Comcast is the largest cable television company in the United States. DIRECTV is the biggest satellite company. So if you live in an area served by Comcast, you probably have wondered how the two pay television providers stack up against each other:
DIRECTV vs Comcast.
Comcast has over 25 million subscribers, and is based out of Philadelphia, PA. The current CEO is Brian Roberts, who is the son of Ralph J. Roberts who was one of the co-founders of Comcast.
Comcast has a huge presence of course in cable TV, and in recent years has taken that advantage and extended it out to the high speed internet field. Estimates place the Comcast high speed internet penetration at about 50% of their subscriber base, meaning they probably have 12 million plus cable modem connections. Combine that with phone service and Comcast is a formidable competitor to DIRECTV with their triple play packages of voice, video and internet.
While many certainly look for a package deal when moving into a new house or apartment, is Comcast your best choice when hooking up telephone, cable TV, and internet service? They may be, but customers should certainly have their eyes open to what the real cost of Comcast service is when compared to DIRECTV. Often you can get a good deal on the Comcast triple play bundle for the first three or six months. Sometimes Comcast extends that and you can get a good deal for the first year of service. Often these offers include all three services for $99 dollars a month, but they may be the lower level services, like basic cable and the slowest of the various high speed internet packages.
While getting all three services from one company may seem like a good thing, some Comcast customers have experienced poor service. Often when a company is trying to specialize in several different services, the quality of service can suffer as they are trying to be all things to all people. DIRECTV has an advantage in that they have received higher customer satisfaction ratings, and they concentrate on delivering one service, satellite television. On the other hand, Comcast has to focus on not only their cable TV business, but also the high speed internet and the digital phone services that are offered.
What about price? That is often the main consideration when shoppers compare DIRECTV to Comcast. Cable TV prices can vary based on the area you live in, as Comcast sets different prices for each franchise. For example, the prices pulled off of the Comcast website for the Denver, Colorado area are listed here. This should give you a general idea of what “normal” Comcast pricing will look like.
Starter Cable is priced at $53.39 per month and of course includes a wide variety of well known cable networks with sports, music, news, and kids’ programming. Local channels are included as is digital converter box, remote control, On-screen guide, and Digital Music channels. The following Comcast packages include everything in the Starter Cable package, of course adding more channels for the prices you see.
Digital Preferred with ON DEMAND is the next package priced from $68.34.
Preferred Plus with ON DEMAND is $100.99
Digital Premier with ON DEMAND Includes 5 premium movie networks and is $119.99. This it the all inclusive package, comparable with the DIRECTV Premier Package.
Now if you have cable, internet packages can be added, here are the prices for these services with Comcast.
High speed internet is $54.95 for Internet only or $52.95 for Voice Customers and $42.95 for Cable TV customers. As you can see, normal pricing with Comcast TV and internet service easily exceeds $100 per month. This is why many have gone with DIRECTV for their video service, then added phone and internet service through the local telephone company, like Verizon or Qwest.
DIRECTV pricing starts at $29.99 for the Family package, which is a very basic cable setup. A better comparison to the Comcast Starter cable would be the DIRECTV Choice package. That package includes over 150 video and audio channels and is $34.99 for the first year of service.
Beyond that DIRECTV packages such as the Choice Xtra and the Premier packages compare favorably to the Digital Preferred and Digital Premier packages price-wise. Normal pricing, looking beyond the promotional periods have Comcast charging about $20 more per month.
Be sure when getting a price quote from Comcast or DIRECTV to let them know exactly how many TV’s you are connecting, and whether DVR service is something you need. Both companies charge fees for extra DVR’s and receivers for the other television sets in your home.
Now another area where Comcast and DIRECTV are battling it out is in HD, or high definition programming. Over the last year or two, Comcast HD vs DIRECTV HD has been a very public and somewhat messy battle. Charges, claims, accusations, and even a court case have resulted from Comcast and DIRECTV each claiming they have the most HD.
Why so many frayed nerves between Comcast and DIRECTV? Well everybody is of course upgrading their home entertainment system, and HDTV’s are what people are buying. Whether flat-screen plasma or LCD TV’s, they want HD content on that new TV, and they are willing to switch from Comcast to DIRECTV or vice versa if they think the other has the most HD content. Other television providers like DISH Network, Verizon FiOS, and AT&T U-verse are just as adamant that they have the “most” HD.
