Staff rating

3.6

Customer rating

4.0

(1)

Plans starting at $19.99

302+ channels

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Staff rating

4.3

Customer rating

3.9

(49)

Plans starting at $56.99

330+ channels

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Staff rating

4.6

Customer rating

4.4

(38)

Plans starting at $72.99

85+ channels

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See what providers service your area.

Staff rating

3.6

Lacking premium perks, but fantastic first-year pricing

Made up of brands Wave, RCN, Grande, and enTouch, Astound offers internet-based entertainment that uses TiVo, Sling TV, and the Google Play store. Fabulous first-year pricing includes internet, but if you want premium perks or a provider you can grow old with, swipe left on this one.

What we like

No-contract plans
Low pricing
Free installation promotions

What we dislike

High long-term costs
Astound internet required
Few premium channels included

See full review

Savings tip: Astound Broadband often has

sign-up promotions

for first-time customers. Call to ask a rep about current deals and discounts.

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Staff rating

4.3

DISH offers affordable satellite TV with a top-shelf DVR

DISH offers a sweet three-year price guarantee and one of the best DVRs available, but picture quality is unreliable, and you’ll miss out on regional sports networks.

What we like

Industry-leading DVR
Three-year price guarantee
24/7 technical support

What we dislike

No regional sports networks (RSNs)
Higher rates for add-ons
Hefty early cancelation costs

See full review

Savings tip: DISH often has

sign-up promotions

for first-time customers. Call to ask a rep about current deals and discounts.

Check deals

Staff rating

4.6

Streaming live TV done right

YouTube TV is a refreshing option for cable or satellite TV cord cutters. It feels just like a traditional TV service, but without the hidden fees or equipment rental. Shows and games are easy to find and record, simultaneous streams are a breeze, and the interface felt familiar and intuitive on every device we tested.

What we like

No hidden fees
Exclusive access to NFL Sunday Ticket
Six Google accounts per subscription

What we dislike

Unskippable commercials on some shows
Lackluster regional sports network (RSN) coverage
YouTube Premium and YouTube music not included

See full review

Savings tip: YouTube TV often has

sign-up promotions

for first-time customers. Call to ask a rep about current deals and discounts.

Check deals

Content

3.5

Astound’s channel lineup is a Jack of all content, but master of none

Although Astound doesn’t have the massive channel counts that some providers have, the channels it does have will scratch just about any itch. However, if you want Spanish-language channels or comprehensive sports coverage, it might not be the provider for you.

Local: 3.5/5
Astound has most of the channels you need to stay up-to-date on local events, including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, Comet, and The CW. But you won’t find Cozi or any Spanish-language local channels.

Sports: 3/5
Unlike many competitors, Astound’s lowest-tier plan (Basic) includes Fox Sports. Its mid-level plan (Signature) is pretty standard and includes sports like ESPN 1 and 2, Fox Sports, TNT, TBS, and USA. You’ll also get NBA TV and Motor Trend, which are less common. But you’ll miss out on the Golf Channel, and because Astound doesn’t provide Spanish-language channels, its international soccer coverage isn’t ideal.

More Resources:

How to watch NFL Games

How to watch NBA Games

How to watch NHL Games

How to watch MLB Games

Family and education: 3.5/5
Astound has solid family-friendly channels, especially ones with educational content like Animal Planet, History Channel, Discovery, and National Geographic. But you won’t get Nat Geo Wild, the Science Channel, or the Smithsonian Channel. You’ll get some decent cartoons with Disney, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network, but your littlest ones will miss out on Nick Jr. and Disney Junior.

News and politics: 3/5
Astound provides plenty of coverage for most people. You’ll get lots of local news of course, along with national channels like CNN, Fox News, CNBC, MSNBC, HLN, and C-SPAN. You’ll even get a bit of international perspective with BBC America. But you won’t get Newsmax, The Weather Channel, or any Spanish-language news.

Entertainment and lifestyle: 3.5/5

Astound has a wide variety of entertainment channels. Exercise your funny bone with both Comedy Central and Laff, or watch a serious cowboy movie on INSP. Learn some home improvement skills with HGTV and TLC, or leave home behind while watching the Travel Channel. Create culinary masterpieces with the Food Network and Cooking channels, or fill up on celebrity gossip with E!. You’ll also get all three Hallmark channels, Bravo, Paramount, and IFC.

