Satellite customers more satisfied than cable customers?
by Richard Lawler 
posted Jun 27th 2008 at 6:18AM
Those looking for an answer to the cable or satellite question may want to turn their eyes to a recent survey by Beta Research Group, suggesting the latter group is more satisfied with their TV provider. The numbers are 72% answering "satisfied" for satellite compared to only 62% for digital cable, while 66% of people with dishes said they would definitely continue as customers, compared to 45% with cable. We're pretty sure many of those interview have HD, with discovery and History channels ranking highest among the favorites - we like them too, but can't imagine liking them as much in SD. Take a look at the read link to get a couple more notes on the methodology and findings before making a decision, but for those of you who've already faced down the choice, are you sated?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SuperChuck @ Jun 27th 2008 7:58AM
Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed Discovery and History in SD.
In fact, I mostly ignored my HD programming until Discovery (simulcast, not theater) and History were available. They were the first HD channels that actually had worthwhile content.
Steve Soricelli @ Jun 27th 2008 7:53AM
Having both DirecTV & Cox Cable I'd say I'm equally disssatisfied with both. Satelite still has transmision problems during thunderstorm season but has more HD channels plus the YES netowrk which I can't get in my area w/o DirecTV. They are both equally over priced with cable giving less bang for the buck.
vypergts @ Jun 27th 2008 8:22AM
I've had the DirecTV techs out to my house about 5 times since I moved in March. Lots of problems but I would still rather call and talk to their customer service reps than Comcasts'. The experience is night and day.
bilbravo @ Jun 27th 2008 8:16AM
I think it's a bit absurd to say you wouldn't like a channel as much if it isn't in HD. Either you like the content or you don't! HD is great, but it doesn't make a show inherently better... if content sucks, it sucks. HD enhances it, particularly with Discovery, History, and especially sports.... but it doesn't turn a crappy channel into a good one.
Maybe I'm over analyzing the statement, but it seems a bit pretentious.
Nick @ Jun 27th 2008 2:36PM
Not true.
Take a series like Planet Earth. I tried watching that in SD, and was not remotely interested in it, however watching it in HD, I loved it. Some shows are greatly enhanced by HD. Some you just don't give a crap about. A lot of the stuff on History HD, even when it's supposed to be HD, not stretch-o-vision, just doesn't wow the eye.
musky @ Jun 27th 2008 8:55AM
I am not saying anything is wrong with the survey but people should remember that many of us Satellite users will never have the option to get cable TV because of where we live. So how satisfied do you think someone is with something that is pretty damn good vs. having nothing?
Thanks,
Galley @ Jun 27th 2008 9:01AM
I dumped cable's sorry butt back in '96.
jason @ Jun 27th 2008 9:36AM
We dumped Comcast in favor of DirecTV back about 5 years ago. Comcast's "Digital" signal was simply awful. And it went out like 3 times a week for hours at a time. At our former house, DTV never had any trouble. It took a hurricane to knock out signal, and only for about an hour or so.
After moving to our current house (2 years ago), DTV wasn't as good here. It got knocked out by most thunderstorms, even after a visit from the DTV repair squad (who really just checked connections and re-aimed the dish (it seems it was off by about a degree or 2, it still went out a lot.
A week ago, we kicked DTV to the curb, in favor of FiOS TV. So far, it rocks. It's also our first time having an HDTV (we had the TV for like 2 weeks with SD DTV), and it's just stunning.
Why didn't we keep DTV and go HD with them? A couple of reasons... 1. The frequent outages and 2. Their HD DVR is no longer a TiVo. I could get the older DirecTiVo HD, but wouldn't get any of the MPEG-4 channels on it -- not going to happen. All of the accounts I've read online, as well as personal accounts from a couple of friends with the DTV HD DVR proclaim it as pretty much "wishes it was a TiVo".
We opted for a TiVo HD on the new HD set, and took a SD STB for the kids old tube tv in the playroom. I upgraded the internal HDD on the TiVo HD to a 1TB drive, and it's working very well, though Amazon Unbox seems to have gone MIA, at least on our unit. The Apple TV works better anyhow, and lets us rent in HD.
Nick @ Jun 27th 2008 2:46PM
Yeah, the HD-DVR is slow and irritating, but once you have all your stuff set up, it records stuff from a TON more channels than your precious fios-hd or cable. I'll never understand why it is you'd pick a simpler system over a ridiculous amount more content.
Achilles @ Jun 27th 2008 11:00AM
Once Comcast took over in Houston for Time Warner, I dumped them soon after. I took on Directv and have not looked back. It's rained many times, heavy thunderstorms and I've yet to have any transmission problems. My only complaint with DTV is their DVR still has many bugs but it's slowly getting better. I'm happy I jumped to DTV. Comcast blows!!
Comcast, the most compressed HD channels, ever.
CraziestGadgets.com @ Jun 27th 2008 11:26AM
people who are able to get regular cable and instead get satellite are bound to be happier since they actually made the choice to get satellite, particularly if they got satellite mostly for a particular channel or sport package.
MidnightDT @ Jun 27th 2008 12:24PM
I have DirecTV and im very satisfied. wont cancel anytime soon.
L3 @ Jun 27th 2008 1:27PM
Dish Rules! Satisfied Since '99...
skirge01 @ Jun 27th 2008 1:35PM
Left cable back in the 90's as well. They seem to have stayed there!
DirecTV's DVR may not be Tivo, but it's a valiant effort. My Tivo's had lots of bugs when I first got them, too. People seem to forget that nowadays. I'd urge people to give their HD DVR a try. It took me a long time to convert (hasn't even been a year), but I did and I'm quite satisfied. I even decided to upgrade to their Premier package, I was so satisfied. One gripe on their DVR, though: no "suggestions" like Tivo. Sadly, this is part of several patents which Tivo holds and DirecTV's hands are tied there without licensing it.
I considered switching to cable (Cablevision) recently, but got ticked off at their website which would NOT tell you the prices for their packages... ONLY their "current deals". After the "deal" was over, you had no idea what the price would go up to. I say BS to that.. and emailed them about it, too!
Nick @ Jun 27th 2008 2:51PM
I contacted comcast and they told me what the price would be after their trial period. Not only was it much more than my DTV is, but they have a crappy channel lineup for HD.
Alex @ Jun 27th 2008 9:16PM
I went from satellite to cable about a year ago (new apartment, no dishs allowed.) Although the outage time was about equal, i preferred dish because it went down for larger blocks of time (15 mins) at predictable times (thunderstorms, snowstorms, bill gates' retirement.) But when the cable goes out, it's for 1-2 minute blocks about once a week or two. With satellite, i could say "oh, i'll go do something else now." but with cable I want to sit and wait till my stories come back on.
Andrew @ Jun 28th 2008 5:02AM
I've looked at the dish plans several times in the past and they've always been more than a comparable Time Warner setup in my area. Where are you all finding these cheap dish plans?
chilln @ Jul 2nd 2008 11:37AM
I can't comment specifically on TW but in my area Comcast and satellite are pretty close in price until you start adding HD and multiple DVRs. The cable additional fees for those are 2-3 times what satellite charges.
riverside_guy @ Jun 28th 2008 8:21AM
I have cable and can honestly say I'm FAR, FAR happier with satellite service, even though I don't have it! Crime Warner is THAT bad.