TheSatelliteTVGuide.com
Satellite TV vs. Cable TV
More than 27 million households have switched from cable and over-the-air TV to satellite TV.
Why? When you compare satellite TV to cable TV you'll discover the biggest reasons are cost, picture quality, program choices, and customer satisfaction.
Here's a side-by-side comparison and a review of satellite TV vs. cable TV.
Satellite TV vs. Cable TV Comparisons
Feature
|
Satellite TV
|
Cable TV
|
Average Fee
For Basic Programming
|
$31.99 per month
|
$39.95 per month
|
Local Channels
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Equipment
|
One satellite TV dish and up to 4 receivers
|
Cable boxes
|
Installation Fee
|
Free
|
Price varies by company
|
Channels
|
Up to 350
|
Average is 180
|
Sports Packages
|
Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Soccer, and ESPN
|
No
|
All-Digital Picture
and Sound
|
Yes
|
No
|
Satellite radio
|
Up to 73 channels
|
Varies by company
|
DVR
(Digital Video Recorder)
|
Free
|
Price varies by company
|
**HDTV
(High Definition TV)
|
Optional
|
Optional
|
International Programming
|
African, Arabic, Armenian, Asian, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Israeli, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, South Asian, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu
|
Varies by company
|
Pay-Per-View
Movies and Events
|
80 channels
|
Average is
40 channels
|
Subscription Fee
|
Price decreased
|
Price increased
|
Parental Controls
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Internet Service
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Customer Satisfaction Ranking
|
Top ranked
|
Varies by company
|
Equipment
|
Leased
|
Leased
|
Installation Time
|
1 to 5 days
|
1 to 5 days
|
**Note: You must have a high definition TV to view HDTV broadcasts.
Satellite TV vs. Cable TV
Cost
While satellite TV rates have been coming down in recent years due to competition between satellite TV providers, cable rates have increased an average of 8.2% a year. The current cost for the least expensive satellite TV program package is $19.99 per month versus an average of $39.99 for cable TV.
In our area basic cable costs $37.30 a month for 64 channels, plus $10.95 a month to add a few digital channels. Installation in one room is $39.95, plus $9.95 for each additional room.
Compare that to $29.99 a month for 100 of DISH Network's all-digital program channels, plus free installation in up to four rooms and a free DVR (digital video recorder), and you can see why so many people have switched to satellite TV.
Quality
Satellite TV gives you a 100% digital picture and sound, versus cable TV which uses outdated analog (over-the-air) technology.
Some cable companies advertise digital programming, but upon further inspection you'll find they charge extra for this service and offer only a few digital channels. DISH Network and DIRECTV broadcast all of their programs in digital format.
Program Choices
Satellite TV offers more channels than cable TV - up to 350 channels. It also offers more movies, more sports programs, more international programming, and more HD (high definition) programming than cable TV.
Reliability
Satellite TV outages average less than 1% compared to cable TV at 3%-5%.
Customer Satisfaction
J.D. Power and Associates has ranked the two major satellite TV providers - Dish Network and DIRECTV - higher in customer satisfaction than any of the cable TV companies for the last five years.
© 2006 TheSatelliteTVGuide.com.
