Do you love true crime and investigation television? Then Investigation Discovery (ID) is perfect for you. You can watch some of the most shocking TV with stories pulled right from the headlines. And cord-cutters don’t need to worry because ID is widely available from streaming services.
In a hurry? If you just want to start watching ID and not go through all the pros and cons of your options, here are our three favorite options:
- Fubo: With 150+ channels, it offers something for everyone. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial!
- Philo: Super inexpensive live TV streaming service with 7-day free trial.
- Sling TV: Probably the best streaming service in terms of customization with a 50% discount your first month.
If you can’t watch your favorite sports, TV and movies because of your location, try ExpressVPN to get access to the content you deserve. Signup now.
Table Of Contents
Investigation Discovery, or ID, as it goes by these days, is Discovery’s foray into the true crime genre. It’s not hard to understand why true crime stories are so popular: they’re real-life mystery stories that beg for resolution.
True crime’s roots go back to Jack the Ripper and beyond, but the current surge in popularity is widely credited to the runaway success of the 2014 podcast Serial, the 2015 HBO documentary miniseries The Jinx, and the 2015 Netflix series Making a Murderer. Since 2016, ID’s ratings have soared and it’s become one of the most popular cable channels.
Read on to find out how you can catch the next episode of Detective Diaries and not get (financially) murdered by your cable bill.
How to Watch Investigation Discovery Live Without Cable
ID, as its name implies, is owned by Discovery Inc, which also owns Animal Planet, Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), TLC, Travel Channel, Cooking Channel, Destination America, Discovery Life, Discovery Family, and DIY Network.
ID fans may also be interested in several other channels dedicated to crime, true or fictional: A&E’s Crime + Investigation, Law & Crime, Oxygen, and Start TV.
Although the term “cable channels” has stuck, you don’t need a cable company anymore to watch these channels. Several services stream the same channels over the internet, which you can watch just like a cable service.
Unlike a cable service, however, streaming services require no contracts, no installation visits, and no long-term commitments. And they generally cost less. Which services carry ID? Take a look below.
Unblock Your Favorite Movies and Shows With a VPN
If you can’t watch your favorite movies and shows because of your location, a VPN will allow you to get the access you are entitled to, plus extra security and unequalled privacy. Check out our VPN Guide for everything you need to know, including our top pick ExpressVPN.
Other brands worth checking out include Hotspot Shield and CyberGhost.
Streaming Services with Investigation Discovery
All the major streaming services carry ID, so you’ve got options. Discovery either makes its channels irresistibly low-cost to license, or makes a lot of deals, because every service also carries the core Discovery brands — Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, and TLC — in its base package.
Read on to see what other channels might interest you.
Fubo
Fubo (formerly FuboTV) is a great service for the hard-core sports fan, but it’s got a lot more than just sports. Fubo’s Pro plan provides well over 130 channels for $79.99/mo. This includes ID and Discovery, all your local networks, Animal Planet, OWN, Oxygen, and Travel Channel.
Go for the Elite plan for $89.99/mo and you’ll get 170+ total channels including Discovery Life, Discovery Family, Cooking Channel, Destination America, DIY Network, and Dan Abrams’s Law & Crime Trial Network.
All plans come with 1000 hours of cloud DVR storage and simultaneous streaming on up to 10 devices.
Read our Fubo review for more information.
Philo
Philo is only $25/mo, but it saves money by passing on expensive affiliate markets (your local broadcast networks), WarnerMedia channels (HBO, former Turner channels), and NBCUniversal networks (E!, Bravo, Oxygen). It’s light on news channels and has no sports networks at all. But if it has what you’re looking for, it’s a great deal.
Philo’s 60+ channels include ID and the core Discovery channels, Animal Planet, Cooking Channel, Crime + Investigation, Destination America, DIY Network, Law & Crime, OWN, and Travel Channel. It features unlimited cloud DVR storage and streaming on up to 3 screens at a time.
For more information see our Philo review.
Sling TV
The Sling Blue package is $40.00/mo for 40+ channels, streamable on up to 3 screens at one time with 50 hours of cloud DVR. It includes ID, Discovery, and Travel Channel. You can find Destination America in the Heartland Extra, Law & Crime and Newsmax in the News Extra, and Start TV in the Hollywood Extra — each for $6/mo or less if you get a bundle.
Sling TV has, by far, the fewest Discovery channels of any of the streaming services; it doesn’t carry Animal Planet, Discovery Life, Discovery Family, or OWN at all. But it does offer a great channel selection for a very low price.
Our Sling TV review lays out all your options.
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM (formerly AT&T TV) is a good “gateway” service for people who want the benefits of streaming but with as little major change to their setup as possible. It’s the only service that offers its own proprietary device, similar to a cable box, complete with voice-activated remote control.
Its base Entertainment plan is $79.99/mo for roughly 80 channels, including ID and Discovery plus Animal Planet and your local broadcast channels and comes with unlimited DVR as long as you sign-up online. The next tier, Choice, is $108.99/mo and you get all the Entertainment channels and Cooking Channel, Oprah Winfrey Network, Travel Channel, and regional sports networks.