Local news, sports, and entertainment channels vary based on your location. Check out

Astound Broadband channel offerings

in your area.

View plans

Content

4.5

Strong selection of popular channels for a variety of interests

DISH Network offers more than 250 channels on its top tier—it’s a ton of content, and includes almost all the most popular channels out there. (1) There’s a lot of filler in the form of shopping and music channels, but you also get an excellent selection of shows and games for the whole family.

Local: 4/5
You can catch most of your local and national network channels with DISH, and that means local news, local sports, national sports, and top syndicated shows. There is a local channels fee on top of your regular bill, but you can get out of it by buying an antenna instead.

Sports: 4/5
You can watch games and matches for almost any sport with DISH, plus sports analysis and game highlights on channels like NFL Network and MLB Network. There are no regional sports networks, though, and no way to watch every out-of-market NFL game like you can with Youtube TV’s NFL Sunday Ticket. We still recommend it for most fans, but there’s a chance you won’t be able to find all your team’s games.

Family and education: 4.5/5
If you have kiddos in the house, or even if you’re just very interested in educational content, DISH has you covered. Even on the lower-priced tiers, you get PBS, Animal Planet, Cartoon Network, Disney, and the History channel.

News and politics: 4.5/5
DISH doesn’t have every single news channel out there, but it has all the most popular networks plus plenty of local and international news. You get Fox News, MSNBC, Vice, BBC America, and even Newsmax and Freeform. News junkies rejoice!

Entertainment and lifestyle: 4/5
If you’re into Blockbuster movies, home improvement, reality TV, and true crime, you’ll love what DISH has to offer. You will have to pay extra for premium channels like SHOWTIME and HBO, which is a bummer, but paying for just the premium package still gets you more than you could ever watch.

Local news, sports, and entertainment channels vary based on your location. Check out

DISH channel offerings

in your area.

View plans

Content

4.0

All your local channels, dozens of networks, and a respectable streaming library

YouTube TV offers a well-rounded channel selection, ranging from sports and entertainment to news and network TV. We think YouTube TV is a good option if you want a classic live TV experience with a solid on-demand library, but we have a couple minor complaints.

Local: 4/5
YouTube TV carries almost all your local networks, unlike competitor Philo, and even offers PBS, unlike Hulu + Live TV. You even get multiple Spanish-language local channels with YouTube TV. However, you won’t find Antenna TV, and Estrella TV is available only as an add-on.

Sports: 4/5
There are some things we love for sports fans with YouTube TV, and others we really dislike. Having the option to buy NFL Sunday Ticket is fantastic, with regular prices of $349–$389 per season for YouTube TV subscribers and $449-$489 if you just want the football and not live TV. (1) Beyond pig skins, we love that NBA TV and the Golf Channel are included with the base channel price. We also like that you get your local channels, TNT, USA Network, and more, and the sports add-on is nice for the price. It comes with NFL RedZone, live poker and billiards, OutsideTV+, and FOX Soccer. No MLB coverage is disappointing (2), and you’ll miss out on some regional major league games, even with the sports add-on. That said, you can watch and DVR games in 4K if you get the unlimited add-on for about $10 a month.

More Resources:

How to watch NFL Games

How to watch NBA Games

How to watch NHL Games

How to watch MLB Games

Family and education: 4/5
YouTube TV has a lot to offer for kids and anyone interested in using their screen time to learn about the world. You will miss out on favorites like Science and History, but you get multiple Disney and Nickelodeon options and a dedicated channel for PBS Kids. We also really like the Curiosity Stream add-on for educational documentaries and the Hopster Learning add-on for little kids.

News and politics: 4/5
You can find a lot of political commentary from both the left and the right on YouTube TV, but you won’t find Newsmax or Vice, or any C-SPAN channels (which are common with most traditional TV providers). There are nice options for international news, though, and we like that you can satisfy your appetite for local news in either Spanish or English. You might want to pick up a digital antenna, though, if you want to catch some niche broadcast favorites.

