Your TV Connection: Satellite Or Cable?
by Karla R. Cook

Approximately 30 years ago, when a family moved into a new residence, television service meant connecting to an existing antenna or installing a new roof-top antenna, or pulling up the rabbit ears on the television set. Today many more options are available. In Northern Dutchess and Southern Columbia Counties, the consumer can choose off-air broadcasting or among three subscription services: Time Warner Cable, DIRECTV Satellite Service, or DISH Network Satellite Service. In the Germantown area, cable television is available from GTel, the former Germantown Telephone. Deciding which service to install depends upon 1) availability in your neighborhood; 2) the channels you want; and 3) the amount you want to spend.

Availability
Laura Bostian, an IBM employee who moved into Red Hook Estates three years ago, chose Time Warner Cable service because the previous home owner had already installed it, even though she also has a satellite dish on her house left over from another owner. Laura preferred cable, so she stuck with that. She has basic cable television for the kids and recently upgraded to digital cable so she can enjoy the pay-per-view features—many, many movie choices in different genres, making it easy to find something to watch when she wants a movie.

In some areas of Northern Dutchess and Southern Columbia Counties, cable simply isn’t available unless you’re willing to foot the bill to have the cable line installed, often costing thousands of dollars, so satellite television makes more sense. Sandra Martin, on Guski Road off of County Route 78 in Red Hook, says she has DirectTV and her local stations are from New York City, so she has an antenna to pull in local stations from Albany. “I love the satellite. I have had it since the small one became available (I guess about 12 or more years ago).” Cable was not offered then on her road for anything but prohibitive installation cost (some $6000 per household to run the cable), and even though it recently became available at normal cost neither she nor most of her neighbors is willing to switch, as a matter of principle. “The only negative feature” to not getting cable, says Sandra, “is that we do not get PANDA and I really wish we were able to.”

Channels
For some people, Time Warner Cable doesn’t provide the channels they want. Another resident in the Village of Red Hook, Peggy O’Callaghan, has DIRECTV so she and her family can watch all the football games. “To my way of thinking,” Peggy said, “that is the difference between cable and satellite television. If you want NFL Sunday Ticket, you will get DIRECTV.” That kind of special connection comes with a hefty price tag of several hundred dollars, however; upgrades, meanwhile, allow you to watch the games on the computer or on a compatible mobile phone as well.

Some people think that satellite television is better than cable, including Amy Kilmer, who lives south of the Village of Red Hook off Metzger Road. She is a DIRECTTV subscriber also. “Satellite is cheaper and better,” she said, saying she subscribes to “The Choice” package, which has 150 channels. There is a downside however, as Amy admits: “Yes, it will go off the air for a little while during the rain, but it comes right back on again.”

Problems with reception due to rain appear less severe with the other satellite option, Dish Network. Sandy Smith of Clermont, says that you get practically everything on Dish that you can get on DirectTV (including the Albany local programming she wanted), and there is less interference from the weather. Examples of what you cannot get with Dish are NFL Sunday games and NASCAR Hot Pass. DIRECTTV also claims to offer more movies-on-demand. On the other hand, for those who prefer college football over professional football, Dish Network offers an ESPN GamePlan Package. Dish has recently rolled out a professional football package called Red Zone, but for Sunday football Red Zone jumps from game to game, showing only segments.

Cost
Cost depends upon what you want to spend and what equipment, if any, is already installed when you move into your residence. Most people wait until a promotion is advertised in the media or on the Internet. Remember to read the fine print in any promotional ad. Most require a long-term contract, usually two years, and you lose the promotional deal if you cancel before the contract period is up (costing as much as $300, plus monthly rental fees for any equipment you lease). Since most promotional discounts are for only six months, make sure you can afford the full rate for the duration of the package, or you risk being out hundreds of dollars in cancellation fees.

Just recently introduced is DishNOW! prepaid satellite television from Dish Network that works like prepaid cell phones. You buy the equipment from RadioShack or other providers, and then can buy prepaid cards in $30 or $40 increments from RadioShack or another provider. The only downside besides being required to buy the equipment and pay for installation is limited programming. Customers with pre-paid accounts are not eligible to receive local channels or Regional Sports Networks. Also, the prepaid equipment is only for one television.

Television service has come a long ways since the days of rabbit-ears, and the switch from analog to digital over-the-air broadcasting hasn’t made understanding today’s options any easier. The majority of television viewers in the United States subscribe to some type of subscription service, but approximately 13 to 15 percent of Americans rely only on off-air (antenna) television. Yet during the switch to digital over-the-air broadcasting this year, many cable and satellite customers thought they had to upgrade their equipment to digital televisions or converter boxes. The best thing to do is ask around before making any major investment in television equipment and service and do your homework in the public library and on the Internet.

Remember: even if you are stuck climbing a ladder to brush off snow from your satellite dish before you can watch a basketball game on ESPN, you can always switch to cable after the contract period is over, provided the cable service carries the games you want to watch. The consumer now has choices, something he didn’t have years ago.