by CountryGuy 14 Replies latest social entertainment
Due to cable rates going up, AGAIN, we have decided on getting a dish. My mother in law has direct TV and a friend has Dish Network. They appear very similar to me. Does anyone have some experiences with either or both companies? Which one should I go with.
Thanks,
CountryGuy
I have DirecTV and have no complaints about it.
You do need to have a clear view of the sky in the direction of Texas (the satellite is in stationary orbit over the ground station) and the higher off the ground you can put your dish (within reason) the less problems you will have with trees or new buildings growing into the dish's field of view and thereby blocking your signal.
Heavy rainstorms can result in loss of signal or amusing pixelation effects, but it is FAR, FAR better than the lousy cable service that used to have a geographic monopoly. I joyously dumped cable several years ago and have never looked back.
The JD Power website gives a SLIGHT edge (and its award) to DirecTV. I believe this is because that network has the exclusive rights to the NFL all-games football package on Sundays.
Here's the link (just follow the simple instructions): http://www.jdpower.com/cc/telecom/jdpa_ratings/FindCableSat.jsp
We have had both and much prefer Direct TV. Customer service is awesome and Dish sucked. Customer service always wins me over. We forgot to pay our bill last moth. They called the day before the due date, as a curtesy, to let us know and didn't charge us for the check by phone. Gotta like that ... and she was nice to boot.
Jen :)
I am happy with cable myself, but from what I've heard, DirecTV and Dish are almost the same.... but DirecTV is better for sports lovers, and Dish is better for those that are more into movies. Not sure if this is still the case.
the Dish Network is cutting several very popular channels and has no intention of returning them anytime soon. I know for sure Comedy Central is getting the axe. I dont know what the other one are but as I recall they were pretty big also.
Dish Network sucks the big one. I have cable and the cost is out of control but my Cable Modem keeps me in it. My high speed connection so ROCKS. It is so fast I cant believe it and I have had it for years now. Its as fast as you can get at home. DSL cant touch it. Satellite cant even smell it.
the Dish Network is cutting several very popular channels and has no intention of returning them anytime soon.
This has already been resolved. Dish Network (and Echostar) had a pricing dispute with Viacom, and as a result several channels were temporarily disconnected earlier this week. The Viacom channels affected included VH1, SpikeTV, Comedy Central and CBS-owned affiliates in 16 cities.
Due to outcry from Dish Network customers, this dispute was resolved within 48 hours, and the channels have been back on the air for a few days now.
With dish network you can not get you're local channel's ,at least that is the way it was a year ago unless you have a spliter which turns you're cable off for you're local stations, then you have to use the spliter to turn you're cable back on. Maybe it has changed but that is why i went with Direct Tv.
DirecTV is better for sports lovers
That is really the biggest difference. I am a football fanatic and got DirecTV because of the NFL package. For both, you need an unobstructed view of the southern sky (the satellite is in orbit around the southern hemisphere). I had heard recently that Dish dropped CBS and several affiliated channels (MTV for example) because of a contract dispute. No word whether they will be returning.
HEY FOLKS!! THE DISH NETWORK - VIACOM DISPUTE IS SETTLED.
DISH NETWORK USERS HAVE ALL THEIR CHANNELS !!
With giant media content companies such as Viacom aggressively raising rates and increasingly marketing their broadcast and cable networks as "all-or-nothing" packages, more conflict is inevitable, says Craig Moffett, cable analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein. Time Warner Cable yanked Walt Disney's ABC from systems for 39 hours in 2000. About 400,000 Cox Communications subscribers lost News Corp.'s Fox network for a week in January due to a battle. Cox also exchanged threats with Disney's ESPN before finally agreeing to pay more. "The disputes are getting bigger and flashier than ever," Moffett says. "The reality is these things happen all the time - but nobody cares when Outdoor Life goes off the air for 24 hours." The next likely flashpoint: DirecTV, now controlled by News Corp. Chase Carey, head of the No. 1 satellite operator, warned analysts last month that it has "a lot of work to do" to bring down programming costs. EchoStar blinked first in the latest showdown, says analyst John Mansell of Kagan Research. As part of an estimated five-year deal, EchoStar gave in on using one of its limited channel slots to carry Viacom's Nicktoons network. But it will pay Viacom about 6 cents a month more per subscriber, a 4% to 5% increase. According to Moffett, that is less than the double-digit increases EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen said Viacom was demanding. The two sides also settled a lawsuit filed by EchoStar over Viacom's Nicktoons demand. Ergen, on a conference call, predicted more showdowns for EchoStar: "We get more heat for raising prices than we do for taking down channels." Viacom President Mel Karmazin issued a statement apologizing to viewers for "the disruption in service" and thanking them for "their patience and support." Meanwhile, EchoStar announced it would delay by about 15 days its earnings report, due out Thursday, while it tried to conclude talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission ( news - web sites ) over an accounting issue that may require a restatement upward of its 2001 results. | |||||||||||||||||
