What's on Dish Network?

The debate rages on…or does it? Cable companies love to diss on digital satellite systems (DSS). Why? Because a lot of their customers are leaving cable and signing up for Dish. Of course they are upset.

Why are they leaving? That’s easy. If you were going to watch American Idol, like this season with the sizzling hot Vonzell Solomon or the always spectacular Anwar Robinson, wouldn’t you want to watch it with 100% all-digital signal, which gives you the cleanest picture you’ve ever seen on your TV?

Of course you would. What digital cable subscribers are horrified to find out (and you never see this in their commercials that bash digital satellite systems, such as DirecTV or Dish Network), is that only some of your cable channels are digital. It’s not the case that nearly all the channels are digital. Saying that most of them are digital isn’t accurate either, only some. So, if you subscribe to HBO (have you seen Carnivale lately?), it’ll be digital on your digital cable, but your local channels (like ABC—you have to watch Desparate Housewives, of course) are analog. Analog channels equals a grainy, even fuzzy picture and less than stellar sound quality.

But Dish’s superb picture and sound qualities aren’t the only reasons to switch. There are also many more channels on Dish. And they’re all digital. Another big advantages that Dish Network has is price. Dish is much cheaper than digital cable. In fact, in my area, Dish’s Top 60 package costs exactly half of what the cheapest Comcast digital cable package costs. But that’s not the worst of it. The basic analog cable package (with no digital channels) costs about 33% more than an all-digital television package from Dish. Can you believe it? Not only that, but with digital cable, they usually only have one or two packages which means you’re likely to be paying for channels you don’t want to watch. Dish Network offers many packages and options, so you can pick and choose what you want to pay for and what you don’t want to pay for. So, in conclusion, the cable companies want us to pay MORE for LESS? No thanks. I’ve had both and I choose Dish.