So where does that leave the consumer? It can be difficult to find the truth when companies are spending millions of dollars claiming they are the best when it comes to HD. For example, earlier this year, Comcast announced a new HD initiative called Project Infinity. The network enhancement announced that Comcast customers would eventually have “1000 HD Choices.” So what exactly is an HD choice, and how does it differentiate from an HD channel.
According to Comcast, if a customer uses the on-demand service provided, they have hundreds of shows they can watch at any given time. Many of those choices are HD shows available from the different cable TV networks. Comcast recently said they had reached the “500 Choices” plateau. So if there are 450 shows available via on-demand, and there are 50 live HD channels available to a subscriber, that totals “500 HD choices.” Math like this allows Comcast to claim they have the most HD, and air commercials saying that they are. The problem with this is that many of those on-demand choices may be duplicates of the same show. For example, there may be 10 different episodes of Mythbusters available through the on demand platform, but that doesn’t do much for the subscriber who is looking for variety in the HD provided by Comcast.
Now that is not to say DIRECTV runs a completely honest campaign in the HD numbers they claim. DIRECTV now offers 130+ HD channels, bumping that number up from around 100 a few months ago. So to most customers that sounds great, 130 high definition channels. Many of those channels though are very rarely used by the customer. DIRECTV counts 20+ of their pay-per-view channels as HD, even though most customers may order one or two PPV movies in a months time. There are also dozens of regional sports networks now broadcast in HD, but those are only available to customers who have the Sports Pack or the DIRECTV Premier package.
Another consideration when comparing Comcast HD and DIRECTV HD is where you live. Now no matter where you live in the United States, you will have access to all of the HD channels offered by DIRECTV. That is because when they introduce national HD channels, they are rolled out to all of their subscribers at once. With Comcast it is much different. Comcast has to have the network bandwidth available in order to deliver the HD channels to each home they serve. That means highly populated areas usually get a lot more HD than areas that have fewer subscribers. Unfortunately every area is different, so in order to find out how many HD channels you can get through Comcast, you have to call them directly and have them look up your particular area. Make sure you ask how many channels, not choices they offer through Project Infinity.
Finally, because of the above referenced bandwidth problem, some Comcast customers have experienced poor HD signal quality. Why? In order to keep pace in the HD channel battle, Comcast has compressed some channels in some areas. By doing this, Comcast can deliver more HD channels through the same delivery mechanism. Unfortunately for subscribers, this often results in a “crunched” or “squashed” picture coming through that new HDTV you just bought. Not Good.
The only way to see if this is being done where you live is to check with a friend who already has Comcast HD, or sign up and see for yourself.
Bottom line comparing the HD available from Comcast and DIRECTV: DIRECTV comes out ahead unless you love on-demand programming. If that is your preference, Comcast is the best choice.
How do DIRECTV and Comcast compare when it comes to sports programming? This is one area where a definite edge goes to the satellite TV provider. DIRECTV offers several premiums sports packages such as the NASCAR Hotpass and the NFL Sunday Ticket. Other packages like NHL Center Ice and the MLB Extra Innings packages are available through both Comcast and DIRECTV. Of course all of these sports packages cost extra, but DIRECTV is the way to go as far as having the widest variety.
Finally, customer service is a final consideration when comparing Comcast vs DIRECTV. How do the companies stack up in this area? While it would be difficult to describe the service level at any pay television company as excellent, DIRECTV currently ranks as the best of the bunch. One recent survey placed DIRECTV first among cable and satellite TV companies, while Comcast brought up the rear.
While problems and unhappy customers can result with either company, as a whole DIRECTV beats Comcast in the customer service department.
17 comments ↓
Good review. Thorough and informative. Thanks!
This has been the worst experience of any service I have EVER purchased. My girlfriend called Direct TV and told the sales rep what she wanted, HD, DVR, etc. The lady told my girlfriend a price for a package that would include everything she asked for. Our installation date was set for THREE weeks later. When our date of installation finally came, no one showed up or called. When we called them back, they told us the tech went to the wrong place, and called some crazy phone number (you have to give them YOUR phone number on the account just to speak to a customer service rep). I didn’t want to wait another three weeks for installation, so I spent two whole days on the phone and finally got a supervisor to approve an installation later that week. The tech shows up and starts installing a regular HD box, I asked to stop so I could straighten this out with customer service. He refused and activated the equipment anyway. He needed to borrow my screwdriver as well, which I never saw again. He also failed to seal up one of the two holes he drilled in the outside walls of our apartment. He left boxes, wires, and connectors EVERYWHERE. A mess I had to clean.
