Skip to main content

DirecTV plays catchup, expands mobile viewing and Android app

directv plays catchup expands mobile viewing android app directtv ipad
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Following similar moves from competitors across the industry, DirecTV has announced an expansion of its out-of-home viewing platform, DirecTV Everywhere.

Starting tomorrow, the new update to the service will allow subscribers to view over 30 channels from the DirecTV content pool outside the home on their smartphones and tablets. According to a report by Variety, the service will be available over both WiFi and over “mobile Internet connections”, though DirecTV’s press release did not specify the latter capability.

Most notable in the new programming lineup are top premium channels such as HBO, Starz, Encore and Showtime, as well as their subsidiary channels like Starz Edge and Showtime Next. Other new options include popular cable networks such as The Travel Channel and Food Network, supplemented by more peripheral programming like The Tennis Channel. In addition, the company has bolstered its in-home viewing to over 100 channels, and expanded its online content at DirecTV.com to include on demand content from over 40 channels, with up to 19,000 titles available from a computer.

The company’s Android app has also been updated to include support “across all screen sizes and various operating systems,” which will include the majority of Android devices, though it is unclear which, if any, tablets and smartphones in the Android universe will be left out of the equation.

While DirecTV touts itself as the pioneer of out-of-home streaming with its original NFL Sunday Ticket mobile service, the company has been under pressure to add a more diverse line-up of mobile content thanks to recent moves from cable providers like Comcast and Verizon’s FiOS, as well as massive expansion of mobile viewing from Slingbox and direct satellite competitor DishNetwork’s Hopper with Sling service.

The company claims that more evolutions of the DirecTV Everywhere service are still to come, and in this ever-evolving mobile landscape, you can bet on it.

Editors' Recommendations

Ryan Waniata
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Waniata is a multi-year veteran of the digital media industry, a lover of all things tech, audio, and TV, and a…
Apple TV’s tvOS 17.2 beta adds a sidebar to the TV app
The new sidebar visible in the TV app on Apple TV in the tvOS 17.2 developer beta.

The new sidebar is visible in the TV app on Apple TV in the tvOS 17.2 developer beta. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

One of the messier pieces of the Apple TV experience on Apple TV 4K hardware has long been Apple's TV app. It's where Apple has attempted to aggregate all the things you can watch on your Apple TV, from Apple TV+ to any number of installed applications. (Another seriously messy piece is the myriad things Apple has named "Apple TV." But that's another problem for another time.)

Read more
Google TV gives NFL Sunday Ticket top billing, adds FAST channels
Google TV free channels.

Google announced today that all Android TV and Google TV devices in the U.S. are getting more than 25 new free channels, baked right into the operating systems' Live tabs. That brings the total number of built-in FAST channels to more than 100, meaning that you'll be able to watch all kinds of free content without having to download a single thing. It's all built in.

FAST channels refer to free, ad-supported television and can be individual shows or entire channels of content. Google didn't immediately name the 25-plus channels, but said they include the BBC and Lionsgate. (You can see a big list of them here.) And that's on top of the others that were added in the spring, which brings a ridiculous 800 or so channels (more or less) to the platform. Whether they have what you want to watch? That's completely up to you. But it's free.

Read more
The Roku Channel is now available as a Google TV app
The Roku Channel app on Google TV.

The Roku Channel — one of the major services in the FAST category — is now available as an app on Google TV and Android TV. That's a good thing because The Roku Channel says it already reaches an estimated 100 million people in U.S. households with its wealth of free movies and series.

But it's also still a step removed from competing services like the Paramount-owned Pluto TV, which has direct integration with the Google TV live listings and doesn't require a separate download. Still, it's more free content on a low-cost piece of hardware, and who doesn't like that? The Roku Channel sports more than 350 free live linear channels (as in everyone is watching the same thing at the same time), as well as movies and series, live news, and more.

Read more