The Big Face Off: Cable TV and Satellite TV

There has always been a lot of dispute over which is better between cable TV and satellite TV. If you are wondering which is better, take a look at these factors:

Equipment

* Cable TV and satellite TV both require the installation of additional equipment.

* With cable TV, you will have to have a large cable to link you to the network. If your area does not have a network cable, you may have to wait for sometime to get one. You also need a receiver and with digital services, you will need to buy another box.

* With satellite TV, you need a satellite dish, receiver and cable to link the receiver to your TV.

Reception and Programming

* In terms of reception and programming, satellite TV wins hands down.

* Satellite TV is entirely digital, very unlike the many analog channels of cable. The picture does not break up or go fuzzy, and although satellite TV can be interrupted by strong weather, such disturbances are rare and very short lived.

* Cable TV and satellite TV can both take a lot of channels, but satellite TV can cope with more.

* Cable TV can manage up to 260 channels while satellite TV can take even more. In addition, satellite TV is better equipped for HDTV.

Price

* Between cable TV and satellite TV, the latter is cheaper.

* Cable TV has other costs such as franchising costs, taxes and additional costs for pay-per-view services.

* The Dish Network, one of the two major satellite TV companies in North America, has satellite TV packages starting at just $29.99 a month.

Additional Services

* Cable TV and satellite TV both have interactive services, but satellite TV boasts more. Cool extras like the Dish Network’s Digital Video Recorder allows you to pause and start live feeds.

* An electronic programming guide, video on demand, weather and many more are some of the interactive services available on satellite TV that are not all available on cable TV.

* Cable TV and satellite TV also both have broadband internet, but cable’s is somewhat faster than satellite’s. DirecTV, a satellite TV provider, offers an ultra-fast connection, but at a high cost.

Popularity

* Although satellite TV has better image quality due to its digital signal, is cheaper, is capable of more channels and more extras than cable TV, cable TV is still the preferred method of watching TV by many.

* However, it will not be long before satellite TV overtakes cable TV in terms of subscribership. In the last few years, satellite TV has caught up with cable TV.

Overall, cable TV and satellite TV are both good forms of entertainment, but satellite TV shines out as a clear winner, better on almost all counts.

Eric Love is The Home Theater Guy and he is providing the best information in home theater | home theater systems.