Satellite
TV Review
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Dish Network and
DirecTV now
provide satellite TV service to more than 28 million homes in all 50
states in the USA, and that number is growing every day, while cable TV
service is declining. This is happening because Dish Network and
DirecTV provide more entertainment at a lower price. In a nutshell,
Dish Network and DirecTV give you quite a bit "more bang for your buck."
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Dish Network and DirecTV now
provide satellite TV service to more than 28 million homes in all 50
states in the USA, and that number is growing every day, while cable TV
service is declining. This is happening because Dish Network and
DirecTV provide more entertainment at a lower price. In a nutshell,
Dish Network and DirecTV give you quite a bit "more bang for your buck."
How can they do this? Dish Network and DirecTV can do
this because the cable companies have priced themselves right out of
the market, as suggested by the Dish Network ads that urge you to "stop
feeding the cable pig." Cable fees, which are higher than Dish Network
and DirecTV to begin with, have increased by more than 40% since 1998,
while satellite fees have increased by only 8%.
Depending on where you live and what cable company
serves your area, you will pay about $40 per month for basic cable
service (about 64 channels), plus $10 per month to get digital
programming instead of analogue. You will also pay a monthly fee for
each additional "box" you need to service more than one TV in your
home. And finally, there will also be an installation charge.
When I finally saw the light and left cable for digital
satellite TV, I was paying nearly $70 per month for 64 channels of
basic analogue service to 3 TVs. Now I pay Dish Network only $51 per
month for more than 210 all-digital channels, including locals and 60
channels of SIRIUS radio. I could have gotten similar service from
DirecTV for about the same price.
With either Dish Network or DirecTV you receive free
equipment and free professional installation for up to 4 rooms. This
includes the satellite dish(es) necessary to bring in the signal, and
the receivers for each room that connect to your TV.
With Dish Network you can get a free dual-room DVR
receiver that lets you watch two separate TV programs in two separate
rooms while recording each program separately. You can also get a free
Dish TV High Definition receiver. With DirecTV you receive DVR and HD
upgrades free after the use of a $100 mail-in rebate and the commitment
to a certain level of service.
So both Dish Network and DirecTV operate on the same
basic business model. They give away the equipment and the installation
so they can make money selling the programming packages, in much the
same way as when Gillette used to give away the razor in order to sell
the blades. Dish Network and DirecTV equipment and installation are
both excellent and there is very little difference between them in the
way of quality, reliability, and ease of service.
It is in the way they offer programming packages that
Dish Network and DirecTV differ, and it is here that most of us develop
a preference for one or the other providers, based on what features are
most important to us.
Dish Network offers programming in a way that allows
you to keep your costs as low as possible if you simply want to step up
to the basic benefits that satellite provides you over cable. These
benefits include 100% digital programming, better picture, many more
channels, free dual-room DVR receiver, free HD receiver, and an overall
monthly cost that is usually a good bit lower than cable.
DirecTV offers programming in a way that makes you pay
more to get more than Dish Network. Its minimum package, for example,
is for 155 channels, rather than 80 channels, so your cost of entry
into satellite TV is higher with DirecTV than with Dish Network, but
you get more. Many viewers feel that DirecTV offers more in the way of
sports and special programming than Dish Network.
Due to the fact that details of special offers by both
providers are constantly changing, you should check the links at the
end of this article for current information about Dish Network offers
and DirecTV offers. You will be able to see exactly which channels you
can get for a particular price, including local channels for your area,
and learn more about your DVR and HD options if these are important to
you.
Thank
You
I
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