Entertainment and lifestyle: 3.5/5
YouTube TV can’t quite compete with traditional and satellite TV when it comes to movies, documentaries, and reality TV, but you still get dozens of options. There’s no A&E, Cooking Channel, and GAC (Great American Country), for example, and no Lifetime movies. SHOWTIME and STARZ are available, but only as add-ons. There’s also not much original programming to be found, but you can catch a couple nice options by jumping over to YouTube Premium (confoundingly, a separate subscription on a separate app).

Local news, sports, and entertainment channels vary based on your location. Check out

YouTube TV channel offerings

in your area.

View plans

Value

3.5

Low intro pricing and base plan costs can be deceiving

Astound’s base plans are pretty standard compared to competitors, and initial costs are low. However, if you start adding custom channels, costs quickly add up. Plus, after a year-long honeymoon with great introductory rates, Astound turns up the heat and quickly drains your bank account. Although Astound leans on Sling TV to deliver its live TV channels, it offers a better experience and more channels than just Sling alone.

Astound sells its TV and internet plans together. First, you’ll pick your internet plan, then you can add a TV plan. Whichever TV plan you choose, you’ll stream all your shows over your Astound internet connection, so getting the right internet plan is critical. If you’re a small household that doesn’t stream a ton of HD content, a 110 Mbps internet plan could be plenty. But if you want to take full advantage of Astound’s 4k streaming capabilities, we recommend at least the 400 Mbps plan.

Get the best value by speaking directly with a sales rep at 1-844-443-5172 or check your address at

Astound Broadband's website.

Check address

Value

4.0

Upfront pricing, but fewer channels and occasional picture problems

DISH stands out in the satellite TV space for its straightforward billing and three-year price guarantee for new customers. The basic package starts at about the same price as DIRECTV’s lowest-tier package, but premium packages cost a lot less. You’ll pay a little less for cable TV compared to DISH in many parts of the country, but things like competition between carriers and available technologies lead to big geographic differences.

DISH has a lot to offer casual viewers, but you won’t have access to NFL SUNDAY TICKET like you would with YouTube TV or any 24/7 channels in 4K resolution like you would with DIRECTV. There might be occasional problems with the picture quality for live sports, but those issues are rare for movies and most TV shows. Compared to cable TV, DISH usually offers better picture quality and many more channels.

While DISH is a lot more straightforward than DIRECTV, there are a few fees that can sneak up on you, including a local broadcast fee. You can get out of that fee by finding another way to watch local channels, but be sure to read your bill carefully each month.

Get the best value by speaking directly with a sales rep at 1-833-970-0845 or check your address at

DISH's website.

Check address

Value

5.0

A familiar channel-surfing experience and great add-on options

YouTube TV is an excellent choice for streaming live TV, and it all costs about what you’d pay for a mid-range subscription package from a cable or satellite TV provider (but without the hidden fees). The price is about average among the premium live TV services we tested. The only extra charge on your bill is local sales tax, but you’re going to find that with virtually every TV provider out there.

If you want add-ons like NFL Sunday Ticket, sports in 4K, or entertainment channels such as HBO, add-on pricing applies. But buying and canceling add-ons was pretty seamless in our tests, and many of the upgrades (like YouTube TV itself) come with free trials.

Starting in October of 2022, YouTube made it possible to get most of its add-ons without paying the full monthly price, either through YouTube TV or the separate Premium Channels feature on regular YouTube. The prices were a bit higher or the same as purchasing the services separately, but it's nice to watch them with a familiar app and just one bill.

We were a little bummed to discover that you still have to watch ads with a lot of the content, and you don’t get to skip ads on regular YouTube or YouTube Music, since YouTube Premium is a separate service, but we welcome the simplified pricing with open arms.

Get the best value by speaking directly with a sales rep or check your address at

YouTube TV's website.

Check address

Equipment and features

3.5

TiVo, Sling, and Android apps are your entertainment trifecta

Astound has put together a great list of equipment and features that allow you to easily find and watch or record your shows with relative ease. That said, we'd love to see more DVR storage included in Astound plans.

