| |
Direct
TV |
Dish
Network |
| Popularity |
Most
popular with more than 10 million customers in the United States. |
Also
very popular with millions of customers and growing rapidly. |
Transmission
Quality |
100%
Digital high quality signal |
100%
Digital high quality signal |
| Programming |
Supports
up to 225 channels.
Direct TV has exclusive rights to some sports channels but you
need to pay an extra fee to get these channels. The exclusive
sports packages include NHL Center Ice, MLB Extra Innings, NY
Yankee Games, NBA League Pass and NFL Sunday Ticket which gives
you access to almost every NFL game.
|
Supports
up to 500 channels.
Great range of programming including many sports channels. Has
more comprehensive international programming with additional
foreign language programming packages. |
| Cities |
Direct
TV has access to some cities that Dish Network does not: Las
Vegas, Memphis, Milwaukee, Columbus and Baltimore. |
Dish
Network has access to the follwoing cities that Direct TV
does not: Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Honolulu and Grand Rapids. |
| Pricing |
Basic
packages' prices range are between $31.99 to $81.99. |
Basic
packages' prices range are between $22.99 to $72.99. Promotions
are more aggressive. You can get installation of up to four
receivers for free if you commit to 12 months of service. |
| Personal
Video Recording |
Personal
Video Recording (or PVR) is a great new technology where you
can record as many programs as you like, and you can even
pause or rewind in the middle of live programming! Both DirectTV
and Dish Network offer these technologies, but with Dish Network
you do not have to pay an additional monthly fee to access
the technology. |
|
Customer Service |
They
both offer online services like viewing current and prior statements,
add packages and make payments to your account.
They also provide online user manuals and installation guides.
|
| Warranty |
They
both offer 12 months of warranty from the day of activation
and a
24 hours customer service line but Dish Network's customer service
is done in-house so it may be of a higher quality. |