DIRECTV vs Cable TV

DIRECTV or Cable TV? It is a question many have pondered over the past 15 years since satellite TV came on the scene. So which is better? Which is cheaper? More importantly, which one will respond to your problem when you have an issue with the picture or your bill? Here are a few of the pros and cons when considering the DIRECTV vs Cable TV debate.

Generally most folks in the United States only have one cable company serving their home. You may have one of the major cable TV companies like Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Cox, Charter, or Bright House. Or you may have one of the so called mom-and-pop cable TV operators which serve small communities. Whatever your situation, there are several considerations when comparing cable TV to DIRECTV.

One of the main factors of course is price; everyone is looking for the lowest cost possible in today’s economy when considering cable TV against DIRECTV. The first rule here is that the new customer usually gets the best deal. So if you have cable TV, and you are looking to switch to satellite with DIRECTV, then there are all kinds of satellite TV deals designed to entice you to subscribe. Conversely, if you have DIRECTV already, cable TV companies like Comcast will have all kinds of deals from basic cable to triple play offers of cable, telephone and internet service.

The best thing to do of course is to comparison shop. Line up DIRECTV vs cable TV on a piece of paper comparing each item. Features and services to compare include high definition service, up front costs, installation fees, and length of contract if any. Other factors to consider are digital video recorders (DVR) number of TV’s you need connected, local channel availability, reputation on customer service, and programming packages including specialized sports packages.

Pricing for DIRECTV and cable TV is what is on the mind of most subscribers. This is one area where you really have to look at the whole picture when comparing cable TV to DIRECTV. Most cable TV companies offer great deals- that is if you are in the market for a triple play bundle. These packages of cable, telephone, and high speed internet service are usually discounted deeply during the first year of service. Generally the promotional price is around $100 per month for a year, but then jumps up to the area of $150 after that.

DIRECTV offers similar discounts during the first year. Most packages include an $18 dollar discount on pricing during the first year, with another $5 off for a total of $23 if you sign up for online billing. The only exception is the DIRECTV Premier package, which usually has its own promotion running offering a discounted price for a few months. Once regular pricing kicks in, DIRECTV and cable TV offer pricing that is fairly close, with the exception of the all-inclusive packages. The DIRECTV Premier package is about $105, while most cable TV packages that include everything such as HBO, Starz, and the like are usually at least $125 per month.

Signal quality is one area where DIRECTV generally beats cable TV. DIRECTV delivers all of their channels in 100% digital video, while with cable you will find varying levels of quality when it comes to your picture. Some “digital cable” products are comparable with DIRECTV, but most are not. Most cable systems continue to use a mix of analog and digital signaling, meaning you aren’t getting the best of the best. DIRECTV also offers 100% digital audio quality as well. Check with your local cable provider to find out exactly what percentage of channels are digital quality.

Local channel programming is important, keeping you up to date with the latest news, weather and sports in your area. DIRECTV offers local channel programming to over 94% of the country, meaning almost everyone can get access to their local stations through DIRECTV. Cable companies also provide local channel access in almost all of the areas they serve. The difference in this area between DIRECTV and cable TV is in the number of HD markets being served.

Through their newest satellite, the DIRECTV 11, more communities can receive their local channels in high definition then through any other provider. DIRECTV now serves over 90 markets with local HD, so if you live in or around a fairly populated city, your can get local programming in HD. Click here to check your particular area. Cable TV is struggling to keep up with DIRECTV when it comes to local programming in HD. Network upgrades are both costly and time consuming, meaning local HD is a hit or miss proposition with cable TV.

As mentioned earlier, the cost differential when comparing DIRECTV to Cable TV is usually minimal after any promotional period, but what about the programming available? Cable TV companies usually have two or three tiers of service, such as basic cable and expanded basic cable. From there you can add on premium movie packages or individual channels like Showtime or HBO. A recent development with many cable TV companies is the addition of a sports tier, which often carry channels like the NFL Network or other specialized sports networks. DIRECTV seems to be better at working out programming deals with programmers, and they have carried sports channels like the NFL Network and the Big Ten Network on basic programming tiers rather than charging extra.

That leads us into our next area of consideration when considering DIRECTV vs Cable TV. That being sports programming and specialized sports packages. If you are a big-time fan of the NFL, NASCAR Racing, or the NCAA March Madness tournament, then your only choice is Direct TV. Why? Because DIRECTV has struck exclusive deals to carry expanded programming packages with these organizations. DIRECTV has the NFL Sunday Ticket, the NASCAR HotPass, and the Mega March Madness tournament. These packages cannot be found on any other cable TV provider, or even on DISH Network. While subscribers do have to pony up the extra money to receive these packages, it’s nice to have the option, something that can’t be found on cable TV.