Destination America, Discovery Life, Discovery Family, DIY Network, and Oxygen are all on the Ultimate tier ($119.99/mo). Crime + Investigation is available as an add-on.
To see all your options, read our DIRECTV STREAM review.
Get DIRECTV STREAM Free for 5 Days
Hulu + Live TV
Hulu’s on-demand library is arguably the best because of its next-day availability of many of your favorite shows. Hulu + Live TV adds over 85 live channels to that for $76.99/mo. This includes ID and Discovery, all your local broadcast network affiliates, Animal Planet, ESPN+, Disney+, Oxygen, Start TV, and Travel Channel.
Sign up for Hulu Live’s Entertainment Add-on for $7.99/mo and you’ll also enjoy Cooking Channel, Crime + Investigation, Destination America, Discovery Life, Discovery Family, and DIY Network.
Hulu offers unlimited cloud DVR (9 months of storage) and streaming on up to 2 devices at the same time. See our Hulu + Live TV review for details.
Vidgo
Vidgo is a two-tiered service aimed at families and college sports fans. Their base plan, Vidgo Plus, is $69.99/mo for over 100 channels, including ID, Discovery, Animal Planet, DIY Network, Law & Crime, OWN, and Travel Channel. Vidgo Premium is $84.99/mo and adds Discovery Family, Discovery Life, Cooking Channel, and Destination America, among others.
You can stream on up to 3 screens at a time, but there is no DVR functionality or on-demand content. Broadcast networks are limited to Fox and ABC.
Check out our Vidgo review for more information.
Other Ways to Stream Investigation Discovery
There are other ways to get the ID live stream or just the on-demand content:
- Hulu: The base on-demand plan for $7.99/mo has back seasons of a half-dozen ID shows, most notably Homicide Hunter and Deadly Women. (Black Friday details)
- YouTube TV: Similar to Hulu + Live TV, features 85+ channels for $72.99/mo, including ID and Discovery.
- ID Website: Some shows/episodes require a TV provider login (eg, streaming service), like the most recent episodes of On the Case with Paula Zahn. But there’s a lot to watch for free, like the entire seven-season run of American Monster.
- Discovery+: Discovery’s on-demand streaming subscription service, with exclusive series as well as classic shows and specials from across all the Discovery brands. Plans start at $4.99/mo with a 7-day free trial.
Superpower Your Live TV Streaming With a VPN
You can’t beat a VPN for privacy, security, and access. We have used them for years as an important part of our streaming toolkit and we recommend ExpressVPN. Other brands worth checking out include Hotspot Shield and CyberGhost.
| i | See our VPN Buyer’s Guide for complete information on how to choose the best VPN for your needs. |
TVs and Devices to Live Stream ID
You’ll need a streaming device to watch ID. Fortunately, the streaming services we’ve discussed support most that are currently in use. For example, they all support the “stick” devices: Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku.
Android and iOS mobile devices are similarly supported. And you can use them (and some web browsers) to cast ID to your TV via Chromecast.
Other than DIRECTV STREAM, all services support smart TVs that are based on Android TV.
Other than Philo and Vidgo, the services support Samsung smart TVs. Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, and Sling TV support LG and Vizio smart TVs. Fubo also supports Hisense TVs. Fubo, Hulu, and Sling support the Xbox One. Hulu also supports the PlayStation.
These are just the most popular devices. Our streaming reviews have complete lists.
Today’s Investigation Discovery Schedule
Here is today’s schedule in Eastern Time:
| Disappeared – Vanished in the Heartland Tracing the time immediately before an individual vanished for critical clues about the disappearance. |
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| Disappeared – Love and Lies in Idyllwild Dia Abrams owns several properties in the Idyllwild community of California, including a sprawling 116-acre ranch; on June 6th, 2020, Dia tells her partner, Keith Harper, she will feed the horses and is never seen or heard from again. |
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| Disappeared – Lost in Paradise Alex Gumm, a Maine musician interested in Eastern philosophy and all things extraterrestrial, vanishes in Hawaii on Feb. 22, 2018; Alex's disappearance raises several questions, and his childhood friends risk their lives to find the answers. |
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| Evil Lives Here – Ménage à Terror Genie already knows Lee Cawthon is capable of horrible things when he forces her into a polygamous relationship; she plays along with his twisted demands, but doesn't realize that the consequences of letting him have his way might be worse. |
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| Evil Lives Here – Keeping My Brother's Secret When Steven Crittenden confesses to his brother, Bryant, and then swears him to secrecy, Bryant faces the toughest decision of his life: whether to keep the secret and risk letting a murderer get away with it or tell the truth and betray his family. |
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| Evil Lives Here – She Knew It Was Goodbye Ginger knows her sister Paige is trouble, as she feels entitled to her family's undivided attention and becomes a monster when she doesn't get it; over time, Ginger watches as Paige abuses and ultimately murders the person she cares for the most. |
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| Evil Lives Here – Fantasizing and Hunting When Michael O'Leary moves in with his brother Marc, he doesn't realize that Marc has already fled the police in one state and committed crimes in another; the police track them down and suspect Michael of being Marc's accomplice. |
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| Evil Lives Here – Terror in the Wilderness Elishaba always believed her father wielded the power of God and that the only way to salvation was through suffering. |
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| People Magazine Investigates: Surviving a Serial Killer – Surviving the Dating Game Killer In 1965, Rodney Alcala attacks a teenage girl - only to brutalize and rape her again three years later; she feels guilty when she discovers he assaulted another girl soon after - but they are merely two of this man's countless victims. |
