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:
| On the Case With Paula Zahn – The Bitter Truth A look inside the homicide investigation of a well-regarded reality star; the bitter truth behind a murder perpetrated by a "Welcome to Sweetie Pies" cast member. | |
| 48 Hours on ID – A Man With a Past Lori Ann Slesinski vanished in 2006, and police believed the prime suspect, her friend Rick Ennis, was the last to see her alive, and he killed his parents when he was 12. | |
| Murder in the Heartland – Betrayal Begins With Trust Family and friends are concerned when Phillip Brewer and Jody Fortuna go missing from Gillette, Wyo.; eventually, the horrifying truth comes to light. | |
| 48 Hours on ID – The Case of the Poison Cheesecake A beauty stylist is almost murdered in 2016 by a client who comes to her home and poisons her with a piece of cheesecake; the motive doesn't make sense to police until they realize that the stylist and the client have an uncanny physical resemblance. | |
| 48 Hours on ID – The Search for Christie Wilson For 15 years, DebbieBoyd wondered where convicted killer Mario Garcia hid the body of her murdered daughter Christie Wilson.Through sheer will and wit,and the help of two determinedinvestigators,she finally got her answer. Erin Moriarty reports. | |
| Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda – Bullet With My Name on It In his first year on the force, rookie patrol officer Joe Kenda quickly learns the ropes, but when he tries to stop a brawling mob on his own, he finds himself in the line of fire. | |
| Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda – Trigger A sharp-dressed pedestrian is shot in the back for unknown reasons; chasing a promising lead, Lt. Kenda realizes he's barking up the wrong tree; when an impromptu argument turns fatal, a suspect's guilt boils down to his skill with deadly weapons. | |
| Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda – Eyes of a Child A churchgoing grandmother is found stabbed to death in her apartment, leaving Lt. Joe Kenda to wonder what sort of monster could do such a thing; then Kenda investigates the mysterious death of a successful dentist, and the case gets personal. | |
| The Night That Didn't End – My Name Is Denise In North Port, Fla., police receive a call reporting that a young mother has gone missing; in an effort to find her, detectives follow a trail of incoming 911 calls that reveal a heartbreaking story more horrific than they could have ever imagined. | |
| The Night That Didn't End – Night on the Parkway Billy Carter raises daughters Crystal and Misty in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina; after a body is found on the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, this family's piece of paradise becomes a nightmare they relive again and again. | |
| The Night That Didn't End – A Sister's Loss In Ohio, a woman is found stabbed to death in her kitchen after she fails to show up for work; her sister is able to help detectives solve the case after a family heirloom is discovered during the investigation. | |
| The Murder Tapes – Twisted Upside Down The streets of Kalamazoo, Mich., are full of rumors about 69-year-old William Gray; faced with a missing persons case, investigators are met with a wall of silence. | |
| The Murder Tapes – Puzzle Piece When the battered body of Bianca Rainer, mother of two young girls, is found in rural Arkansas, the police have just one unusual clue, a puzzle piece found stuck to her body, but they know if they find the missing puzzle, they will find her murderer. | |
| The Murder Tapes – This Guy's Getting Paranoid The complex missing persons case of Roaa Al-Dhanoon takes a disturbing turn, involving someone who is close to her. | |
| The Murder Tapes – Blue Nightmare Local police confront their worst fears when the body of a local EMT is found at her home in Columbus, Ga.; the ensuing investigation shocks the wider community and tests the public's faith in law enforcement itself. | |
| American Monster – Too Good to Be True When Amanda Schmitt marries John Grazioli, the happy day is captured on home video; six months later, police respond to a 911 call and make a shocking discovery. | |
| American Monster – Once a Princess Hyrah Frasch is no ordinary baby; the photogenic 1-year-old already has her own website and looks set to become an internet sensation. | |
| American Monster – Dance With Me Ramon Sosa is a father of three who runs a successful boxing gym in Texas; he feels like the luckiest man alive until someone marks him for murder. | |
| American Monster – Friends Outside of Work Young parents Gary and Tasha Bentley are living the good life; they've got high-paying jobs, a nice house and regular vacations to the tropics, but just five years into their marriage, someone's plotting an exit strategy that ends with a bullet. | |
| Signs of a Psychopath – I Was a Star A woman dies in a brutal stabbing at home; police quickly locate the prime suspect, her ex-boyfriend Antoine Bynum; in his interrogation, he appears to have a psychotic episode until detectives discover it's merely the ruse of a deranged psychopath. | |
| Signs of a Psychopath – I'm Not the Monster I Was An unapologetic 14-year-old boy confesses to the murder of his best friend; twelve years later, he is back in court with a chance at a reduced sentence. | |
| Signs of a Psychopath – Heat Will Destroy After his conviction for the brutal slaying of his wife, a Florida inmate lays claim to another unsolved murder 17 years prior, revealing that he's a manipulative psychopath with a history of violence and an unquenchable thirst for revenge. | |
| Signs of a Psychopath – In My Van, I'm the Aggressor When Omaha, Neb., police officers arrest the driver of a stolen van, he shocks detectives by giving an unsolicited confession to a gruesome murder, and it is only the first of many chilling revelations. | |
| Signs of a Psychopath – I Knew She Lived Alone Burlington Police get a call that a man has killed his girlfriend; they arrive at the home to find the man calm while his girlfriend's body lies nearby; he explains that he has other victims, revealing a history of psychopathic sexual deviancy. | |
| Signs of a Psychopath – The Women on His List; He Is Not Among the Living In the course of a few hours, an unhinged man snaps, unleashing a furious rampage that leaves three women dead in their homes; a statewide manhunt ensues, which yields a misogynistic psychopath hell-bent on revenge. | |
| Signs of a Psychopath – I Guess My Life Is Over Now A mother who calls 911 to report her 32-year-old son is threatening her turns up dead in her home; he becomes the only suspect, and when he turns himself in, his pragmatic retelling of the slaying isn't just cold-hearted, it's psychopathic. | |
| Signs of a Psychopath – He Is Not Among the Living A young woman calls 911 because her boyfriend is missing and there is a pool of blood in their apartment; evidence leads investigators to the couple's roommate, a manipulative psychopath hell-bent on revenge, along with his loyal best friend. | |
| Signs of a Psychopath – Heat Will Destroy After his conviction for the brutal slaying of his wife, a Florida inmate lays claim to another unsolved murder 17 years prior, revealing that he's a manipulative psychopath with a history of violence and an unquenchable thirst for revenge. | |
| Signs of a Psychopath – In My Van, I'm the Aggressor When Omaha, Neb., police officers arrest the driver of a stolen van, he shocks detectives by giving an unsolicited confession to a gruesome murder, and it is only the first of many chilling revelations. | |
| Signs of a Psychopath – I Knew She Lived Alone Burlington Police get a call that a man has killed his girlfriend; they arrive at the home to find the man calm while his girlfriend's body lies nearby; he explains that he has other victims, revealing a history of psychopathic sexual deviancy. |
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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