the 118 satellite, but not having a setup for 118, I don't know what those channels would be. Definitely more curious on the DirecTV side of things and this clears it up. Thanks!


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## KyL416

Another update for those keeping track.

DirecTV added the following:
240 HSN HD (Coming tommorow 8/22)
361 AccuWeather Network HD (Replaced WeatherNation)
364 INSP HD

Dish added the following:
165 Great American Country HD

Along with Mexicanal and Multimedios due to the Univision dispute.


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## Newshawk

The PDF is four years out of date and there hasn't been an update here in over a year.


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## James Long

Yep ... it is not easy to keep track of all the changes.


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## dtv757

There's a good HD channel comparison chart on AVS forum.

Official AVS National HD Channel Lineups -...

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk


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