This one is going to run and run, and as competition in the satellite TV market continues to hot up, is there ever going to be a winner? More and more customers continue to forsake their TV aerial for a satellite dish and receive all-digital pictures direct from space into the home. Dish Network and DirecTV continue to fight their corners in a bid to overtake each other. This hot competition means that the situation needs to be monitored on a regular basis in order to compare differences in the latest deals of the rival camps.
Over the last few years the advantage has continued to swing from one to the other. Is the ball in one court or the other? By the end of this article we shall find out in which.
Dish Network, a subsidiary of Echostar, has been offering satellite TV packages since 1996. DirecTV on the other hand have been in the business since 1994. They are by far the largest satellite TV providers and have been competing against each other ever since. As well as their own rivalry, they also compete together for a share of the overall TV market with cable TV and have been increasing their percentage of the market each year.
One thing is for sure in the battle for top position, it is very difficult to separate Dish Network and DirecTV when it comes to comparing equipment offers. Both offer similar deals on standard equipment, which should be enough for even the most demanding of satellite television buyers. Dish Network holds a slight lead when it comes to the classier add-ons, namely HD and DVR. Dish Network supply the equipment for free, however DirecTV request an up-front payment for each, which is subsequently returned by way of a rebate after 10 months. Overall, it is an excellent deal from both camps.
Customer service is an area that should not be overlooked and whilst small differences are apparent in different regions, the customer service and support provided by both companies was good according to the J.D.Power 2006 Residential Cable/Satellite TV Satisfaction Survey 2006. Customer satisfaction is an important ingredient in the comparison, and this still sees our protagonists neck-and-neck. This is a good sign since it implies that everything from the initial order, through installation to performance of the satellite TV system makes a good experience for the customer.
Now in this point-by-point comparison we come to programming packages. Lets see how our opponents stack up. This is a key area where Dish Network gives a better choice and value of satellite TV service in our head-to-head comparison of Dish Network vs. DirecTV. Dish Network provides a wider range of packages that also work out cheaper on a per-channel basis. This is especially important as differences in programming costs mount up year on year. On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that whereas Dish Network charge $5/mo for local channels, DirecTV by contrast offer locals free. DirecTV also provide more sports channels than Dish Network. So it is not all one-sided and it really comes down to what the individual customer wants from their satellite system.
To summarize, can one provider claim to be better than the other? At the present time Dish Network offer good value for money, due to their lower cost programming services, unless locals or sports are high up the priority list. So whether this makes Dish Network first choice really depends on what programming is important to the customer. But they have to keep on their toes since DirecTV are sure to react with a similar or even better package of programming. The overall recommendation though is to keep abreast of the latest DirecTV and Dish Network deals since these have a habit of changing week by week.
Will there ever be a winner in this battle of one versus the other? Certainly as more and more of Echostars satellites are launched, and more dishes are installed instead of cable networks, Dish Network will always be striving to outdo DirecTV and vice-versa. The fight to be best will probably carry on and on.
If you found this information useful, you might want to take a look at the latest information on comparing Dish Network vs. DirecTV.
James Taylorthe is a professional writer and contributing editor of the Dish-Network-Directory, a review guide to satellite TV and Dish Network.
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