Best TVE Provider?

Thank you, this is a great resource for choosing the right service for your needs! :slight_smile:

For DirecTV Satellite, it also depends on which package you have. In my case, I have the Ultimate Standard package and that gives me access to Logo, Nick Jr., FYI, Oxygen, and more that are not marked "Y" in your list. :wink:

I don't believe we have the ultimate standard package - we have the cheapest package they have - we use it mainly for NFL Sunday Ticket access. (And for DirecTV, I didn't work through the details that certain channels cost more as indicated by "$" for that channel, as I did for the Live TV services).

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Your link is fine. @jtanderson was replying to my post about Channel's TVE availability page which was temporarily down earlier today: https://getchannels.com/docs/channels-dvr-server/tv-everywhere/availability/

I haven't looked through the spreadsheets, but I can say that other than some RSNs, DirecTV really does have full coverage with TVE. I don't know which packages might enable them, but the only channels I do not get with DirecTV are:

  • SNY
  • NBC Sports RSNs
  • PAC-12 RSNs
  • NFL RedZone
  • ESPN Deportes
  • Fox Deportes
  • Fox Sports Soccer Plus

Otherwise, I receive all other available TVE channels, including locals (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and 3 different PBS).

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@fofer That is a great resource, thank you!

@racameron I assume you are using the satellite version of DirecTV and not stream?

Correct.

DirecTV Stream TVE is pretty good too. It includes the WarnerMedia channels. The only thing I lost, that I care about, in switching from sat to Stream was CSPAN.

I know the price isn't right for everyone. I wish they had packages without locals.

YouTube TV will authenticate TVE for TCM. This is recent. As a result, I am able to record TCM using Channels DVR with an internet only Xfinity account and YouTube TV.

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Since AT&T TV NOW returned back to the DirecTV brand as DirecTV STREAM, the TVE lineup expanded and is probably one of the best available. I have the original Go Big plan which is not available anymore but I now have 167 channels of TVE on my CHANNELS server. Recently added were CNN, CNNi, Fox Sports 1 and 2, and many others.

This would be nice to see in a grid, it would be pretty easy to compare providers across all channels that way.

Not sure which provider is best but if I were choosing one for use with Channels DVR, I would avoid YouTube TV like the plague.

(I've had zero authentication problems with DirecTV Stream.)

I use YouTube TV for authentication for TCM. Works a treat!

Note I'm running Channels DVR in a Docker on Debian.

EDIT: to be extra clear, I'm running the TVE flavor of Channels DVR:

But if you read the forum here, it's hard to ignore the fact that the vast majority of users having trouble with Channels authenticating with their TVE provider are people using YouTube TV.

There are posts from the Channels devs indicating that Google seems to be doing things on purpose to stymie authentication.

It's known that YouTube TV doesn't work if you are running the Channels server on a Shield Pro. (I don't know of any other provider that causes a similar issue.)

Of course, absolutely a lot of people are having trouble with authentication (and not just with YouTube TV). I'm just offering my experience in hopes it can help. YMMV.

To reiterate: I'm running the Channels DVR-TVE container, on Debian. YouTube TV for authentication with all the usual caveats (Google account without 2FA, check against NBC first, etc.) found in the forums.