A study by SNL Kagan found that the cable provider’s subscriber base dropped nearly 4% of their subscribers in the nation’s top 15 markets during the first quarter of 2011.

Although one report stated that satellite providers increased their subscriber base 0.1% to 10.6 million in those markets, other reports seemed less certain about the actual numbers of new satellite TV subscribers gained during the quarter, but I suppose the main point of this study is that cable lost a significant number of customers.

The competition between the various pay-TV providers has been fierce for years, and for a number of reasons cable always seemed to come out on top. The reasons for that are varied – perhaps the most important one being the fact that cable is more deeply entrenched in the market since the technology has been widely available to consumers since the 70’s or 80’s while satellite probably wasn’t a practical alternative for the vast majority of consumers until the 90’s.

Satellite has been working to overcome disadvantages like that for some time now. Cable also had the edge when it came to features like on-demand programming but that’s changing now. The internet is allowing satellite providers like DISH Network to offer a much larger selection of on-demand programming that was not previously available directly from their satellites.

DISH Network’s so called “Seinfeld Strategy” also suggests that satellite companies are working towards expanding their business into new areas which will level the playing field even more when compared to some of the features that were unique to cable for quite some time.

Another report suggests that satellite may ultimately defeat cable and take the lion’s share of pay-TV customers in the future.The reports cites a study by Digital TV Research that suggests the days of cable TV dominance may be coming to an end.

Now that this new data has come to light, expect the cable industry to dig their heels in and fight even harder to keep their customers. It would be nice to see them drop the deceptive advertising regarding the reliability of satellite TV, but if history is any indication, they’ll probably ratchet the deceptive rhetoric up a few notches as they see their business being overtaken by satellite.

As it stands now, I receive at least one mailing from Comcast every month trying to convince me to sign up with them. The only way I could ever see that happening is if they lowered their rates dramatically, and I really don’t see that happening. Let’s face it, in the end it’s all about the money – for consumers as well as service providers, and for my money DISH Network beats cable hands down.

Is Cable Losing the Battle with Satellite TV?

The actors in the commercial insinuate that the failure of the satellite signal is typical when it rains and conclude that cancelling their satellite service and signing up for Xfinity will solve their reception problems.

I hope their prepared to pay higher monthly fees for their Xfinity service, but there is no mention of that during the commercial.

The notion that satellite TV is not reliable during inclement weather has been one of the cable industries most-used weapons against the satellite industry for a while now. The problem with that is that that particular weapon only shoots blanks. Their claims regarding satellite reliability are simply not true.

If a satellite subscriber is having frequent problems with reception during bad weather, they have a problem with their installation and should contact their satellite provider and have their system checked. If a dish antenna is slightly out of alignment, it can result in a much weaker signal than you should be receiving, which makes the signal far more vulnerable to interruption.

I’ve written plenty on this topic, but when I recently came across an item on another website where a number of consumers talk about their experience with satellite TV and bad weather, I felt like it was a good time to bring this topic up again.

In what appears to be a sarcastic jab a DISH Network, “The Consumerist” posted a brief article titled “Dish Gives Prospective Customers Preview Of Its Stellar Service.”

In what may have been a rather unexpected turn of events, it seems that most of the consumers who responded to the article were satellite customers who were satisfied with their service.

A lot of the comments echo my own experience with DISH Network, which is disrupted by weather only on rare occasions. At least one commenter even said that their experience with cable television led them to the conclusion that their cable was out of service more than their satellite service.

Check out the discussion at: The Consumerist

More Comcast Nonsense Regarding Satellite Reliability

The state of Ohio levied a 5.5% tax on satellite TV service. I don’t live in Ohio, but I suspect – if my experience is any indication – that this tax is something that is passed along to customers. As a consequence, customers likely saw their satellite television bill go up in 2003 when the Ohio legislature approved the new measure.

Although the new tax likely hit Ohio satellite customers in the pocketbook, cable TV subscribers were bypassed since the new tax was not imposed on cable operators. Needless to say, that was something that did not sit well with DISH and DirecTV but likely put smiles on the faces of cable executives who operate in Ohio.

