Tag Archive 'satellite tv providers'

Apr 14 2009

How To Select Satellite TV Providers

Published by Jim under Direct TV

When you talk about satellite television providers in US, you would straight away think of DIRECTV and DISH Network. Why? The reason being each of them having a subscriber base of over 10 million.

Something About the Companies:

DIRECTV was established by Hughes Electronics in 1994, has the highest subscriber base of over 15 million and ranks number 2 in terms of customer satisfaction as compared to other satellite television providers.

DISH Network was established by EchoStar in 1996, has a subscriber base of more than 12 million and ranks number 1 for customer satisfaction.

So which one do you go for? That is the question we are trying to answer here. Well, it depends on your option of programs and favorite channels but before we do that, let’s look at a summary of what both of them are offering:

DIRECTV offers both English and Spanish packages. It has 7 English packages at the time of writing this article ranging from around $30 (45+ channels) to $80 (265+ channels).

DISH Network offers about 375 satellite channels and 5 program packages. The prices are slightly lower than that of DIRECTV if you consider it in terms of number of channels offered.

In terms of pricing, they are pretty much on par. However, you should choose based on the kind of channels they offer, particularly those that are offered only by one but not the other. For example, certain sports channels are only offered by DIRECTV due to exclusive rights that were given to them in the past. In the mean time, DISH Network came out with its own sports selection that includes the NHL Center Ice package and the NBA League Pass.

Both satellite television providers offer free dish equipment with a package commitment period but you would have to pay for HDTV receivers.

In conclusion, choose from the providers one that suits your television needs as price for both providers are as competitive as they could be at the moment.

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Apr 08 2009

Satellite TV Providers - The Best Satellite TV Offers

Published by Jim under Dish Network

Ever notice there are more satellite TV deals than satellite television providers? How could there be so many different satellite TV offers when there are only two major providers?
Dish Network and DirecTV are the major players in satellite TV service, yet there seems to be an entire army of satellite TV promotions, offers, and deals. Why is that?

It’s almost laughable as I imagine someone googling the search engines for the cheapest satellite TV service, or best satellite TV packages, etc. All Dish Network offers say
programming is 19 dollars a month, yet one offers a free home theater system, another offers money back, and still nother offers a free DVD player. One begs, “buy my dish”.

The same logic applies to DirecTV deal hunters. The price is always 29 dollars, but then you might see free TIVO on one offer, money back on another, and a couple are spelled wrong. I thought we were looking for DirecTV not Direct TV or DircTV! Oh, and let’s not forget free satellite TV offers. I do not know about you, but I love freebies.

There are some seriously frugal folks out there chasing down the pot of gold at the end of the digital television spectrum. In high definition no doubt. There are enough
satellite TV deals to keep you bouncing from web page to web page for hours! The truth of the matter is the bottom line offers do not ever change. It’s true, and I would tell you why.

This we know, there are only two satellite television providers we need to be concerned about, Dish Network and DirecTV. Both satellite television companies offer a free
four room satellite TV system including the satellite dish, receivers, plus free DVR and HDTV equipment. This variable is not going to change among the satellite TV providers.

Satellite TV programming packages would not change either. Dish Network’s cheapest programming package starts at about 19 dollars, while DirecTV’s cheapest service starts at around 29 dollars. Both sometimes offer special rates on premium movie channels and HD programming, but the base price and programming is always constant.

The only variable that changes in these satellite TV offers is the vendor, or reseller promotions. What I mean is, while the Dish Network or DirecTV bottom line offer remains constant, the satellite TV vendor may offer something extra as an incentive for you to buy from them. This is frequently times a freebie or cash back offer.

There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, it is to your benefit there is so much competition out there. If you were to go directly to Dish Network or DirecTV you would acquire the exact same satellite TV package, minus all the goodies. If you are going to buy anyway, you prefer all the freebies you can acquire right? Take cable television for example.

When was the last time you saw a reseller for cable television offer you some money back or cool free offers just to acquire you to buy from their agency? Never, right?
That’s because they do not have to. Cable TV has you over a barrel and there is no competition. The only competition cable has is satellite TV, and they deal with that by
running negative ads.

Competition is good, and you make out like a bandit! So what are the best deals in satellite TV? In the end, that is really going to be up to you, but I would tell you what I
think. Anyone who’s surprised, raise your hand. OK, seriously though, here’s what I know. My cable company used to charge 50 bucks a month for 60 channels. Sound about right?

Dish Network now offers satellite TV programming at 19.99 a month for 40 channels. This is the regular price, not a promotion. Local channels are 5 dollars extra. You would end up with about 60 channels for around 25 bucks a month. according to my calculations, that’s about half the price of cable. Now just tack on the freebie from your vendor of option, and there you have it. Your best Dish Network deal.

Now let’s take a look at DirecTV who currently offers 155 channels for 29.99 a month. Add 3 dollars for locals, and this is still about 17 dollars cheaper than what my cable company charges for basic service alone. Now that I think about it, my old cable company didn’t even give me a DVR with that! Anyway, pick a freebie and there’s your best DirecTV deal. Now I remember why I disabled the cable!

From time to time, both Dish Network and DirecTV would change their bottom line satellite TV packages. Just remember when they do, those stay the same from vendor to vendor. What changes is the promotional offer. Promotional offers are why it’s better go through a vendor rather than the actual satellite television providers for the best satellite deals.

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