Cable Vs. Satellite TV - Which is the Better Choice
By admin | August 27, 2008
When considering cable vs. satellite TV it can be incredibly confusing, especially with so many commercials touting one system over the other. They both promise lots of perks such as pay-per-view and other features, and each service provider declares they are the best buy for your money. But there really is no comparison - satellite TV service providers simply give you the best value for your money across the country.
In order to understand what you are getting for your money, make sure you ask plenty of questions when you compare cable TV and satellite TV. Don’t simply rely on advertising hype and your local cable service provider’s promises.
Why is Satellite TV Better Than Cable? So Many Reasons!
Many people don’t realize how much is offered with today’s satellite TV systems, assuming that they will be expensive or difficult to install. Not so! In fact, most of today’s top satellite TV companies such as service providers Dish Network and DirecTV, will come to your home and do the installation at no extra charge once you have a contract.
Your options are also greater with satellite TV vs. cable - most of the larger companies offer their services just about anywhere you can imagine, whether you live high in the mountains, remotely located from the world where no cable reaches, or in a crowded city. Being national companies rather than small, locally owned cable services also means you will benefit from quality service at lower prices. It also ensures you are getting the benefit of state-of-the-art technology. Many cable companies today are either replacing old cable or struggling to keep up while satellite TV providers are forging into the future.
Of course, in the final analysis, it all comes down to quality of programming and service reliability when you compare cable and satellite TV providers.
Here are a few things you should know about satellite TV:
FREE Equipment - Take advantage of a free satellite TV system and FREE installation. You can also purchase or lease your equipment depending on what is best for your needs.
TiVo - TiVo is available only through satellite TV providers and enables you to record, rewind and pause your programming.
HDTV - High Definition programming is always available and not dependent on location and company like it is with cable.
Pay-Per-View - There are twice as many Pay-per-View stations and the sports coverage is much more complete - with no black-outs for local stations.
Programming - There are more programming packages and options for you to choose from, so you can tailor something that suits your tastes.
Customer Service - Customer service ranks consistently higher than with cable TV.
Value - Value for the money is superior - dollar for dollar, you’ll get more channels and a better variety of options with satellite TV than most other cable service providers can provide.
Cable Television vs. Satellite TV is an easy choice once you compare services and know the facts. Millions of people have switched to satellite TV providers DirecTV and the Dish Network and more sign up every week. The best value for your dollar is clear - Satellite TV.
About the Author:
Kevin Urban is a freelance writer for 1st-Dish-TV.net, a consumer guide
to free satellite TV
systems. He has contributed numerous articles on free
satellite dish TV systems and personally has no preference when it comes to
choosing satellite TV service providers,
as long as he can watch the Sports Channels.
Copyright 2006 1st-Dish-TV.net
Permission is granted to publish this article on your site if the
author’s byline is included and all links are hyperlinked.
Topics: Satellite_TV | No Comments »
The History Of America’s Satellite TV Service Providers
By admin | July 14, 2008
The history of satellite TV service providers in the United States goes back farther than you might think. Most people are familiar with popular current providers such as the Dish Network and DirecTV, but very few know how satellite TV has developed and evolved since its earliest beginnings in the 1970s.
The Beginnings of Satellite TV
Thirty years ago there was no such thing as satellite TV service providers, but that was about to change. Several private companies banded together in the early 1970s to launch a series of geosynchronous satellites (geosynchronous means an orbit that keeps the satellite directly above one area of the earth at all times) to transmit signals from an originating source to multiple receiving locations.
In 1976, HBO became the first programmer to deliver satellite programming to cable companies; many other programmers like Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) and the Christian Broadcasting Network (later called The Family Channel) followed suit, and the satellite television industry was poised for tremendous growth.
Big Dishes, Free Programming
As more and more programmers used satellites to deliver their programming to cable companies across the country, a Stanford University professor developed a way to receive those signals in his own home. His receiver dish, later known as a C-band dish for the frequency that it received, was quite large and quite effective. He was able to pick up signals from just about any programmer he wanted because the signals were sent out “in the clear”, or without any encryption.
At one point, the professor sent HBO a check for $100 to pay for the programming he had been receiving and enjoying so much, but much to his surprise, they sent the check back to him. They informed him that they dealt only with cable companies, not individuals. And thus, a television revolution was born.