The new tax law was challenged in court by DISH Network and DirecTV who initially met with success when a Franklin County court ruled in their favor, but an appeal eventually landed the case in front of the Ohio Supreme Court where the satellite operators’ luck ran out.

The court ruled 5-2 that the tax did not “discriminate because satellite and cable companies deliver TV through different means.” I think an appropriate action to that statement might be: “Huh?”

The court further stated that, “’The Ohio General Assembly imposed a sales tax that makes no distinction between local and interstate commerce, but rather distinguishes based on the mode of distributing television programming.” At the risk of sounding a bit redundant: “Huh?”

OK, so here’s what I’m getting out of this: You have two competing services; cable TV and satellite TV. Again, I do not live in Ohio, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that some of the companies operating in Ohio are not based in Ohio. I know that DISH Network is based in Colorado and it appears that DirecTV us based in California.

Since cable TV and satellite TV are offering essentially the same service to the end-user, the satellite companies naturally felt singled out and discriminated against by the the new tax and sought to even things up in court.

The Ohio Supreme Court decided to maintain the status quo based on a decision regarding how the competing services broadcast their programming. That’s an interesting decision, if not a bit odd, but who among us mere citizens can question the unbiased opinion of a Supreme Court decision?

Although the Ohio Supreme Court’s explanation of their ruling may seem a bit lopsided to some of us, the state’s Attorney General, who was charged with defending the tax in court delivered the best punch-line when he was quoted as saying that his victory, “levels the playing field” in the subscriber TV market and ”recognizes and preserves the state’s ability to enact reasonable and fair taxes.”

Let’s see. We pay a tax on our satellite TV service, a tax on our telephone service, a tax on our gasoline, a tax on just about anything else we buy (here in New Hampshire we have no sales or income tax which is nice, but believe me, they make up for it with high property taxes!) or the income we earn and fat cats like Ohio’s Attorney General (can you even get elected or appointed to an office like that if you’re not wealthy?) pats himself on the back for defending a “reasonable and fair” tax on people who just want to watch TV?

Please Mr. Ohio Attorney General, I’d love to hear your definition of “reasonable and fair.” Furthermore, with all the taxes we pay, why is it that our Federal Government and most state governments are going broke? I’d love to hear him defend that in court.

By the way, the new tax has raked in a reported $44 million since it was imposed, but I’m sure that had nothing to do with the recent ruling.

DISH Network and DirecTV Lose in Ohio Court Ruling

I’ve seen advertisements from Comcast that highlight the alleged shortcomings of satellite TV and received ridiculous advertising via the mail from the now-bankrupt Adelphia, which provided cable TV service in my area before the company collapsed as a result of criminal greed on the part of the company’s top officers.

This time it’s Charter cable that’s taking shots at satellite TV with radio ads that appeal to satellite customers who are tired of missing “hours of programming” due to rain. That one is actually laugh-out-loud funny! But I suspect the folks at Charter are not laughing too much these days since the cable industry just endured two straight quarters of subscriber loss. This is the kind of loss the industry has not seen for a long time.

Charter, having lost 5% of their customers in the third quarter and expecting more losses during the fourth quarter, has decided to reach back into their dusty old bag of tricks and attack the satellite industry with ridiculous claims about reception problems due to rain.

I’ve been a DISH Network subscriber for more than a dozen years, so I have first-hand experience with how the weather affects reception. Has the rain ever disrupted my reception? Yes, it has. But the question that cable companies like Charter don’t want to ask is: How many times has it happened?

I can answer the question that Charter does not want to ask. Fewer than 10 times over a period of 12 years. That’s not an exact count – just a good estimate on my part. The only times the rain has knocked out my satellite reception is during exceptionally heavy rain or when a particularly strong front moves through the area. In a nutshell, losing my satellite reception due to rain is very rare.

It’s certainly possible that a satellite TV customer could be adversely affected by the weather if their system is not installed properly or they live in an area where the signal from the satellite is being interfered with. Think of it like your cell phone. There are areas where it might not work well because of obstructions like hills, mountains, valleys or whatever.

