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You might be like me and have been hearing the barrage of ads on
the radio urging you to "cut the cable" and get more
bang for your buck with a satellite TV receiver system. Maybe
I'm discrediting myself with this next statement, but I put it
resisted the urge because cable was a "known evil."
A Little Background
Although I'd been a cable subscriber for over 16 years, watching
my local cable provider change their name about as often as a
bank or S&L in Texas in the 1980s, the service had always been
good. I was blessed to be in Fort Worth and be subjected to a
cable monopoly that defied the usual stream of "cable guy" jokes
that Letterman and Leno have made for years. And just as I was
about to "cut the cable" in October 2000 and take the satellite
plunge, I got a telemarketing call from my local cable provider,
Charter Cable, offering this new-and-improved digital cable
service...giving me over 150 channels for the introductory price
of only $33 a month...for six months, then the price would
revert to prevailing price schedules.
The Cable Guy Shows Up On
Time!
With the added pressure of competition from the fledgling
satellite TV industry, cable providers around the country have
had to clean up their acts and do their best to defy the
long-running "waiting on the cable guy" jokes because–FINALLY–consumers
had a choice and could give make their voices heard by telling
the cable company to stick their boxes where the cable doesn't
shine. And predictably, the cable guy showed up and installed
my new digital cable boxes, gave me an instructional video and a
laminate channel guide, a quickie explanation of how all of the
menus worked, and I was off to the races with a zillions
channels, crystal-clear digital picture and sound, and a new
viewing experience awaiting me every time I turned on the set.
So far, so good...until April, 2001.
Like Those Deceptive
Credit Card Offers...My Cable Bill TRIPLES!
I'm a big boy and I knew that my bill was going to go up after
the introductory offer that they sold to me six months ago
expired. The credit card companies pioneered "the tease" over
the last couple of decades, baiting all of us to switch cards
and transfer balances to take advantage of the low 2.9% interest
rate. Hell, when you're paying 12% or more [you already know
that over 18-20% interest rates isn't uncommon!] you'll jump to
cash in on the low introductory rate, knowing that they'll push
it back up after the offer expires.
But as I've preached on countless local and national TV shows
for years–and this strategy still works I might add–if
you call your credit card company and threaten to close your
account and move your balance to another credit card, your
existing credit card company will almost always do the old
back-pedal and agree to extend your current cheapo interest rate
for another 6-9-12 months, because they realize
that if they don't, they stand a very good chance of losing you
to a competitor...and in the long run, it's cheaper to appease
you and keep you as a customer than have to replace you. So
they'll play ball. Unfortunately, as I found out in April 2001,
the local cable provider [at least in Fort Worth] didn't share
in this philosophy. And it's going to cost them dearly in the
long run.
The Prevailing Cable
Company Attitude: Take Your Business Elsewhere!!!
When I contacted the customer service voice at my local cable
provider after my bill soared from $33 a month to $99, and asked
them to re-extend the offer that hooked me in the first place,
they couldn't care less. "Sorry. Too bad. Can't do it!"
was the reply. "But if you refuse to cut me a deal,
I'll cut the cable and sign up for satellite TV and you'll lose
me forever! And look at my account history: I always pay on
time, and I've been a loyal customer since 1985!!! Are you sure
you can't "re-up" my deal to keep me?" "I'm sorry sir. The
offer you had was for new digital cable customers. I can't help
you."
Perhaps Johnny Paycheck needs to update his anthem and change it
to reflect the times: "Take This Cable Box And Shove It!"
Bye-Bye Cable: Which
Satellite Company Should I Choose?
Now that
Charter
Communications made my decision to [finally] take
the technology plunge into satellite TV, I walked the walk and
talked the talk, and started doing my comparisons between
Dish Network
and
DirecTV. I chose
Dish...and here's some of the reasons why:
* 1.
Pricing: Do your
homework...and remember that the satellite
companies are extremely competitive and seemingly always
have a deal-du-jour. Bottom line?
They both offer [basically] the same channels, the same
movie packages, the same Pay Per View movies and events.
However, when I took the plunge,
Dish
seemed to have the
best sign-up offer. Their commitment was less
onerous than DirecTV's, but the real reason I chose
Dish? One of the coolest features you'll love
if you take my advice...priced better than the competition
and it'll change the way you watch TV; the greatest new TV
technology that you'll thank me for later:
DVR–Digital Video Recorder.
* 2.
Take
Dish over DirecTV for the DVR: The
DVR is actually a big
computer hard drive that'll record over 100 hours of
programming that's pristine and incredibly simply to use.
And with
Dish,
it's included with the system. And the last time I checked,
DirecTV's version of the
DVR, the TiVo (which
was actually the first entry into this type of technology)
costs extra, unlike the
DVR that comes with the
Dish
system. According to DirecTV's website, you'll have to ante
up $249 for a lifetime TiVo subscription, or pay as you go
for $9.95 a month.
Dish
and their
DVR win, hands-down.
* 3. Channels.
We've Got Channels: Whether it's cable,
Dish
or DirecTV, everybody's promoting 100 channels, or
150 channels...plus
whatever premium services packages, like HBO, Showtime,
Starz, etc. you want to sign up for. The reality? Out of the
150 "included" channels that I get on my
Dish
system, dozens of the channels are junk that I could care
less about and will never watch. How many versions of the
Discovery Channel can you stomach? How often will you listen
to the dozens of subscription music channels being offered?
If you don't like certain types of music now, you'll never
listen to them through your cable or satellite delivery
systems. In my book, as long as I've got the assorted news
channels, Nick At Nite and TV Land, I'm happy.
* 4.
What About Receiving My Local
Channels? Will I Have A Problem Watching The Local "Major"
Affiliates? Relax!