The professor published a “how to” guide for building a home satellite dish and founded a company to produce the parts for dishes. Initially these systems were quite expensive (up to $10,000 or more) but as the technology improved, the costs dropped dramatically (to $3,000 or less).
Why would anyone want to spend that much money for a C-band home satellite receiver? After all, the dish itself was quite large and unsightly, and required a good deal of space for installation.
The answer lies in several factors. First, because the programming was free, the homeowner only had to make a one-time investment in hardware. There were no additional monthly fees. Second, the signals were extremely crisp and clear because they came directly from the programmer, rather than second- or third-hand from another provider or cable TV system. And third, there were literally hundreds of channels available, a selection that cable companies could not even come close to offering.
C-band dishes were especially popular in rural areas where there was no cable service provider and over the air broadcast signals were weak or even totally absent. As a result, the satellite TV industry surged in popularity and grew quickly.
No More Free Lunch
Of course, all good things come to an end, and it did not take long for satellite TV service providers to realize that there was tremendous value to their programming that was essentially being given away for free to C-band dish owners. They began to lobby Congress for the right to scramble, or encrypt, their signals so that they could no longer be received by dish owners who did not pay for a decoding device. Dish owners hated this idea, naturally, but they simply did not have the organization or influence of large programming companies. Congress passed the Cable Act of 1984, which allowed programmers to encrypt their satellite signals.
Suddenly the satellite programmers were full-fledged satellite TV service providers, with a new (but still small) revenue stream from C-band dish owners. In those days, though, encryption technology was not as sophisticated as it is today, and many dish owners found ways around the encryption or bought bootleg decoders. Theft of service remained a major problem up until the early 1990’s, when digital encryption technology went into widespread use.
Competition Heats Up
As the industry grew, individual programmers realized they could not survive if they all were their own individual satellite TV service providers, so they looked to new companies who were willing to take on that role. The biggest boon to the industry, though, came in the form a technology leap that allowed receiver dishes to shrink significantly in size, to the point where they were small enough to be installed on the roof or outside wall of most homes.
A huge new market was born for direct broadcast satellite (DBS) systems. Many companies jumped into this business, most notably a consortium of four cable TV companies as well as a non-cable associated company. Their services were known, respectively, as Primestar and DIRECTV.
More and more satellite TV service providers entered the market, presenting consumers with a confusing array of services at a wide range of prices. Meanwhile, the pressure to improve the technology and deliver more advanced services meant that providers were pushed to spend more and more money to stay competitive. Inevitably, some could not keep up with the financial demands and only the strongest survived.
Industry Consolidation and Changes in Ownership
A flurry of industry consolidation, changes in ownership, and restructuring led to the emergence of two major satellite TV service providers - DirecTV and Dish Network. Their size and financial strength allowed them to invest in new technologies and rapidly expand their service offerings. Today, DirecTV and Dish Network offer consumers a huge assortment of options, including pay-per-view programming, on-demand programming, music services, satellite radio, high speed internet, and more.
About DirecTV and the Dish Network
The Dish Network and DirecTV are the two major satellite TV service providers in the market today, and for good reason. They each offer a range of services at reasonable prices, and have quite a large customer base.
In the early days of DBS, a major obstacle for the providers was the equipment costs the customers had to absorb in order to get their homes set up with a dish and a receiver. Further complicating the issue, if the customer had more than one TV in their home then they had to purchase a separate receiver for each TV where they wanted to have DBS service. The cost was prohibitive for many potential customers, so DirecTV and the Dish Network looked for ways to lower the start up costs and make it easier for people to switch from cable TV to satellite TV.
The winning strategy, as it turns out, was collaborating with equipment manufacturers and offering free satellite TV systems to customers who would agree to service contracts of up to two years. Over that length of time, the Dish Network and DirecTV were able to recover enough revenue to at least break even on the discounted equipment costs, and often gained substantial additional revenue as customers purchased pay-per-view programming and other extra services.
About the Author:
Julie-Ann Amos is a freelance writer for 1st-Dish-TV.net, a consumer guide
to digital satellite TV.
She has written numerous articles on free
satellite dish TV systems and personally has no preference when it comes to
choosing satellite TV service providers,
as long as she can watch the Science Fiction Channel.
Copyright 2005 1st-Dish-TV.net
Permission is granted to publish this article on your site only if the
author’s byline is included and all links are hyperlinked.
Topics: Satellite_TV | No Comments »