DIRECTV’s Genre Packs are a fantastic experiment in offering customers greater choice. They’re not a la carte packages, but they do allow viewers who only need a specific set of cable channels built around a particular theme to get access to the networks they want without having to pay for a huge number of channels they’ll never watch.

These Genre Packs are similar in size to the offerings that Philo and Sling TV have on the market already — with some key differences. What are those differences? How are these products alike? We’ll help answer those questions to guide viewers who are trying to pick between them to the right service.

How do DIRECTV Genre Packs compare to Philo, Sling TV?

Channel selection

DIRECTV Genre Packs

The channel selection on DIRECTV Genre Packs can vary widely, and this is obviously by design. The plans can range from channel counts of around 10 channels to as many as 40+, depending on the theme they’re built around.

DIRECTV offers five Genre Pack base packages: the MyEntertainment, MyKids, MyNews, MySports, and MiEspañol plans. Each of these packages is built around the genre specified in their names, and comes with channels appropriate to that theme, but does not include channels outside their specific purviews.

These selections can include local broadcast channels, depending on the plan. Still, the most important thing to remember when thinking about a DIRECTV Genre Pack is that each plan comes with channels that offer that kind of content specifically, and nothing else.

Philo

Philo is all about entertainment. Its channel plan doesn’t include live sports, major news networks, or local broadcast channels, a trade-off the streamer has accepted in order to keep its base price low. It does come with more than 15 of The Streamable’s top cable channels though, including AMC, Hallmark Channel, History, Lifetime, and more.

If you don’t need sports or news channels, and you’ve got an antenna to deliver your local broadcast networks, then Philo might indeed be a viable option for you.

Sling TV

Sling TV tries to offer a little bit of everything, but not all at once unless you’re willing to pay a little more per month. It offers three base plans: the Orange package, the Blue package, and the combined Orange and Blue plan with the channels of both. The Sling Blue plan comes with around 40 channels, while Sling Orange comes with closer to 35.

The Orange plan is reserved for Disney-owned channels, specifically ESPN and Disney Channel, along with a few others. The Blue plan is a bit more balanced, including sports networks like FS1 and NFL Network but also offering entertainment like Bravo and news options like Fox News and MSNBC. Both packages offer a selection of the same channels, such as CNN and TNT.

Sling doesn’t offer local broadcast networks in every market, and it doesn’t carry CBS anywhere. But viewers in select areas can get ABC, Fox, and/or NBC in the Sling Blue package.

Price

DIRECTV Genre Packs

DIRECTV does not price all of its Genre Packs the same, reflecting the different content offerings in each package. The company pays different carriage fees for each channel, and prices the plans accordingly. DIRECTV Genre Packs are priced as follows:

Philo

Philo has just one base channel package, which costs $28 per month. It also has a free service that viewers can take advantage of to watch free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels, as well as add-on packs to bring more content to a user’s subscription.

Sling TV

Both Sling Orange and Sling Blue have a normal monthly price of $46. Viewers who wish to combine the channels of both plans into the Sling Orange and Blue offering must pay $61 per month. There’s also a $5 upcharge for customers in large markets who get ABC, Fox, and NBC with their Sling Blue plan.

On-demand content

DIRECTV Genre Packs

DIRECTV offers on-demand streaming subscriptions with several of its Genre Packs. The MyEntertainment plan includes ad-supported subscriptions to Disney+, Max, and Hulu, and the MyKids package also comes with a Disney+ Basic account at no extra cost.

The MySports plan comes with ESPN+ included, and when ESPN launches its new streaming service before the start of football season in 2025, customers of MySports will get that service included in their plan as well.

Philo

Philo has add-on packs that allow viewers to watch streamers like Hallmark+ and STARZ, but these require extra subscription fees. However, Philo does offer all customers access to on-demand content from AMC+’s ad-supported plan as an included benefit in its base package.

Sling TV

Viewers can tack subscriptions to services like Paramount+, Shudder, and more onto their Sling TV subscription. However, Sling’s base plans do not come with any on-demand streaming services included in the price.

Add-on packs

DIRECTV Genre Packs

Viewers can choose between three add-ons with DIRECTV Genre Packs: The MySports Extra, MyCinema, and MyHome Team mini packs. Viewers do have to be subscribed to the right base Genre Pack to add these mini packs to their subscription.

The MySports Extra pack comes with eight additional channels, including NFL RedZone and others, for $13 per month. The MyCinema plan comes with nine channels such as Great American Family and Turner Classic Movies for $10 per month, while the MyHome Team pack allows viewers to watch their area’s regional sports networks (in select markets) for $20 per month.

Philo

As noted above, Philo will allow viewers to add several on-demand subscriptions to their service for additional monthly fees. Choices include ALLBLK ad-free, AMC+ ad-free, Hallmark+ ad-free, MGM+, and STARZ. Philo also offers its Movies and More add-on for $3 per month,

Sling TV

Sling TV has a long list of add-on packs you can use to customize your package however you like, far more than DIRECTV’s Genre Packs or Philo offer. Check out the add-on packs from Sling TV in this article.

Bottom line

As we’ve laid out, there are plenty of ways where DIRECTV’s Genre Packs are quite similar to Philo and Sling TV. Each offers a smaller channel package than what’s typically found with pay TV, and those plans come priced much lower than the standard $80-per-month packages you’ll find elsewhere.

But the content offerings on each of these services can differ greatly, and content needs will differ from person to person. Hopefully, we’ve given browsers all the information they need to make an informed choice between the three services after cutting the cord.