Cricket Heads to DIRECTV STREAM as Service Adds Willow TV to Sports Pack
Cricket fans, rejoice! According to the Sports Business Journal, there’s a new way to watch your favorite sport without a cable subscription, as DIRECTV STREAM (as well as the standard DIRECTV satellite service) are adding the cricket-dedicated channel Willow TV to their Sports channel add-on packs.
The timing of the addition is conspicuous, as the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is set to begin on Thursday, Oct. 5. Residential customers are not the only ones who will get access to the channel, either; DIRECTV for Business is also planning to make the channel available to bars and restaurants.
Willow TV is exclusively available in DIRECTV STREAM’s Sports add-on. That optional channel bundle costs an extra $14.99 per month and includes a wide variety of networks dedicated to different college and professional sports. The channels in DIRECTV STREAM’s Sports pack include:
- ACC Network
- Big Ten Network
- CBS Sports Network
- ESPNEWS
- ESPN
- FanDuel TV (formerly TVG)
- FS2
- Golf Channel
- Longhorn Network (Out of Market)
- MLB Network
- MLB Strike Zone
- NBA TV
- Next Level Sports
- NFL Network (also available on Choice)
- NFL RedZone
- NHL Network
- Outdoor Channel
- SEC Network
- Sportsman Channel
- Tennis Channel
- TUDN
- Willow TV
Customers will find Willow TV on channel 625/626 on DIRECTV STREAM, and 625 on DIRECTV. Users will also get its overflow channel Willow Xtra. Willow TV features cricket competitions from all over the globe, including the Indian Premier League, Major League Cricket, Caribbean Premier League, Cricket Australia, Cricket South Africa, and more.
The demand for cricket is admittedly not as high in the United States as it is in India and other countries, which explains why DIRECTV decided to put Willow TV in the Sports add-on pack instead of in the main channel lineup. Disney found out the hard way how dedicated Indian viewers are to the sport, as it’s lost subscribers to its Indian streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar for three straight quarters following its decision not to continue offering Indian Premier League cricket on the service.
DIRECTV STREAM is a fantastic service for watching live sports. The settlement of its recent retransmission dispute with Nexstar means that local broadcast channels have been restored for most customers of the service, and DIRECTV STREAM offers all new users a five-day free trial. New subscribers also get $10 off their bill per month for their first three months of service and can sign up to get premium streaming services like Max at no cost for 90 days.
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM is a live TV streaming service, which is essentially the streaming version of the DIRECTV service. All packages include local channels and at least 31 of the top 35 cable channels. New subscribers can get a free Gemini streaming device from the company, in which case the service is called “DIRECTV via Internet.”