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| 48 Hours on ID – Jade Janks and the Secret Photos Police find Tom Merriman's body in his driveway under a pile of trash and arrested his stepdaughter, Jade Janks; she claims she found him dead in her car, panicked and hid thebody but didn't kill him. |
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| 48 Hours on ID – The Murder of Jackie Vandagriff A 24-year-old Texas college student, Jackie Vandagriff, turned up murdered the morning after meeting a man in a bar, raising the question of her death simply because she looked like the killer's ex-girlfriend. |
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| People Magazine Investigates: Surviving a Serial Killer – Surviving the Dating Game Killer In 1965, Rodney Alcala attacks a teenage girl - only to brutalize and rape her again three years later; she feels guilty when she discovers he assaulted another girl soon after - but they are merely two of this man's countless victims. |
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| 48 Hours on ID – Jade Janks and the Secret Photos Police find Tom Merriman's body in his driveway under a pile of trash and arrested his stepdaughter, Jade Janks; she claims she found him dead in her car, panicked and hid thebody but didn't kill him. |
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| 48 Hours on ID – The Murder of Jackie Vandagriff A 24-year-old Texas college student, Jackie Vandagriff, turned up murdered the morning after meeting a man in a bar, raising the question of her death simply because she looked like the killer's ex-girlfriend. |
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| Evil Lives Here – Terror in the Wilderness Elishaba always believed her father wielded the power of God and that the only way to salvation was through suffering. |
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| On the Case With Paula Zahn – A Call for Answers After police find a young mother bound and murdered in her bedroom, her family challenges police to bring a heartless killer to justice. |
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| On the Case With Paula Zahn – When, Where and Who? When a 15-year-old girl vanishes from her front porch, police must uncover when she was last seen, where she might have been going and who would have wanted her dead. |
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| A Time to Kill – Anchorage Cold Case When the body of a single mother turns up in a snowbank outside Anchorage, Alaska, the evidence points to the victim's fugitive fiancé; the shocking murder of a second native Alaskan sparks investigators' fears that a serial killer is on the loose. |
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| A Time to Kill – A Brutal, Vicious, and Evil Murder Missy Atkin lies dead across her bed, hands tied behind her back; the single mom has no known enemies, but at least one person harbors enough hate for her to kill her. |
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| A Time to Kill – Curtain Call An enraged killer strikes down 26-year-old Alexandra Ducsay, an aspiring entertainer with a big heart and a blossoming career; slain inside her family's Connecticut home, her attacker uses her own dance trophy to bludgeon her to death. |
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| Heart of Darkness – History of Violence At first, it appears as though 50-year-old Edwardyne Williams has fallen victim to a random act of violence; however, as police dig deeper, they discover that her killer is someone who has been harboring a grudge against her for years. |
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| Heart of Darkness – Murder on the Homefront Brandon Horst and Heather Schwarz are former high school sweethearts who reunite after Brandon's tour of duty in the Middle East; when they struggle to have a child, the pressure leads to secrets, affairs and deceit, leading to a diabolical homicide. |
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| Heart of Darkness – Lust for Murder When Stacie Smith is found dead and an accusation that she has been unfaithful is written on the wall of the crime scene, police believe that a jealous lover is behind her brutal death; the evidence may be a ploy to frame the wrong man for the crime. |
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| Fatal Vows – The Bad Apple Francis Nicky Nicolosi and his devout new wife, Ellie, are living out the perfect retirement, then one of them is found dead in an apple orchard; police discover there's more to this seemingly frail and religious couple than anyone imagined. |
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| Fatal Vows – Lethal Romance An ambitious Harlem couple dreams of a better life for themselves, but stuck in a bitter cycle of poverty, poor health and mistrust, one of them decides to put their dreams to rest forever. |
Wrapping Up
As you can see by this list, there is no need to live in terror from your cable bill. And you don’t need Paula Zahn to close this case!
Just sign up for one of the streaming services discussed in this article and you can enjoy ID while making sure your predatory cable bill never targets you again!
FAQ
Where did Investigation Discovery come from?
ID launched back in 1996 with the ridiculously cumbersome name “Discovery Civilization Network: The World History and Geography Channel.” It was part of a four-channel bundle together with what would become Destination America, Science, and Discovery Family. From 2002 to 2006, The New York Times and Discovery ran the channel together, first as Discovery Civilization Channel and then as Discovery Times. They experimented with focusing on current events and modern history, then on US culture.
The Times left the venture in 2006, but the name didn’t change until the 2008 relaunch as Investigation Discovery with a newly appointed focus on true crime stories. The now-popular network rebranded as simply ID in 2020, with a brand new logo.
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