Ability to watch: Great
Getting your first TV set up with a Stream 4k box is free, and additional boxes cost just a few dollars per month. You'll also need an Astound Wi-Fi router, but you'll need that for your Astound internet service anyway. Astound uses the Sling app to deliver your streaming experience. The interface can be confusing at first, but once you get used to it, it's a decent experience.

Ability to record: Good
If you ever want to leave your couch (like, say, to run out and get more popcorn), you can use the Astound TV+ app to watch shows in line at the quickie mart, tap into a respectable 125 included hours of Cloud DVR storage, or schedule a future recording. Register up to 12 devices, and watch on up to five at a time.

Ability to find: Great
Astound leans on TiVo’s Stream 4k device to combine the capabilities of a DVR, live TV (via Sling), and streaming services (via Android apps). If that sounds like a lot of stuff to try to sort through while your popcorn gets cold, you can use the voice button on the remote to tell your TiVo what you’re looking for—or ask it to give you a few curated options.

Features and equipment may vary based on package. Visit

Astound Broadband's website

or call 1-844-443-5172 for more information.

Equipment and features

4.0

Industry-leading DVR, voice remote, and streaming options away from home

DISH is a great way to enjoy all TV has to offer, from picture quality to recording capability and watching on-demand.

Ability to watch: Great
As one of the two big satellite TV providers out there, DISH offers fantastic picture quality and a fantastic viewing platform. It also has a highly rated mobile app, making it easy to watch your shows and channels on the go. You can connect on smartphones, tablets and computers, or your Apple TV.

You can pay extra for DISH Outdoors, a portable satellite antenna and receiver system you can mount on your truck or RV. If you already have DISH at home, the Outdoors setup doesn’t cost much more, making it a great option for camping or tailgate parties.

Ability to record: Excellent
DISH Hopper DVRs are fantastic, and they easily outshine the competition. The Hopper 2 is the standard model and comes with voice control, a Netflix app, and internal Wi-Fi. The Hopper Plus, released in 2022, is an add-on streaming box that lets you add thousands of streaming apps. With DIRECTV’s set top box, you miss out on the apps.

If you upgrade to the Hopper 3 or Hopper Plus with DISH, you’ll pay about $5 more each month. But you get a whole lot for the money. The super-powered DVRs can record up to 16 shows or games at once and save 500 hours of HD recordings. Plus, they're 4K-enabled and beam your DVR content straight to your smartphone or additional set-top boxes around the house so you can watch from anywhere. It also comes with more streaming apps than the basic version, plus built-in Bluetooth so you can watch with earbuds.

The Hopper 3 and Hopper Plus are extraordinarily powerful, but you won’t be able to use all the extra features if you don’t have high-speed internet. If you do, and you want to catch a metric ton of games and shows on your schedule, we think the extra monthly cost is worth it.

If you want to skip the Hoppers and Joeys altogether, you’ll need the Wally receiver and your own hard drive for recording shows. DIY DVR with DISH isn’t worth the hassle for most folks, but it is an option if you're tech-savvy and already own the equipment.

Ability to find: Excellent
There’s a ton of content to love on DISH, and the interface makes it easy to find just what you need. You can control the remote with your voice or easy-to-use channel buttons, and the previews and descriptions show right up top. DISH is TV for people who love live TV, and it shows in the interface.

Features and equipment may vary based on package. Visit

DISH's website

or call 1-833-970-0845 for more information.

Usability and features

4.5

Unlimited DVR and up to six Google profiles per subscription

YouTube TV comes with everything you expect from a live TV service: easy channel surfing via the Live option, video on-demand (VOD) and DVR in the Library, and access to live sports, events, and shows from the Home tab. Its English-language monthly subscription offers more than 100 channels. If you want content in Spanish only, your monthly price is less than half of the English-language price.

Ability to watch: Excellent
YouTube TV doesn’t come with an option for a dedicated remote, but you can buy a Chromecast with Google TV for about a third of the price of the DIRECTV STREAM box if you want a voice remote. If you spring for the 4K Plus add-on, you get unlimited streams at home and three away from home. If you have a device compatible with Dolby 5.1 surround sound, it will work nicely with YouTube TV.

