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Overview of Satellite TV Providers |
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Satellite TV Background: |
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| There are just two main providers of Satellite TV systems in North America... it takes a lot of money to launch satellites and deliver hundreds of channels of programming!!! They are DIRECTV and DISH Network. | |
Advantages Provided By Both Satellite TV Providers: |
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The Analog Versus Digital Difference: |
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| Cable companies call their service "digital cable", but it's really a mix
of analog and digital signals. Analog signals suffer from interference, signal loss and other
issues leading that can lead to poor picture and sound quality. Nationally, cable systems
provide 70-80 analog channels in their digital packages. So some of your cable channels may
look snowy or have those ghost shadows where it looks like there's a second channel in the background.
Satellite systems, from both DIRECTV and DISH Network, provide a 100% digital feed directly to
your home. This provides CD-quality sound and near DVD-quality video on EVERY satellite channel you
receive. In addition to being a cleaner signal, it also means that the signal is more reliable
because it comes straight to your house.
Ask your local cable company how all those channels get to their local offices... most use satellite transmission themselves (their own private network satellite relay systems) to receive their digital feeds for their cable channels! Then they distribute the signal locally through the cable system's sub-stations, and eventually to your house. So they have two issues to deal with - their own satellite feed reliability and their local cabling network's quality, power and signal loss issues as well. Even though the signals in the cable system start off as all-digital (at their main office), their cable networks are somewhat outdated and the digital channels don't all "fit" in the cable bandwidth in your neighborhood - so they convert a bunch of the channels to analog before they send them to your house (what a shame). The cable company has a lot of extra expense with installing and maintaining a network of cable and junction boxes and switches and amplifiers - this is also why cable costs more than Satellite TV. The Satellite TV systems from DIRECTV and DISH Network feed the digital satellite signal directly to your house - resulting in lower cost, higher reliability and performance, better sound quality and a crystal clear picture on every channel. |
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Satellite TV Is In 1/4th Of US Homes: |
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Satellite TV became available starting in 1993. By January 2004, when the FCC released it's 10th annual report on competition in video markets, Satellite TV was in 23.7 million homes in the US. The most recent annual period the FCC tracked (ending June 2003) included 2.2 million new homes that signed up for Satellite TV. That's more than 6,000 US homes per day getting Satellite TV! |
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Conclusion: |
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| DIRECTV and DISH Network are both great deals! Now is a really great time to switch to Satellite TV because you don't have to buy any expensive equipment or pay for installation to enjoy the digital quality of Satellite TV. Satellite has a higher quality picture than cable, better rated customer service and it's cheaper than cable too! Compare the small differences - between DIRECTV and DISH Network - outlined on our comparison linked below. Which provider you choose will likely come down to a certain sports package you may want, international TV channels or some other similar personal preference. | |
Comparison of DIRECTV and DISH Network Features |
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