The cable industry hammered the fears
[ignorance, actually] of consumers about their ability, on
inability, to receive the local TV channels. Thanks to
lobbying of the FCC by the folks at
Dish
and DirecTV,
you can buy your local affiliates
[known as DMA: Designated Market Area]
for $4.99 extra a month, whether you're in Texas or
California or anywhere else around the nation.
Or you can tap into the pre-existing cable or antenna to get
your local channels. Bottom
line: It's no big deal, so don't let this be
a stumbling block to keep you from getting more bang for
your TV viewing buck. Even if you pay the extra $5 a month
for local channels, you'll still end up getting more value
from satellite delivery systems with less than brain-damage
than the cable company.
Period.
* 5. Biggest
Red Flag That PROVES
Dish Is Better Than DirecTV or Cable?
Easy. Just go to the websites of the programming provider
you're researching. Seriously...check out how difficult it
is to figure out how much their services will cost you. You
can jump through pages of "information gathering"
questionnaires from the cable company and never figure out
how much you'll pay if you decide to sign up with them.
There's a reason for this. They want to not only hide how
much their services will cost, they want to set you up for a
representative to call and sell/try to close you.
The
easiest website to navigate and get a bottom-line cost from?
You
guessed it:
Dish.
* 6. Don't
I Get A Better Deal If I Buy All Of My Services
[like Internet access, telephone, etc.]
From One Company?
Not necessarily. That's the
pitch you'll hear from folks like AT&T (they want to sell
you everything, all inclusive/all in one for one bill a
month) but frankly, I don't like putting all of my eggs in
one basket. What if that basket falls? You're willing to
lose your TV, Internet AND phone service all at once? Not
me, thanks.
* 7. I
Live In An Apartment [or Condo] And I Have To Subscribe To
Cable, Don't I? No!
As plainly stated on DirecTV's website about this
subject: "You don't have to own a house to get great
satellite service! As a resident of a condo or apartment,
you can set up your own system or your entire building could
be served from just one dish. If you want to install your
own system, first check with your landlord or property
manager for permission to install the satellite dish on your
rooftop. If you are not able to install it on a rooftop, you
may be able to install it on your private balcony or patio
or in your garden, as long as the satellite dish has a clear
view of the southern sky. In fact, a January 1999 FCC ruling
states that apartment, condominium, town home and single
family home renters can install either satellite dishes or
TV antennas in these areas. In fact, the FCC has ruled that
apartment, condominium, town home and single family home
renters can install either satellite dishes or TV antennas
in these areas."
In other words:
You don't have to let your landlord hold a gun to
your head and force you to subscribe to cable, especially
crappy cable. Don't take my
word for it:
Check out this special section on the FCC's website
that explains the rules better than I can. Now everyone has
the legal right to have access to quality, affordable
satellite TV service!
And speaking of lousy cable
providers, one of the all time worst cable
providers in the history of the technology has to be a
company previously known as Co-Serve,
also known as
Cable Plus. I think the new title correctly
reflects the quality of the company's service:
Cable Plus
Thoughtless-Lousy-and-Overpriced Service!
This is a horrible company: They go in and cut deals with
apartment complexes and force the tenants to subscribe to
their cable service. Their offerings are limited, overpriced
and customer service, non-existent. The FCC rule that allows
everyone equal access to quality satellite service must have
been written with this awful company in mind.
* 8.
What About My Ability To Get ESPN1,
ESPN2, And All Of The Sports I Can Stand?
What about it? Whatever the cable companies can do,
the satellite programming companies can do just as well.
Relax and go do your homework. And prepare to
get more bang for your TV buck
from satellite than you will from the cable company.
* 9.
What About Bad Weather?
What about bad weather? Sure, a torrential
downpour/thunderstorm will disrupt your satellite service,
but it's temporary. And if it's not, you need to be worrying
about evacuating, not watching TV. How many backhoes have
interrupted satellite TV service? The Answer?
None. All of the
brain-damage with cable interruption goes away when you put
up the satellite dish. You might have a little bit of
interference from a big storm, but for me, it's never been a
huge factor.
* 10.
What If I Have More Than One TV Set?
Can I Get Satellite On Multiple Sets Around The House?
Of course. I've got three sets and
Dish
reception on all three. It's a no-brainer. The cable
companies used to use this as an effective scare tactic to
get consumers to not buy/not try satellite service, but
thankfully, you're wising up.
* 11.
Why Do You Hate The Cable
Company So Much? Because their cavalier
attitude after I was a loyal subscriber for 16 years really
ticked me off. And because they're like a drug dealer: They
"get you hooked" on their services, then slowly push their
prices up, up, up and into the ridiculous range. And they're
simply not competitive when you compare what they offer with
what you can get for a lot less through satellite
programming providers. And again, I'm sold on
Dish
over DirecTV because I think the value
Dish
delivers is better. Plus the
DVR technology is amazing. And I like
Dish's
customer service
mantra, and the fact that when you call these guys at SatPro
Network, you'll get the owner on the phone...not
some operator. I'm a believer.
* 12.
Okay, You've Got My Attention: What
Are Some Resources I Can Review To Make The Cable Vs.
Satellite Decision For Myself? Easy. What
ever you learn from this section, at the very least, get rid
of the cable company!!! Here's some resources that will help
you see the light:
Consumer Reports
side-by-side
comparison: If you can wade through all of
the symbols, go for it.
E-Pinion.com:
Don't take my word for it...go compare cable vs.
satellite. Then sign-up for your new
Dish.
*
Please Note:
Dish vs. DirectTV offers change all the time.
I can't keep up with all of their assorted deals of the day,
so you're gonna have to do your own homework before you pull
the trigger. The technology keeps getting better, and the
competition between the satellite companies, as well as
between them and the cable industry means one thing...better
deals for consumers.
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