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The Sorry State of Pay TV

Some friends bought a new house and recently asked me what I would pick given their three TV programming options (they are also interested in trying out HDTV for the first time): Comcast cable, Dish satellite, or DirecTV satellite. Here's what I answered with:

Comcast - Lots of channels on the system with a dozen or two HD channels including local stations. Downside is it can run expensive ($60+ with a basic package that includes HD, a HD DVR, and a movie channel) and the HD DVR is pitiful to use. Hopefully more HD channels are coming soon, but I've heard nothing.

DirecTV - Lots of standard-def digital channels that are very clear, sharper than my current digital cable line. They dropped TiVo for the basic DVR, and you'll have to use a new one that many people complain about. For HD, you can get a dozen or so channels on a ~$500 HD DirecTiVo combo box, but the kicker is they are changing formats in the next two years to offer hundreds of HD channels, but the HD TiVo box will no longer work. Also at the moment, most people can't legally get HD local channels through DirecTV and must use an antenna. A decent package for one TV might run about $50 or so.

Dish Network - Having never been a customer, I couldn't offer first-hand advice, but from what I've seen it is close to DirecTV in terms of so-so DVR options and some HD channels. I've never heard any rave reviews of the DVR options and the Dish Network did just lose a major lawsuit with TiVo, which could have implications down the line. Same ballpark pricing as DirecTV.

In the end I realized there isn't a particularly stand out option, as they all have significant faults and these were their only options. Also, I realized it's kind of a shame you can't get a good TV package with a good DVR even at a fairly high monthly cost. Eventually they picked Dish because they had Comcast for several years and weren't too hip on it and DirecTV offered limited HD along with HD DVR hardware that is in limbo.

Personally I'm still holding out for a Series 3 TiVo. Comcast's offerings coupled with a really good DVR would make for a great service. I just hope they start carrying more HD channels and have a plan for the future of several hundred HD channels (at which point I'll probably have to jump to fiber with Verizon and Verizon IPTV).

by Matt Haughey May 4, 2006 in Op-Ed

Comments

We're buying a house in Washington DC, and I've priced out Comcast (the only cable option) vs. DirecTV. For a three-room package of the channels and boxes that we want, Comcast comes in at nearly $100/month and charges me installation fees, and DirecTV comes in at around $70/month (with the first three months at $50/month) and doesn't charge me installation fees. It seems like a no-brainer, especially since the increased cost of Comcast doesn't get me better service, faster response times to incidents, or anything else like that.

Posted by: Jason at May 4, 2006 4:23:06 PM

Was there any actual research done before you responded to this question? There are some great sites out there that give you access to a multitude of pros and cons and the satellite services alone. Any research done at places like http://www.dbstalk.com or http://www.satelliteguys.us would've shown that Dish has already moved to the "new format" -- it's called MPEG 4 -- and has far more high definition channels than any other provider, cable or satellite. Even though Direct TV hasn't gotten an HD DVR that does MPEG 4 out the door yet they do have non-dvr boxes out there so the DVR can't be far behind and has HD offerings that compete quite favorably with most cable systems.

Posted by: Paxipam at May 4, 2006 6:04:08 PM

That's good to hear the Dish Network has mpeg4 HD DVRs out there. It's funny, I read half a dozen tech sites and have never seen a mention of it.

Posted by: Matt Haughey at May 4, 2006 6:11:09 PM

Dish may have mpeg4 HD but they sure don't have a whole lot of channels to offer (this may be true of all sites.) I went Dish 'cause I thought it would open a whole world of HD but what I found is that 95% of HD content is complete crap. I'm pretty sure the only decent HD is the stuff you could pick up with an antenna anyway. Oh, wait, Discovery Channel HD looks nice too.

A year into my subscription, I'm also extremely unhappy with the hardware they provided me. The set-top box is a piece of s***. It has trouble with remote relays (so my Media Center doesn't accurately change channels), has hundreds of useless features which only serve to annoy you when you accidentally select them and have to wait a minute to get back out, and occasionally gets so stuck that you have to use the buttons on the front to reset it. My wife wants me to scrap the Dish and go back to Comcast + Tivo. I think she's right - it seems like the best option if you actually want a usable TV, although it's not the cheapest.

