DIRECTV STREAM DVR Question

Hi, @Rewster777

Thanks for reaching to us with those great questions. 

It is correct, any recording that is stored in the DVR, will self delete after 90 days. If the DVR maxes out, any new movie or shows that are recorded, will follow a first in, first out rule. 

As for recommendations, while we cannot make any specific recommendations for switching. You can always review our offers, and see if DIRECTV STREAM is right for you. Check this link here for current offers and promotions.

Charles O. Community Specialist 

I now have DirectTV Stream and would strongly suggest you stay with U Verse! I had that for years but I moved a few months ago and it is not available where I live now, I never had any problems with U Verse but DIRECTV Stream is nothing but problems! It has too many problems to list but recording is horrible and doesn't record half the time and then other times you are unable to play back recordings. That is just for starters!!

I switched back in may...lots of buffering even with live TV.  Recordings disappearing as others mentioned.  Some recordings won't play...find something else...I wish I had done more research.

All streaming services with cloud DVR included have expiration dates on recordings.  That is just a fact of streaming life!  If you absolutely need to archive old stuff all the time then NO streaming service is going to be a good fit.

As to how well the service works otherwise, well opinions differ.  I’ve had my DIRECTV Stream service since April and have found that it works as well as others at minimum, and in some cases, better than others.  Better picture quality, 5.1 audio on channels that support that, and the box that comes with the service, for all its warts, is the simplest transition from cable/sat to streaming.

As far as I know, that is incorrect.  At least some other services with finite (fixed maximum) amounts of DVR storage have infinite retention.  I believe Sling and Hulu Live TV are in that category.  Obviously, a service with infinite storage (like YouTube TV) can't also offer infinite retention, but it isn't clear why DIRECT doesn't - and especially why the offered retention is so short.  They seem to have the worst combination - both finite storage (although fairly large) and finite retention (relatively short).

I would never give up U verse tv for DIRECTV Stream  I have both in two different cities. When I moved (in Atlanta), I tried to get U Verse and was told that AT&T does not offer U Verse anymore. They want everyone to go to DIRECTV Stream. We have had multiple issues with DIRECTV Stream...lots of buffering, picture flashing off and on, losing sound periodically. Not to mention only being able to keep recorded shows for 90 days!! Also, they have no technicians that can come to your home for help...you are completely on your own. If I had another option (ie Comcast) in my building, I would switch today!!!

I find this 90 day limit on saved recordings to be a big shortcoming of DIRECTV Stream.  
I currently have DirecTV (which is far too expensive and in the process of replacing.. but that's a whole other story.) and have shows that I watch that are over 6 months old (for example, I might record Nova to watch on a rain Saturday afternoon).  
In normal times, we often travel and can easily fill up the 1T we have with DirecTV and it takes a very long time to catch up on our shows.  In a normal year (we usually only watch a couple of hours of TV in the evening), that may mean we have shows that we would like to watch 
that are far older than 90 days.  During the "TV season" we record far more shows than we can watch.. We then watch these shows in the off-season when many shows are in re-runs.  This is at least 6 months from the time of recording.  
I was going to move over to DIRECTV Stream, but because of this limitation (we actually just signed up and still have a little less than two weeks to cancel), I am considering moving to a streaming services such as Sling where I don't have the same limitation.  Reading the comments for this question is pushing me more toward canceling my DIRECTV Stream

I suspect the reason that ATT has limited this to 90 days is simple economics (it's about money, not what the customer actually wants).  Very few people are going to utilize 500G in 90 days, but if you let  them keep it until the disk is full, this will cost ATT money because it will require more storage on average.

I agree too! 

Why DIRECT STREAM offers Unlimited DVR if you can't keep recordings more than 90 days?

I recently cut the cable and investigated all the live TV streaming services with recording capability.  DIRECTV STREAM had one of the most complete package of channels including Hallmark, NewsMax and OAN and was only slightly more expensive putting them on the top of my list.  However, the 90 day expiration of recorded shows is the primary reason I chose to go with Fubo TV, which gives me 1000 hours of recording that NEVER expire.   

I don't need unlimited storage, but it sometimes take me more than 90 days to catch up on recordings.  If they were smart, they would store each episode only once in the cloud, even though thousands of people have  "recorded" it.  They could then share the one recording for everyone, so it would not cost them any more cloud storage to retain it longer for some people.  That should be the advantage of storing in the cloud instead of storing on the TIVO disk in my home.  Then they could even offer to let me go back and watch an old episode, even if I forgot to "record" it as long as at least one person somewhere requested that it be recorded. 

Which begs the question, why do each of us viewers need to request a recording?  Why do these content providers only let you go back 1 or 2 weeks if you forget to record the show.  I hate that I must remember to record shows like Judge Judy and People's Court and can't go back and watch old episodes unless I recorded it.

And then there is this warning on web site which will also keep me away:

"In a series recording, max 30 episodes stored (oldest deleted first which may be in less than 90 days)."

For shows like Judge Judy that air several 30 minute episodes each day (new and reruns), this means I must watch all the episodes within 2-3 weeks or I start losing them!  Or daily soaps like General Hospital, you start losing after 6 weeks.  Very difficult to catch up after vacations, long business trips, or if you just get very busy at home for a few weeks.   

In conclusion, cloud storage is relatively inexpensive and duplicate recordings could be better managed.  They should stop pinching the pennies or give us a $5 plan upgrade option to retain recordings for up to one year and record more than 30 episodes of a show.  Or give us a fixed amount of storage (1000 hours) where we manage the deletions

DIRECTV STREAM … how can I view what series I have program to record?