We were less satisfied with the ads—you’ll see a lot of them on YouTube TV, and they’re quite noticeable if you’re switching from on-demand streaming apps like Netflix, HBO Max, or Amazon's Prime Video. You can fast forward through ads on your DVR content, and some shows don’t have any ads on the DVR version.

When you watch live, you get the same ads the channels show over the air. A few times in our tests, we even saw ad visuals on the screen hyper-imposed on top of what we were trying to watch. It wasn’t a dealbreaker, but it took us out of the viewing experience. You will need broadband internet to enjoy YouTube TV, but streaming a show or game in 4K requires only about 20 Mbps of bandwidth at any given time, so you don’t need to worry about paying for the fastest possible internet speeds.

Ability to record: Excellent
YouTube TV comes with unlimited cloud DVR, and your recordings are saved for nine months. You can pause, rewind, and fast forward on most (but not all) DVR recordings, and it’s pretty simple to add them to your library. Curiously, adding any episode means you’ll record every future episode of that program, even reruns. It’s not a huge deal, but it does mean your library can feel bloated in a hurry.

There were a few standout features, too. We loved the sports highlights and how you can watch only key plays until you catch up to the live broadcast, hide scores of games you haven’t watched, or watch in Fantasy Football or Stats mode.

January 2023 updates to the interface made navigating the library a little easier, and we look forward to more promised improvements.

Ability to find: Great
YouTube TV is owned by search giant Google, and it shows. Finding specific programs, channels, and even recommendations from a browser was a delight. In fact, logging in on a browser is the best way to rearrange your Live guide for channel surfing, and it’s the best way to manage your account. The desktop app and mobile app felt familiar and easy to use, but we were annoyed that we couldn’t turn the volume up very high.

The experience on the Samsung smart TV we tested wasn’t quite as seamless. To get to YouTube TV, you have to open the regular YouTube app and find the YouTube TV button at the bottom left. Once we were in, there was a nice option to verify the account on a smartphone rather than typing your secure password with the remote. We didn’t love the pause and rewind functionality on the smart TV, and we once had to turn everything off and restart because the screen went black.

We also tested YouTube TV on an Apple TV, and it worked pretty well. It wasn’t hidden within the regular YouTube app, which was nice, and controls worked better. The app experience was even better when we tested on the Chromecast with Google TV. The remote was small but easy to use, and the voice functionality was fantastic. Unfortunately, the button labeled YouTube on the remote goes to the regular YouTube app, not YouTube TV.

Ability to share: Great
One YouTube TV subscription comes with six seats, so you and up to five members of your family can have their own private Google profile. With the basic subscription, you can watch up to three simultaneous streams at once, or you can get unlimited streams at home with the Unlimited add-on for about $10 per month.

If we had a magic wand and could improve any feature of YouTube TV, it would be parental controls. If you’re an adult sharing the subscription with other adults, it’s nice that profiles are 100% private—that means other accounts can’t see your DVR, your watch history, or your search history. But if you’re a parent, it’s a little problematic. There is a setting that prevents particular devices from viewing anything beyond TV-G or PG, but it doesn’t apply to accounts (just devices), and it’s not password-protected. Using the Family Link controls may give you more options, but most of those seem to be for regular YouTube and YouTube Kids, not YouTube TV.

Customer experience

4.0

An overall great experience dampened by surprising price hikes

Most customers report an overall positive experience, but Astound’s large price hikes are understandably unpopular. The good news is, you won’t have to sign a contract, so if increasing prices are getting you down, you can jump ship anytime.

Astound has a free self-setup option and often runs promotions for free professional installation (otherwise around $80). If your house already has working coax outlets, you’ll probably get off scot-free with no installation costs.

Visit Astound Broadband's website

or call 1-844-443-5172 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.

Go to provider

Customer experience

5.0

Installation included, and a stellar 3-year price guarantee

DISH has been ranked as the #1 traditional TV provider for customer service in the US, and we think the honor is well-earned. (2) New customers get a three-year price guarantee, and installation is included (as long as you can pass a required credit check). Some competing cable companies charge closer to $100 for installation, so it’s nice to see both top satellite providers—DISH and DIRECTV—cover the initial setup.

