Sep 12, 2013

Cable TV And Satellite Television Compared - Which Is Better?

By Brian Stevens


Cable Has Just About Caught Up With Satellite Television When It Comes To Level Of Quality, Customer Service, And Cost, However There Are Several Differences Between The Two That You Should Bear In Mind If You Are Considering Investing In Cable Or Satellite Television. Here Is A Short Comparison Of The Two:

cable TV vs satellite TV Price

On average, cable costs $10 to $25 a month more when compared with satellite television due in part to the fact that cable TV companies have to pay local taxes and fees that satellite TV companies don't have to pay for.

Where I live in Arizona if I were to decide to buy cable it would cost me just about $60 a month for 140 program channels. If I were to decide to purchase Dish Network service it would cost me $24.99 for 190 TV channels.

One other difference is the rate increases. Cable TV service has increased by around 40% since 1998, while satellite TV service has increased by a mere 8% in that same period of time.

System Evaluation

Cable providers supply you with a receiver, or cable box, which receives a TV signal through an underground cable. The receiver converts that signal and delivers it to your TV set.

With satellite television you receive a satellite dish which captures the signal originating from a satellite, plus a receiver which converts that signal and sends it to your television.

For both systems you will need a receiver for each TV in your home that you'd like to watch cable or satellite TV programming on. Cable TV companies charge $3 to $5 a month extra for each and every receiver, while Dish Network and DirecTV receivers are free of charge.

DVR

Digital video recorders, or DVRs, permit you to record your favorite shows. In addition, they allow you to pause the show that you are viewing so you could get a snack, answer your phone, or whatever else you have to do, then continue watching your show whenever you are ready.

Cable DVRs let you record as much as 100 hours of your favorite TV shows. In addition, they provide you with the option of recording 2 shows at the same time. The problem with this is that if you have 3 shows that come on at the same time you can view one show and record one, record two shows, however, you won't have the ability to see the third show.`

DirecTV will allow you to record up to 4 shows at once plus record up to 1.000 hours of programs, and Dish Network lets you record up to 6 shows at once plus record as many as 2,000 hours of programming.

Each of their DVRs will let you look at a television show in one room in your home, and finish seeing it in a second room.

System Set Up

Because of the rivalry involving cable and satellite television companies, equipment installation for either one is free of charge. You want to make sure you get a professional installation company and also a professional installation technician, otherwise you may suffer equipment issues down the line.

Reliability

Cable TV black outs average 3% to 5% depending on the company that sets up the actual cable TV system, while Dish Network and DirecTV black outs average 1%.

Customer Satisfaction

The ASCI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) ranks Dish Network and DirecTV as number one and number two among all satellite TV and cable TV companies for customer experience, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, as well as overall value.

Customer Service

Consumer support for almost all satellite as well as cable television providers is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week which includes holidays, and with almost all companies the service is pretty good.

Summary

When it comes to program assortment, number of channels, recording capability, dependability, price, and customer satisfaction, satellite television beats cable TV hands down.

View this video clip to see a review of cable TV vs. satellite TV to see which provides the better service.





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