Feature Comparison Between DirecTV And The Dish Network
If you’re making the transition from cable television to a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service, you’ll need to compare the features between the two largest providers. Both DirecTV and the Dish Network have millions of customers. Without spending time comparing the two, it’s often difficult to determine which company provides the best service. Comparing the monthly price or current promotions doesn’t reveal much; they both periodically offer outstanding promotions at a reasonable monthly cost. What’s more, both companies offer responsive support to their subscribers.
In this article, we’ll take a look beyond the promotions and focus primarily on the features that each company offers. We’ll describe a few popular programming choices, the receivers, and the parental controls they place at your disposal.
Sports And Other Programming Packages
Both DirecTV and the Dish Network have carved a name for themselves with their respective sports packages. Both satellite providers offer packages devoted to the highest profile sports, such as basketball, baseball, football, soccer, and hockey. Plus, they allow their subscribers to purchase single games, multi-game packages, and half and full seasons. Currently, Direct TV also offers rugby and NASCAR.
The Dish Network has maintained a channel that is only available to their subscribers. The programming consists of horoscopes, weather, sports scores and similar content. DirecTV also maintains an exclusive channel. It offers many of the same programming options as their competitor, but also provides special live music events.
Both providers also offer a number of channels that are dedicated to music. The Dish Network partnered with SIRIUS Music a few years ago to stream over sixty music channels. For its part, Direct TV streams XM Radio across over seventy channels.
High-Definition DVR Receivers
Both services have maintained top-notch HD-DVR receivers for their subscriber base. At the time of writing, subscribers of both DirecTV and the Dish Network are not required to purchase their receivers from either provider. While both companies offer high-quality equipment, they allow their customers to purchase it elsewhere. Having said that, Direct TV seems to have a larger network of vendors who are designing HD-DVR receivers and dishes that are compatible with the service. That has accelerated the time to market for equipment that boasts more features and functionality.
Parental Controls
Both satellite providers give their customers strong parental controls for free. Both allow subscribers to lock specific channels and also to lock down movies based upon their MPAA rating (for example R-rated films). The Dish Network provides a feature which lets subscribers lock films based on ancillary ratings descriptions (for example, violence). On the other hand, DirecTV lets their customers establish ceilings on the amount of money they can spend on pay-per-view programming.
To be sure, DirecTV and the Dish Network have become titans in the direct broadcast satellite industry because they have aggressively tried to cater to their subscriber base. The decision regarding which service you should choose will depend heavily on the features and programs that most interest you and your family.
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