There’s also an option for people who don’t want the contract: Flex TV. You have to buy your DVR outright and pay for the installation out-of-pocket, but you can skip the credit check and pay for TV month to month.

Either way, you’ll benefit from fewer junk fees than the competition and multiple ways to get in touch. It’s worth noting that DISH got hacked in early 2023 and it left customers without service for several days, but we think it was a one-time problem and don’t expect similar outages in the future.

Visit DISH's website

or call 1-833-970-0845 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.

Go to provider

Customer experience

5.0

Straightforward and accessible for tech-savvy users

If you’re accustomed to shopping online and familiar with how streaming services work, YouTube TV is very easy to use. The interface is fairly easy to navigate and there’s just one package rather than multiple tiers to choose from. However, add-on pricing can be a little hard to track down.

Fortunately, you can get a 21-day free trial of YouTube TV if you’re a new user, and most of the add-ons also have free trials. If you’re not 100% pleased, we love that everything is surprisingly easy to cancel. Reactivation is also a breeze—YouTube TV saves all your info forever, and even saves your DVR recordings for 21 days after you pull the plug.

YouTube TV is so easy to use, most users won’t miss out on a customer service telephone line or a live chat experience, but it’s worth noting that those channels are not available.

Visit YouTube TV's website

or call for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.

Go to provider

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Astound Broadband

4.0

(1)

5 Star

4 Star

100%

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

Tylerfrom Wesley Chapel , FL

Astound Broadband Customer for 1+ years

Reviewed on: 6/17/2022

I like the value of what I get it I gives me the stuff that I need at the price that I want are you able to watch sports the news and most of the TV shows that I want the only way that It could improve is making it more affordable

DISH

3.8

(49)

5 Star

39%

4 Star

29%

3 Star

20%

2 Star

1 Star

Richardfrom Putnam County, TN

DISH Customer for 1+ years

Reviewed on: 8/6/2022

We have had no issues with Dish. I personally don't watch TV, It's for my wife who does watch it once in a while.

Raymondfrom Fremont, OH

DISH Customer for 8+ years

Reviewed on: 7/14/2022

Dish has a good variety of channels and shows with some good on demand choices. The price is kind of high and ro bad they can't control the system due to weather and is never out long enough for a reduction for disruption of service

Ralphfrom Decatur, IL

DISH Customer for 1+ years

Reviewed on: 7/10/2022

Include more sports channels in each package and better service during storms.

Paul from Gaines, MI

DISH Customer for 8+ years

Reviewed on: 7/5/2022

its a great service to use and I enjoy it

YouTube TV

4.4

(38)

5 Star

50%

4 Star

42%

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

Eddie from Macon , GA

YouTube TV Customer for Less than a year

Reviewed on: 8/21/2022

It has been very easy to use. I lo e the unlimited dvr storage. It has awesome customer service

Tomfrom Brookfield, IL

YouTube TV Customer for 1+ years

Reviewed on: 7/30/2022

too pricey for the amount of programs. sports stations are ok. trying to record is way too difficult

Jimfrom Rosemount, MN

YouTube TV Customer for 4+ years

Reviewed on: 6/27/2022

They provide decent programming. My main complaint is that they cannot come to an agreement with Sinclair Broadcasting to broadcast Twins games. I would leave them in a minute if another service provided local sports.

Davidfrom Brooklyn , NY

YouTube TV Customer for 1+ years

Reviewed on: 6/20/2022

My overall experience is okay. It'ss so easy to listen to music and watch movies you typically can't watch on YouTube

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Endnotes and sources

1. "Channel Lineups," Astound Broadband. Accessed 12 October 2022.As an Amazon Associate, Switchful.com may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Endnotes and sources

(1) "Huddle up football fans, the NFL Sunday Ticket presale kicks off today,” NFL. Accessed 12 April 2023.(2) "YouTube TV abruptly drops MLB Network as spring training approaches," The Verge. Accessed 3 February 2023.(3) "Most-Watched Television Networks: Ranking 2021’s Winners and Losers,” Variety. Retrieved Sept. 6, 2022.As an Amazon Associate, Switchful.com may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.