Posted by: Steve at May 4, 2006 8:29:37 PM

I'm disappointed in the offerings of the subscription services, too. I get all of my HD from an antenna on my roof, probably installed by the first owners of this house back in the late 1960s. It goes through my HD-capable DirecTiVo unit. At least I can use TiVo to record HD, and it looks great on my 50" monitor. I'm very happy with this set up.

Everything I get from the satellite is standard def, of course. Now I am considering dropping some of the premium channels from satellite, since most of my viewing is confined to broadcast over-the-air and a handful of specialty channels.

Posted by: Craig at May 4, 2006 8:42:17 PM

From my post, above, I said, "Everything I get from the satellite is standard def, of course."

Let me offer a correction. "Of course" is wrong, since I obviously could receive some HD from the satellite with the HD DirecTiVo. But I only had 2 LNBs when I bought this TiVo, and decided not to upgrade to a 3 LNB dish nor to get any HD from DirecTV. I get more HD than I have time to watch from my UHF antenna. The broadcast networks have a good thing going over the subscription services right now.

Posted by: Craig at May 4, 2006 8:47:13 PM

DirecTV has not dropped TiVo. They just don't push it anymore. They recently signed for another three years together. A web search will give you options on where to buy a DirecTiVo box.

Posted by: JimK at May 4, 2006 9:55:33 PM

I've used all three. I dropped Comcast for DirecTV because Comcast stinks (poor signal quality, poor DVR equipment). DirecTV was great (great signal quality, good DVR equipment) and the only reason I'm not on DTV any more is I recently moved to an apartment that's only wired for Dish (AT&T Home Entertainment). The Dish hardware and programming is really terrible.

The one cable company I've only ever had that has been good (decent signal quality, workable DVR) has been Time Warner. Their DVR is good (not as good as TiVo, but great compared to competitors) and as long as your cable run isn't jacked up, the picture quality is good.

Posted by: Adam at May 5, 2006 7:03:41 AM

I have Dish and have been real happy. I love the fact that their PVR has 30sec skip instead of fast forward. I've been holding off on HD since their HDPVR was $700. Thanks for the info that they now have mpeg4 out there...didn't know that.

I never considered DirectTV since I don't want to put any money in Rupert Murdocks pocket.

All I've been reading about Verizons efforts are that its great...and since local cable companies are fighting it so hard I gotta believe thats true.

Posted by: Bill J at May 6, 2006 11:55:49 AM

To the DC guy: check into starpower.

in the neighborhoods where starpower competes (eg foggy bottom), comcast runs only about $40. in the neighborhoods that starpower doesnt serve, comcast runs $100.

fuckers.

Posted by: Why do you require my email address? at May 6, 2006 4:49:30 PM

I dropped my SD tivo and upgraded my Dish system to include the new HD DVR and upgraded my package...

The money I save per month not having to pay for two SD tivo services I'm able to put towards my Dish service (I have a ton more channels and a decent HD offering, with the latest MPEG 4 technology which will deliver more channels as time goes on). While the menus of the 622 and overall brains of the box aren't as good (or bad) as my Tivo (Occasionally I miss the suggestions and thumbs) but after a month (i'm well into my 3rd month of ownership / leaseship) of adjustment (and tweaking my timers / passes), I don't miss the Tivo at all!!! And I Especially don't miss the extra soft / blocky picture from re-encoding my satellite content, I have 3 tuners (2 Sat and one OTA!!) I can record HD programs and it services two rooms (no waiting for tivo 1 to transfer to tivo 2). I don't miss any shows, I'm happy.

Looking back on it, I can't believe I was paying for 2 Tivos just to re-compress / record tv. We'll see what happens with the outcome of the trial (years of appeals for Dish). I think eventually the mentality of Tivo invented / patented the DVR will go away... they are entitled to their software and the enhancements they've made to the DVR but not the idea of DVR!

Posted by: Angelo at May 7, 2006 9:21:57 PM

As a recent switcher to Verizon FiOS TV, I will say it is a pretty good service, albeit one that not everyone (or the majority) has access to. For our $54.00 per month, we get:
- 120 or so channels
- about 20 HD channels (I really need to go back and count them because I think they recently added one or two)
- a really crappy DVR that I believe is the same Moto+WinCE box that Comcast uses
- one HD receiver (the DVR supports HD, but is on our SD TV downstairs...something to do with "thats where my wife is during the day" ;-)

We do not get the sports pack ($6.00/per month) any of the movie packs ($8.00-$15.00 per month, depending on which), nor foreign channels. They do offer CableCARD v1.0 for $3.00 per month, but until the Series 3 comes out, I have no use for that.