When I called after the tech left, they told me I had to pay $100 to upgrade to the HD receiver. I also discovered that I was in a 2 year contract, which I was not told about, and I never received the Terms of Service in the mail either. I also found out that the rate we were originally told was only after a rebate (valid for the first 12 months ONLY) and that it takes about TWO months to process. So basically you get the rate you were told about for 10 months, and you get ripped off the other 14 months. Nothing we were told was straight forward at all. Needless to say, we cancelled our service and they have already charged my debit card $550 for early cancellation fees without any opportunity to dispute the charge. This company is not straight forward about selling you a package, and their customer service is HORRIBLE. I spoke with so many different people in that past two months, and basically none of them have any authority to do anything to help you.
The actual picture is even bad as well. I bought an HD antenna from Wal-Mart and it gets way better picture. Please don’t fall into this trap.
I have had direct service in California and it’s great. the service was excellent and the picture and quality excellent. The HD picture with Comcast is definitely much worse…I actually was going to return my HD TV because the picture was so much worse than the directv picture, but now I think it’s just the comcast lack of quality. However, in Florida the directv service is beyond bad. I’ve had technicians come out twice and still no Directv. They don’t seem to want to install it once they see the dish has to go on the roof. And it’s hard to get any help from the local office, they think customer service is unimportant.
I was recently thinking about switching to Comcast’s bundle package, just to save some extra $ a month. After reading this article, which showed the positive and negative points of both companies, I’m going to stick with DirecTV. I’ll cancel Netflix, buy the DVR box and save $ that way.
I never knew you could experience poor HD picture because DirecTV has always been flawless. I’m in Georgia and I’m definitely a happy DirecTV customer. I also feel that we get plenty of HD programming, including The Weather Channel in HD, which is stunning!
Thanks for helping me make my decision!
Comcast cable packages are a joke…no selection just basic or digital cable? And these guys wonder why everyone jumps ship to Direct Tv, Dish Network and Fios. Comcast is the evil empire of cable TV, and has horrific service to boot. I dumped my comcast cable package last summer and it was probably the third best day of my life after my wedding day and the birth of my beautiful daughter. BTW..can you tell I hate comcast?!!?!!!!!????!?!
I’ve had both. And I have compliments and criticisms of both.
But if I had to lean towards one or the other, I would lean towards Comcast.
I agree with just about everything the poster “Steve” said above. DirectTV’s Customer Service is HORRIBLE. Some of the worst customer service representatives I’ve ever dealt with in my life. DirectTV is a ‘bait and switch’ company.
They suck you in with promotions, discounts, and great deals, but once you sign that 2-year contract … you are dead meat. I hate DirectTV. Not so much in terms of the television reception or anything of that nature, but just in terms of dealing with their customer service department.
Comcast has much better customer service. Ten times better (in my opinion). The problem with Comcast though is that you can’t get the Big Ten Channel or the NFL Network.
Again, both have pros and cons, but overall, I go with Comcast.
I recently switched from DirecTV to Comcast and I am beyond irritated with everything. First, the HD picture is MUCH worse then DTV. Second, they brought out the wrong equipment so I had to schedule another appointment for two weeks later. The worst pat is the DVR. Make no mistake the DVR on DTV is MUCH MUCH better is every way.
I have had DirectTv ,Dish Tv ,and have recorded tv on DVD recorder using Comcast .The quality of the DVD recording on DirectTV are much better then Comcast and a somewhat better than DishTV.
Wow really? I have had nothing but good with Directv. As a matter of fact I recieved a phone call last year apoligizing for something that had happened with my DVR. I didn’t even think anything of it when it happened. I guess an update has froze it up and we had to reboot it. With comcast all you ever get when you have problems with your box is “Ok what I need for you to do is unplug it and wait 5 minutes” Then plug it back in and I will send a signal to it. Use Directv for HD service and use Comcast for internet. Directv looks way better!
