Satellite TV Channels

The number of satellite TV channels a customer subscribes to determines the monthly charge for their satellite TV service. Each of the two major satellite TV providers, Directv and Dish Network, as well as the cable TV companies with whom they compete, break down their packages by the number of channels the customer has access to. The two satellite TV companies offer monthly discounts for one year before the price goes up to their normal levels. In general Dish Network is slightly less expensive than Directv and they offer a higher number of channels. The number of channels really doesn’t mean anything, however, because most people will never look at a good number of those channels. Both Directv and Dish Network have four levels of satellite TV channels that customers can subscribe to. This does not include any sort of bundling which puts together TV service as well as such things as internet access and/or phone services.

The Directv program begins with a 150 channel package, and this starts at $29.99 per month and goes to $58.99 per month after one year. The basic package for Dish Network is 120 channels starting at $24.99 per month for a year going to $39.99 after that. For the highest level program which includes all the major movie channels like HBO, Showtime, etc., Directv offers 285 channels starting at $85.99 and going to $114.99 after a year. The high-end Dish Network package is 295 channels which begins at $84.99 and goes up to $99.99 after 12 months. So it is fair to say in general that Dish Network is slightly less expensive overall.

People often choose between the two companies based on extra packages of satellite TV channels that are available for additional cost. Directv has a very successful sports program for the NFL season called NFL Season Ticket. This costs a little over $300 at the present time (June, 2010), and it lets subscribers view up to 14 NFL games each week during the football season. They have a feature that allows people to view up to 8 games at once on a single screen. They also have half hour playbacks of entire games as well as a few other features. This is a very appealing package for avid football fans. Dish Network on the other hand has always emphasized movies and shows, and they have the largest variety of foreign language programming. This author in fact changed from cable to Dish Network over 10 years ago because they offered TV5, the French international channel. I can now watch the evening news from France every night just like I did when we lived there in the mid-1980’s. This extra channel and a French radio channel cost an extra $12 per month.

To get more information about Directv and Dish Network, click on these links.

Directv and Dish Network