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.
Try Hulu + Live TV for 3 Days Free!
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:
| Spacey Unmasked A forensic look at actor Kevin Spacey's meteoric rise to stardom and spectacular fall from grace amid allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior, as several men speak about their experiences with him. |
|
| Spacey Unmasked Explores the life of Kevin Spacey, one of the most powerful and respected actors in the world, from his meteoric rise to stardom through his spectacular fall from grace amid accusations of grooming, sexual harassment and abuse made by multiple men. |
|
| Signs of a Psychopath – The Monster Has Always Been There A 911 operator receives a distressing call from a man repeatedly claiming that he just stabbed and killed two people. Police quickly discover that not only is the call genuine but that the caller is a violent and unpredictable psychopath. |
|
| Spacey Unmasked A forensic look at actor Kevin Spacey's meteoric rise to stardom and spectacular fall from grace amid allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior, as several men speak about their experiences with him. |
|
| Spacey Unmasked Explores the life of Kevin Spacey, one of the most powerful and respected actors in the world, from his meteoric rise to stardom through his spectacular fall from grace amid accusations of grooming, sexual harassment and abuse made by multiple men. |
|
| Signs of a Psychopath – The Monster Has Always Been There A 911 operator receives a distressing call from a man repeatedly claiming that he just stabbed and killed two people. Police quickly discover that not only is the call genuine but that the caller is a violent and unpredictable psychopath. |
|
| Mean Girl Murders – Hot Yoga & Cold Blood A shooting in a luxury high-rise building sends shockwaves through the upscale neighborhood of Uptown; starting with surveillance video from the crime scene, detectives soon uncover a list of suspects and a plot born out of economic envy. |
|
| 48 Hours on ID – Scott Peterson: Case in Question In 2004, Scott Peterson was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and sentenced to death. |
|
| 48 Hours – The Yogurt Shop Murders New information in the 30-year-old murders of four teenage girls in Austin, Texas, may lead to their killer. |
|
| No One Can Hear You Scream – Gitchie Manitou Massacre A massacre in Gitchie Manitou State Preserve leaves four teenagers dead, and police baffled. But a witness comes forward with an incredible tale of murder and survival that could solve one of the most gruesome crimes in the history of the Midwest. |
|
| No One Can Hear You Scream – The Woman Who Worked Alone Successful real estate agent Beverly Carter heads to the country to show a rural home to some prospective buyers; when she arrives, she soon learns that this showing will be anything but routine. |
|
| No One Can Hear You Scream – Sojourn to Hell When Laura Cowan falls on hard times, a friend of the family steps in to invite her and her two young children into his home; to her horror, Laura soon discovers that this safe haven is nothing more than a prison. |
|
| The Night That Didn't End – Enter Frame Left When a young woman disappears after a visit to the mall, and investigators discover from store surveillance footage that she has been abducted, she is found dead in the woods. |
|
| The Night That Didn't End – Murder in the Wetlands In the coastal town of Leland, N.C., a missing woman is found dead in a swamp; as detectives speak with the victim's friends and family, they begin to unravel the truth behind a horrifying murder. |
|
| The Night That Didn't End – Missing Half In Dayton, Ohio, a young mother goes missing after attending a party, and her identical twin becomes convinced there is something deeply sinister afoot. |
|
| Calls From the Inside – Murdered by Manipulation When a ranch hand is found dead in a river outside of Salt Lake City, investigators across two states must work together to catch the killer; searching for the truth uncovers a trail of fraud, deception and adultery, shocking a small town in Nevada. |
|
| Calls From the Inside – The Real Jail Wives Two middle class moms both tried to kill their husbands; jail calls between the two reveal their thoughts on love, men, and what landed them in prison. |
|
| Calls From the Inside – Killing the Competition Fishermen find a 27-year-old man shot to death on a river embankment; a key suspect leaves investigators guessing before jailhouse calls reveal the truth of a twisted love triangle that ended in murder. |
|
| Calls From the Inside – Death by Prima Donna In December 2001, the brutal murder of Robert Fingerhut, the respected owner of two bus stations, spurs an investigation that reveals a sordid relationship of lust, lies and murder; jail calls hold the killer's secrets. |
|
| See No Evil – The Blood Trail Tom and Jill Estes' bodies are found behind a dumpster in Festus, Mo.; police are baffled until a receipt leads to CCTV footage of a blood-stained suspect; a trail of bodies reveals a killer who must be stopped before he strikes again. |
|
| See No Evil – No Place Like Home Young professional Sasha Samsudean disappears after a night out in downtown Orlando, Fla.; detectives turn to video surveillance footage to unravel the mystery and bring Sasha's killer to justice. |
|
| See No Evil – Tapes Don't Lie 33-year-old Michael Scott is shot dead on the streets of downtown Baltimore; detectives are in a race against time to find the gunman before he strikes again; a trail of cameras lining the city's streets and buses may lead police to the killer. |
|
| See No Evil – Don't Open the Door In Texas, on Christmas Eve 2010, a woman gets a mysterious phone call at work and speeds home to find her 12-year-old son gone without a trace; investigators look at those closest to the boy, but only surveillance footage can lead them to the truth. |
|
| Body Cam – Breathe In New Mexico, officers chasing a robbery suspect go down in a hail of bullets from a heavily armed suspect; in Ohio, a father threatens to blow up his children and an entire neighborhood with over 25,000 pounds of explosives. |
|
| Crimes Gone Viral – Crowd Control Onlookers witness the assault of a riverboat captain on a dock and rush to help; man flees from police using unconventional methods; store clerk traps a burglar in her store; bouncer defends a strip club from a gunman. |
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.
Ditch “Big Cable” Now – 3 Simple Steps to Cut the Cord
- Pick the right streaming service
- Get the content you deserve with the best VPN.
- Supercharge your internet provider
That’s it — you’ll save money, take back control, and enjoy TV more!
Page Updates ▼▲
-
Updated some sub-sections. Updated some section headings. More links.
-
Updated some sub-sections. Image changes. Pricing updates.
-
Added VPN info. Pricing updates. Linking. Various changes.
-
Added buttons for streaming services. Added sub-section. Updated some sub-sections. Image changes. Added useful links. Deleted unneeded sub-section.
-
Image changes. Pricing updates. Reworded some things.
-
Image changes. Added a few links. Pricing updates.
-
Pricing updates. Mentioned offers. Additional links.
-
Added new section. Added links to streaming services. Mentioned channel info. Updates to a section. Changed some content in main section. Updated one section. Cleaned up list. Removed section.
-
Changed some content in main section. Pricing updates. Cross linking.
-
Coming Soon: New Arrivals On Hulu Live In August And Beyond - 07/31/2022 -
How to Watch Live TV on Hulu - 07/17/2022 -
Top 15 Cities With the Most Baseball Victories - 07/15/2022