HDTV makes a pop when I change lower channels only. It only occurs when I change channels by entering numbers not when I uses up and down channel button. The picture remains fine and tv has no other problems. I use Direct TV. Their tech says the problem is not with Direct equipment but with TV.
Any suggestions?
I am an employee of AT&T but currently have Direct TV. U-verse was not in my area at the time of my DTV installation, hence the reason I don’t have my own company’s product. Now I know that this is about Comcast vs DTV, but I had to share this. When U-verse finally got in my area, I had it installed. Meanwhile, my wife told me not to cancel DTV until I saw the finished U-V product. I’m glad I listened. No sooner than the tech finished, I had him to go back outside and hook my DTV back up. The HD was garbage. If you’re into lots and lots of channels and features galore, then U-V just may be for you. However, I’m a HD man. I study it. I live for it. Nothing, but nothing compares to DTV’s signal which produces the best HD. I had Comcast before and thought they had decent HD. Now I take that back too. Compared to DTV, everybody is garbage. My Samsung plasma and DTV are now married. HAIL DIRECT TV!!!!
All hale Direct TV! Over 130 HD channels dish 88HD poor comcast 43.WHich would you pic? 1080p TV with Direct is the way to go.For those who had a bad experience with Direct you really need to READ! What you get yourself into without going into anything blind.So why would you want service without knowing what kind of deal your getting?Anywho SAMSUNG plasma with DTV is the best of the best in the market now.IF you have a 1080p tv without Dtv is like having a LEXUS and putting 87 into your car.Why put trash?When you can put 93 into your LEXUS and get the REAL experience! P.s CODE BLUE!~
I had Comcast for about a year in Denver. I was paying about $110 for cable TV (digital), high speed internet, and my home phone line with unlimited long distance.
I get my bill in February 09′ and its $170!!!!! I about fall out of my chair. I call them up. “Your promotional period is up, blah blah blah” Now I knew it would end at some point, but of course its not something you think about all the time. I ask for a better deal, I beg, I plead. They cant do anything, unless I want to downgrade my services significantly.
I dropped them like a bad habit and went to Qwest. Phone, DSL and DirectTV all for about $110 a month. Now I just have to read all the fine print to see how much thats going to go up.
BTW, Direct TV picture is sooooo much better than what I had with Comcast. No contest.
Nice Comcast versus Direct TV comparison, dont think I have seen such an in depth review anywhere. I dropped Comcast last week in favor of Direct TV. The HD lineup is a little better, but I think the quality of Comcast is just as good as Direct, if not slightly better. Of course the main reason for my switch was price, I was paying out the nose for Comcast, and I went with the Direct TV Plus HD DVR package, which is still about $25 less than comcast even when the regular price kicks in.
Installer left without leaving copies of the Lease Agreement (didn’t even *know* I was just leasing it….) but, he did try to sell a protection plan for the leased equipment.
Think you’re getting HD? Nope, unless you pay additional $10 per month….
Think OnDemand is included? Nope, unless you pay yet more money for access, then maybe more for the particular program (Isn’t that, by definition Pay Per View?)
Oh, and any rebates promised? You have to call “Customer Service” and hope you get a competent agent who will direct you to a hidden link at the bottom of their web page (Don’t have internet access? Sorry!!) And *then* you have to wait 6-8 weeks before you can call “Customer Service” and ask, so the agent can try to get you to call your service bundler…
Not Happy
I had Direct TV for a while and I now have U-VERSE I love it. Direct TV is crooked in my opinion. I have never had anyone out and out lie to me the why Direct TV customer service did. U-Verse is great and I actually like their customer service they treat you with respect. As you can tell I Do not like Direct TV and I will continue to discourage anyone that will listen to not go with Direct TV.
I have had both Comcast and Direct TV at the same time with both installers there the same day I had two HD 1080p TV’s going side by side and the picture is the same there. I kept both for a while guess what! As soon as there was a dark cloud over my house the Direct TV gone or distorted picture lol. Comcast still going strong It even works really well when you you have a Category 5 hurricane in you back yard Direct TV dish has blown away with the house of Dorothy lol. Also who dosn’t like to watch free movies when ever you want at any time of the day. You can with Comcast not with Direct TV. Comcast might be a little more in the long run but you can cancel at any time there is no stupid contract like Direct TV.
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