Other sports packages such as the MLB Extra Innings, NHL Center Ice, and the NBA League Pass are also available on DIRECTV. These packages are not exclusive to satellite, so many cable TV companies also have these sports packages. Larger companies like Comcast, Time Warner, and Cox cable usually carry these sports packages, but check locally if this of special interest to you.

Installation costs are another factor to remember if you are comparing cable TV to DIRECTV. If you are setting up with satellite TV, the installer of course has to set up the satellite dish. This is done at no cost to the subscriber. DIRECTV also includes installation in up to four different rooms in your home. This includes wiring into these rooms if necessary. There are no up front charges for the installation, though there may be if you want more than one DVR. Cable TV charges vary for installation. Some cable companies match what DIRECTV does, installing service into multiple areas of the home. Several cable TV companies charge extra for each room beyond the first for installation. Both cable TV and DIRECTV charge for either extra set-top boxes or receivers beyond the first one in the home.

Satellite TV companies have made huge inroads in the last few years by offering the digital video recorder, or DVR. While cable TV companies were initially slow to adopt DVR technology, digital video recorders are now available from all of the major cable TV companies such as Comcast and Charter. While the DIRECTV DVR doesn’t quite match up with TiVo or the DVR’s offered by DISH Network, they still do a nice job of giving the customer control over their television set. Cable TV DVR’s are sufficient as well, but where you will notice the difference is in pricing.

DIRECTV offers DVR service for $5.99 per month with their Choice package, and some of the higher end DIRECTV packages include the DVR service along with the package. In contrast, some cable television companies charge anywhere from $10 to $15 dollars a month for DVR service. For example, Comcast recently announced a new round of price increases, including a hike in the monthly DVR service fee to $15.95 per month starting in November. While not all cable TV companies charge as much as Comcast for monthly DVR service, DIRECTV is quite reasonable compared to cable TV.

Customer service and network reliability has long been a trouble spot for cable TV companies. While network reliability and service outages have been troublesome in the past with cable, this issue depends on the network in your particular area. Urban areas and new developments seldom encounter outages, as in these areas the network is new, or has been upgraded. Older neighborhoods usually experience more trouble as far as cable TV outages go. With satellite TV, you can expect service over 99% of the time. While in the past, minor weather could cause trouble, newer technology keeps outages to a minimum.

Customer service is another issue where DIRECTV has a definite advantage over cable. This year’s customer satisfaction survey again placed DIRECTV at the top of the heap, besting DISH Network and all of the major cable TV companies. Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Charter Cable in particular had poor ratings from current subscribers who evaluated the service level they were receiving from their respective cable television provider.

Video on demand, or VOD is an area where the large cable TV companies have invested a lot of money over the past few years. This is one area where DIRECTV has struggled to keep up, as their delivery mechanism is not as friendly in its ability to deliver VOD content. If you live in an area covered by one of the major cable TV companies, and video-on-demand is of interest to you, cable TV is probably the better choice. Comcast and Time Warner cable now offer hundreds of programs available on-demand at any given time.

DIRECTV also has introduced its own VOD product, but it comes up short in a few areas. First, you must have a broadband connection to access most of their on-demand content. This doesn’t work well in rural areas, where it is already difficult, if not impossible to get high speed internet. Direct TV does have a small catalog of on-demand content that is sent to customers via satellite, but the small capacity of a customer’s DVR makes the amount of video on demand negligible. Smaller cable TV companies may not offer as much on-demand content, if any, so check with your local provider if you’re not served by one of the big boys.

Finally, the last thing to consider is HD content. Nearly 30% of homes have a high definition television set, and that number will certainly grow to nearly 100% over the next decade as prices continue to fall. If you already have a HDTV, or if you will be buying one in the near future, you will of course want the best service provider with the most HD channels. Looking at it from that perspective, there is only one choice, DIRECTV.

DIRECTValready has 130+ HD channels, and that number will continue to increase as networks change over to HD formatting. DIRECTV has an advantage over cable TV as they can deliver HD channels nationally as soon as they are ready. Cable TV companies continue to lag behind DIRECTV in HD as they have to upgrade their networks to carry more and more HD signal.

The result when comparing cable TV HD to DIRECTV HD is that cable usually provides half of what DIRECTV can offer. Now in some highly populated areas, cable TV companies have upgraded networks and remained within striking distance of DIRECTV when it comes to their HD channel count. It all depends on the area you live in. Telephony TV providers like Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-Verse have actually done a better job in providing HD content than most cable TV companies.

DIRECTV and DISH Network still lead the pack when it comes to actual HD channel count. Both expect to offer nearly 150 HD channels in 2009. DIRECTV currently offers HD programming as an add-on to their base packages, while DISH Network has introduced several HD only packages under the Turbo HD brand.