The American direct broadcast satellite service, DirecTV is a service provider that is based in California. Funded by AT&T, it is a satellite service that was launched long ago in the 90s, to be more exact in 1994. The service is the transmission of satellite TV and audio, this is provided to households and other establishments in the United States, Latin America, The Americas, and the Caribbean. The fast-growing service provider has a variety of packages that if offers you depending on your particular needs. Some people prefer the movies pack to be able to stream more movies, some people get the DC pack to watch their favorite superhero movies. A very popular DirecTV package is the DirecTV HD Extra Pack, which is one of the most recently released packs from DirecTV.

What is the DirecTV HD Extra Pack?

It is one of the ways in which DirecTV provides services to those who want to engage themselves in satellite TV. In the beginning, it only streamed channels that didn’t have an SD counterpart, meaning they were only 1080p or higher, for example, HDNET Movies, which was a network created specifically for only streaming high definition, as a consequence, there was no SD. The Package has never costed more than a couple of dollars, and so does today since it only costs $4. 99 dollars per month. You can also get a three-month trial when getting it. Today, you can watch up to 565 channels.

What are the channels I can watch?

Some outstanding channels the pack includes, are these all-HD features channels, which are also the most popular one among watchers.

First, as previously mentioned, there is HDNET Movies, which is channel 566. It started in 2001 with the purpose of transmitting only HD quality videos, today it has a very wide range of movies, which are, on a great number, exclusive for that channel to stream.

Then there is Hallmark Movie Channel HD, channel 565 in the DirecTV service. Since it comes from Hallmark, it especially contains family programming, such as Disney shows and movies, Pixar, DreamWorks, and other similar things.

MGM HD is another one of the channels it transmits. Being a channel owned by MGM studios, the variety of movies it contains is huge, over 1,100. The great majority you’ll only find in this channel, besides, they are all remastered so you can enjoy them in full HD.

Palladia HD is channel 572 and works as an extension to MTV and VH1 in matters of reality shows. You can find a wide range of music videos early in the morning, and then reality shows and special programs more in the afternoon.

The Sonny Movie Channel is a most for anyone who watches satellite TV really, so obviously, DirecTV offers it, and in full HD. You’ll get to watch the vast library of movies and series Sonny offers.

Crime & Investigation HD is for all those who have an inner sleuth and want to watch crime programming, good news now you can in HD.

Smithsonian HD is another channel they offer, it is owned by the Smithsonian Museum, as its name indicates and you’ll be able to watch a very wide variety of research and historical shows.

Then, of course, we have Universal HD. Backed by NBCUniversal you can enjoy from the programming produced by both these studios.

Finally, there is ShortsHD, which brings you only short films and is great for any cinema lover. It has only been around for some years but people love it.

These channels are especially great if you are a huge movie fan since you’ll be able to find movies you can’t find anywhere else, not Amazon Prime, not Netflix, not in other streaming services. Hallmark has a variety of “made-for-TV” films that can’t be found anywhere but on this service. DirecTV also doesn’t have any of these channels integrated into the regular package.

Another benefit? Live TV on virtually any screen.

Well, since we are now living in the 21st century, you no longer need a TV to watch TV. You can stream all the 9 Movies Extra Pack in any of your devices with this service, anything from your computer, your tablet, or even your phone. As long as you are within your Wi-Fi network, it shouldn’t be a problem to watch wherever you want. This option will also let you record the content there is on these channels, in case you can’t watch that special at 10 in the morning, and want to watch it later. The recorded content also doesn’t expire, you can keep it for as long as you like.

Overall Verdict

So, if you want a verdict for this streaming service, I guess it depends on your personal interests. First of all, when looking for TV programming services, you need to balance interest and value. If you really want to have some of the channels above and feel like they could really make a difference in your TV-life, then go ahead, $5 isn’t really that much, especially when you begin to compare it with premier movie networks like HBO or Cinemax, which are around $15 a month. The truth is, these channels will probably not give you the Blockbusters and you won’t be able to watch Game of Thrones, but if you think you’ll be happy with the classics, a lot of excellent crime shows, very interesting historical documentaries, and everything it has to offer, then you should at least go for a month trial. You can always remove it if you decide it isn’t worth it, and the company won’t charge you any kind of fee. You also need to consider that if you are used to the normal streaming services like Netflix, depending on when they decide to stream something you like can get frustrating.