We used to have DirecTV with the DirecTiVO, and as much as I liked that service+DVR, I really wanted HD channels but was not willing to pay the extra $12 per month that DirecTV was charging (and without locals? no way!), nor did I want to snake extra cables through the wall for an OTA antenna (our HD media room is almost impossible to get at from the attic.) Verizon gives us basically the same service/channels, minus the much better TiVO, plus HD channels for the same price (literally within a couple dollars per month.)

Posted by: steve o. at May 9, 2006 11:07:19 AM

i think that the fcc should step in and control prices on sat. & cable tv are to high, also why do we have to pay for shoping channels. also we should be able to get channels that we wont, most people like me a senor citizen are on a fixed income and cannot afford ther prices.

Posted by: thomas harrell at Jun 1, 2006 11:44:37 AM

i think that the fcc should step in and control prices on sat. & cable tv are to high, also why do we have to pay for shoping channels. also we should be able to get channels that we wont, most people like me a senor citizen are on a fixed income and cannot afford ther prices.

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Posted by: williamsjack at Jun 7, 2006 8:31:43 AM

I can't believe Echostar/Dish Network can stay in business the way their customer service must be hemorrhaging subscribers. They must rely on getting new ones because I can't believe anyone would re-up for their abuse.

I contracted for HD service and receiver in September and things were installed shortly after. Except that I felt the HD channels looked like crap. I thought it must be my TV, that I hadn't selected the proper settings or something. I'm not the type to complain until I'm sure a problem is not my fault. Well, I was wrong, it was THEIR fault.

The "genius" that installed my system hooked the HD outputs of the receiver to the standard inputs on my TV. After I disassembled my home theater system (no small feat) I fixed that mistake.

Still no HD so I checked the programming on my receiver and found it had never been setup for HD by the installer so again I fixed his error. And again I had no HD so I called "customer service" at Dish Network. I found that even though the installer, Dish Network and I all had signed copies of the contract which proved I specified HDTV and paid extra to lease the HD receiver it had never been turned on.

I asked that it be turned on and much to my dismay, sorry but I love that phrase, I was told that my recently aquired equipment was now obsolete. "Customer service" informed me that I would have to pay for a new install and equipment if I wanted HD and they quoted me a "special" price of $50. Well I checked the website and damn if that isn't the price everyone gets! The programming price would also be doubled. I was informed that this was all my fault because I didn't complain soon enough!

I asked if others who signed on for HD when I did were still getting the programming at the price I contracted for. Yes they said, but because I wasn't getting it, despite the fact that I had a contract for it, I couldn't get that package. Another alternative they offered was I could use my "obsolete" receiver and pay for the new programming but only get the old package. Twice the money for one fourth service?

My advice? Cable, DirecTV or go without! Can you imagine what things would be like if the Echostar/DirecTV merger had gone through?

Posted by: Joe at Jun 11, 2006 12:10:50 PM

It is amazing that people posting here, either are clueless or technically challenged. The hype cycle around all this is what makes making decisions so difficult.
The question was what sort of package to get and with who.
The answer would be to check the service providers in that Zip code.
Find the base packages from each vendor (psoted on their websites for that zip code).
Then check the reports on how good the service was for each of the vendors. More likely than not most of them are crappy at best.
For now just get yourself the package that is available to you in your area. Get yourself a DVR if you want to record content you want to see later.

The way Cable services are distributed, virtually each one is a monopoly in a particular zip code or region. Hence the choices get limited despite the view that it is all De-regulated and so there is competition.

Beyond that, this market is going around in circles, and as long as there are old farts running the Studios/Broadcasters/Cable/Satellite distributors you will find the whole ordeal to be a bunch of farce.
If you are lucky you may find thatmaybe 2-5% of the 200 odd channels you will get with whatever service you endup with is worth your time.

Cable operators and Phone companies trying to get into that market space are financially challenged yet are spending huge amounts of money most of the stocks of these companies are not moving upwards, they have taken on huge amounts of debt to try and build out their services.
This year Verizon alone will spend over $2 billion on trying to deploy Fiber Cable to the house. Hoping to cash in someday in the future.
Good luck in your search for great content to view at a reasonable price.....

Posted by: dumbnutz at Jun 12, 2006 1:15:31 PM

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