dish vs. directv

[jcb]

Am deciding on whether to go with Dish or Directv.  I read that Directv has exlcusive rights to Milwaukee.  Can someone explain what that means?  Should I be concerned that Dish would not be a recommended way to go, given this information?

[smack]

Go with Directv you will be much happier I believe.

Pluse D* is launching two new satelites in 2005 and will be able to provide many new hd channels with their increased bandwidth.

I would really think your choices would be D* or Time warner cable.

Dish is a sinking ship IMHO.

Not sure what exclusive rights means?  maybe for they meant for local stations?

smack

[jcb]

Thanks for your input.  Can you give some more background on why you think Dish is a sinking ship?  JUst trying to make a good decision.

[smack]

I just see D* as turning into a leader whereas Dish kind of seems to be treading water the last few years.

D* just renewed with the NFL for Sunday Ticket and has a big advantage if you are a sports fan.

D* is providing locals to almost all of the county and will soon be providing HD locals (next year) to a lot of the markets with other markets to follow.

D* has new satelites being launched next year with the ability to provide many more channels.

It just seems when there is any announcement regarding new channels it is always D* or TWC and rarely dish.

Yes with D* you need to buy the equipment, but I think it is well worth it.

Again, if I were you I would really be comparing D* vs. cable.  That is probably a closer call.

smack

[jkane]

Dish has Milwaukee locals.  They weren't first, but they started offering them a few months ago.  I have no idea why someone would say they don't have them.

Both services have their advantages and disadvantages.  Each one gets better than the other for a year, and then the next year it's the other way around.

Right now, D* has the directivo.  This is the draw that would take me to them.  But ... E* has dropped the price on their 921 HD recorder to $549.  That's half the initial cost of D*.  Not as great of a product, but it makes for a big difference in the pocket book.

What has remained consistant are 2 things and the main reason why I stick with Dish.

First, E* has superstations like UPN and WB that D* refuses to carry.

Second, E* has had consistantly lower cost for their packages than D*.

If none of these are important to you, go with either one.  In the end they are really the same.

[Sparkman87]

If you are comparing D* HD package with E*, you will find differences.  D* carries Universal HD (formerly Bravo HD) while E* carries TNT HD.  TNT has the rights to the NBA & will show NBA games in HD.  Right now, in O & O markets, you can get CBS, NBC, & FOX HD on D*.  E* only has CBS HD.  Milwaukee is an O & O market only for FOX, so D* would have the advantage there.

[Ralph Kramden]

Are you talking about SD or HD? The SD picture quality is the same.  I had Directv for 5 years, and Dish for the last year. The HD quality with Dish is great  with my 811 HD receiver, but I never had HD with Directv. The HD equipment is definitely cheaper with Dish, I lease my HD receiver for $5 per month.
The main advantage of Directv is if you want the NFL package.

[FiberOptic]

What is an O & O market?

[smack]

It is a market that is owned and operated by the national network.

Our FOX-6 is an O & O (run by fox)

other stations are run by sinclair, journal broadcasting, or some other "franchisee" etc....who get the profits from the station.

smack

[jcb]

Just to clarify, if I go with E*, will I be able to receive the local channels (4, 6, 12, 58) in High Definition?

[FiberOptic]

Is it true that the picture quality is better on sat than cable?

[smack]

IMO the digital channels offered by cable are equal in comparison to the satelite channels.  

However, I believe there are still a lot of analog channels on cable even if you have the "digital" cable package.  The analog channels definately do not look as good as the sat. channels do.

d* does compress a little to much on some channels and that can make some channels look poor as well.

The HD channels are a wash, they both look great.

smack

[Sparkman87]

Originally posted by jcb
Just to clarify, if I go with E*, will I be able to receive the local channels (4, 6, 12, 58) in High Definition?

Not on E*, you would have to get them ota.  The only network that E* carries is an East or West feed of CBS-HD.  They do not have the other 3 networks at all.  In Milwaukee, you will not even get the CBS-HD feed because the CBS station in Milwaukee is not an O & O station. So, all 4 of your nets would have to be OTA.  I am in the Chicago DMA, so I get the CBS-HD NY feed.  

D* has all 4 nets now for O & O markets.  If I had D*, I could get all 4 of them here.  In Milwaukee, as said by Smack, the only O & O is FOX 6.  

E* has not announced any plans to carry local HD feeds of any nets.

[Nels Harvey]

Originally posted by jcb
Just to clarify, if I go with E*, will I be able to receive the local channels (4, 6, 12, 58) in High Definition?

The E* 811 receiver will accept an over the air signal for HDTV.  You can see the HD programming from the area, depending if your antenna picks up the HD signals.  As a rule, HD signals are quite a bit lower in signal strength, and the Ch. 6 and Ch. 58 digital signals are still on quite low power for now.  Some people have a problem receiving them.  This is supposed to be improved by May, or June this year,  but we'll see!

Nels....