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Review of DIRECTV’s Choice XTRA Package: the Most Popular
The most subscribed-to DIRECTV plan (by a good margin), Choice XTRA is an ideal mix of price and channels. For just $10 more per month than the Choice plan, you’ll get about 35 more channels including a ton of new movie and sports programs. On the movie/bio side, some of those new channels include American Heroes Channel (previously Military Channel), Discovery Health, DIY, FXX, FX Movie Channel, H2 (one of my favorites), Oxygen and plenty of others. Cool new options for sports fans include CBS Sports Network, Fox Sports 2, Golf Channel, NBA TV, NBC Sports Network, NBC Universo (prev. mun2), NHL Network and the Sportsman Channel.
Choice XTRA Plan Features
Over 235 all-digital channels (165+ in HD)
Free NFL Sunday Ticket
Free HBO, SHOWTIME, STARZ and Cinemax for 3 full months
Free Genie DVR system + 3 Genie minis for additional TVs
Subscribers that want a bunch of channels AND stick to a reasonable budget. Even though it doesn’t have the regional sports channels found in the next two packages, for the average fan, it should deliver more than enough MLB, NFL, NBA and Hockey action. If your must-have sports channel isn’t included, you can usually add it à la carte for a few extra bucks a month (and avoid having to upgrade plans).
Total Cost (no extra fees)
$95.99/mo (promo pricing for 2 years) Thereafter, you pay the prevailing price at the time
DISH plan it most closely compares to
America’s Top 250 – DISH advertises 290 channels in the 250 plan, but, again, nearly 65 are just Sirius XM radio stations so make sure you compare apples to apples.
Final Thoughts
I like to get every last bit of value from my TV programming and that’s why I’ve always been drawn to this plan (though I eventually upgraded to Ultimate). Sure, it doesn’t give you a ton of premium movie options, but not everyone needs ’em. Everything considered, if you’re undecided and XTRA falls within your budget, go with it. It’s smack dab in the middle of the five plans and it’ll give you a great idea of how many or few channels you really need…or if just right.
Every DIRECTV plan includes:
2-Year Price Guarantee
Smart DVR (Genie or Gemini)
ALL your local channels
Regional Sports Networks (local teams)
Free premium movie deal
Full professional installation (soon as tomorrow)
About the author
George Levint
George is the senior editor at DigitalFind and an expert in how technology at home impacts our lives. From funky analog radios to AI devices that try to out-think you, he's usually unfairly critical until proven otherwise. He also enjoys spending the occasional weekend off-grid to keep Skynet guessing.
All of DIRECTV’s plans require a 2-year contract and the prices quoted are locked in for those 2 years as well (previously, only year 1 was discounted, so you’re saving a fair amount with the current pricing setup).
How long is the contract for this plan?
Hi Amanda,
All of DIRECTV’s plans require a 2-year contract and the prices quoted are locked in for those 2 years as well (previously, only year 1 was discounted, so you’re saving a fair amount with the current pricing setup).