Satellite TV
Satellite TV Providers
Satellite TV providers make it possible for you to have hundreds of channels piped straight to your television. They have also liberated us from the need to be at the mercy of the cable company. If you lived out of town, you have now been rescued from the nothingness on TV blues. Both Dishnetwork and Direct TV have over 250 channels to choose from.
Remember the old days when there was no customer service at the cable companies? What a drag! As a matter of fact, most cable companies still suck at customer service. A few of the larger ones have gotten better though. Still none of them are a match for DISH and DIRECTV. Over the past few years Dish Network and DIRECTV have pummeled the cable companies in price, customer satisfaction and service.
Years ago you had to get a big dish the size of your whole back yard. Now, you just have an 18 inch dish that sits on your roof and it’s barely noticeable. That small dish picks up a 100% digital signal and sends it to your receiver. This is another area where satellite kicks some cable butt. Cable TV sometimes has analog signals mixed with digital and they call it all digital. Gotta love that!
What about price? If the satellite TV providers have so many advantages over cable, aren’t those services going to cost more? Absolutely not! That’s just another area where satellite beats the pants off cable TV. Both DISH and DirectTV are always lower priced than cable and on every package level.
Now that we’ve covered the difference in cable and satellite TV, let’s talk about the difference between Dish Network and DirecTV. This is where it gets tough, because both services are great. They both get over 250 crystal clear digital channels. Both have great customer service and satisfaction. So, how do you dig down and really figure out which one is right for you?
The first area I would tell you to look at would be channels. Even though both providers have over 250 channels, you can still find differences in programming packages. Here’s where a comparison chart will come in handy.
You also need to consider your own budget. If you’re on a budget, you may be well suited with one of the family plans. The family plan is designed to help families have something to watch and be kid friendly at the same time, but there is a price benefit there too. The DISH Family plan is $19.95 per month and DIRECTV’s family plan is $29.95.
For the sports enthusiast both providers have a great selection. Most people favor DIRECTV in this area, mostly because of the NFL Sunday Ticket, which Dishnetwork doesn’t carry. As far as I can tell, DISH is very competitive in every other area in sports.
As you can see you need to spend a little time learning about the different packages offered. You can start by checking out the channel comparison guides on this site. They will give you a birds eye view of all programming options when you compare satellite TV providers. Just spend a few minutes researching now and you will be happy with what you get.