DIRECTV STREAM Adds Four New Channels, Including Ion – New Home of Scripps National Spelling Bee
DIRECTV STREAM has added four new diginets, including a national feed of Ion Television, becoming the first live TV streaming service to add the channel.
In addition to Ion, they’ve added two of the other channels E.W. Scripps-owned channels Grit and Bounce TV, as well as NBC-owned COZI TV. It’s good timing for customers to get Ion and Bounce, which will become the new homes of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in June.
| DTV STREAM | Fubo | Hulu | Philo | Sling TV | YouTube | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Sign Up | Free Trial | Get 50% Off | Sign Up | |||
| $79.99 | $91.99 | $76.99 | $25 | $40 | $40 | $72.99 | ||
| Bounce TV | + $29 | ✓ | - | - | + $6 | + $6 | ✓ | |
| Cozi TV | + $29 | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | - | ✓ | |
| Grit | + $29 | ✓ | - | - | + $6 | + $6 | - | |
| Ion | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | - | - | ✓ | |
So what exactly can you watch on these channels?
Ion provides general entertainment programming including a deep library of hit shows like “Law & Order: SVU,” “Chicago Fire,” “NCIS,” and “Hawaii Five-O.”
When founded in 2011, Bounce TV was the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created to target African Americans. It features a programming mix of original series, theatrical motion pictures, specials, off-network series, and more. Some series it carries are “The Game”, “A Different World,” “The Wendy Williams Show,” and “Couples Court.”
Grit features classic westerns — both TV series and films — targeted at men between the ages of 25 and 54 years old. If you like Clint Eastwood films, this channel is for you.
Cozi TV, which has traditionally been served as a sub-channel on primary NBC affiliates, has classic shows like “The Rockford Files,” “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “The A-Team,” “The Bionic Woman,” “Columbo,” as well as sitcoms like “The Office,” “Will & Grace,” and “The Nanny.”
The channels are part of the new boom of diginets, which are traditionally offered free over-the-air, as well as through pay-TV services.
Of the 54 diginets now on the air, MeTV is by far the most popular with its mix of familiar, comforting nostalgic TV. In fact, an early entrant in the diginet explosion, MeTV has grown to pull in an average of more than 700K nightly viewers every year since 2018. The Grit network is the second most widely watched diginet at 412K viewers per night, followed by Bounce, Start TV, and MeTV’s sister site Heroes and Icons.