Generally speaking, you need a good clear, unobstructed path between your satellite dish and the satellite in order to get optimal reception. I suspect that improper installations are a primary cause of consumer complaints regarding satellite TV. I say this because I’ve been very satisfied with DISH Network for a long time and have not been tempted to switch to cable despite the numerous offers I’ve received from cable companies through the years.

So, am I saying that Charter is lying about losing satellite TV reception when it rains? I’m sure Charter has its legal eagles watching out for the company by preventing them from making claims that could get them into legal trouble, but I won’t hesitate to state that they are surely stretching the truth based on my personal experience.

A properly-installed satellite system will suffer very rarely as a result of rain. On the other hand, a poorly-installed system might get knocked out by a light drizzle. Therefore, Charter’s advertisements might resonate with some unhappy satellite TV customers who really do miss hours of programming due to an improperly installed system.

I suspect Charter knows that as well, but I suppose their service sounds more appealing than satellite if you believe satellite subscribers lose their signal every time it rains. If that were the case, could DISH Network and DirecTV even stay in business? I think not.

Charter Cable’s Desperate Efforts to Boost Subscriber Count

In my experience, that’s simply not the case. Sure, we have lost out satellite service a few times in the dozen or so years we have had it, but it’s always been due to very severe or unusual weather conditions.

Satellite seems most susceptible to severe thunderstorms during the summer. This isn’t much of a problem for us since I always disconnect the satellite dish from our DVR and receivers when we get storms like that. I also unplug all electronic devices from the power outlets.

It’s a pain, but well worth the effort if lighting strikes your home or the power lines in your area. Lightning can wipe out just about every electronic device in your home if a strike happens close enough and your devices are still plugged in.

We had some severe weather here in New Hampshire last night and some Comcast customers got a taste of how cable TV service can be affected by the weather as well. Although the actual number of customers impacted is not included, Manchester, NH television station WMUR reports on their website that a number of Comcast customers lost their service during the finale of American Idol last night.

Since American Idol is a wildly popular show, and the finale is probably one of the most-watched (if not the most-watched) programs every year, there must be quite a few unhappy Comcast customers around the state today.

We happened to be watching that very program last night, and despite the bad weather in the area, we had no problems with our DISH Network reception whatsoever. In fact, I watched TV until around midnight last night and never had any reception problems at all.

WMUR reports that it was some kind of telephone pole fire that knocked out Comcast service for some customers. With thunderstorms in the area, it is likely that the fire was the result of a lightning strike.

Now what was that the cable industry was saying about how unreliable satellite TV is during bad weather?

Reality of Cable TV Reliability Hits New Hampshire Viewers

With the announcement of a new distribution deal between DISH Network and NeuLion, you can now get real satellite TV on your PC. NeuLion is a company that distributes television programming over the internet and they will now be able to offer international channels from DISH Network.

Dish Network Vice President of International Programming Chris Kuelling has this to say about this new partnership: “We know some of our customers prefer to watch their favorite channels via satellite and others prefer broadband delivery, and we are pleased that we can now offer a solution that fits their specific needs.”

Finally, I can hear someone say “satellite TV in PC” and actually believe it!

Satellite TV on PC For Real!

Yeah, I’m always tough on Comcast, and for that matter, most cable TV companies. That’s because I cannot recall a single one of them I have ever been satisfied with. I’d estimate that I’ve been a subscriber to at least five different cable companies in my life, and it was always a lousy experience for me.

Today, I’m still a Comcast customer, but only for high-speed internet. Comcast is the only game in town if you want high-speed internet in my area. To be perfectly honest, the high-speed internet service is pretty good. The problem I have with it is the price. Paying $62 a month for an internet connection (and that’s not even the highest-speed option) seems a little over-the-top to me.

Sure, I could get high-speed internet from Comcast cheaper if I signed up for one of their cable TV packages, but when I consider the signal quality, the low number of HD channels and the fact that I have been quite happy with my DISH Network service for the last dozen years or so, the idea of switching to Comcast for my television programming is not an option.

Despite the loss of cable TV customers, the company reports that their revenue per customer has risen about 6%. That’s probably due to increased fees – something I remember very well from my days as a cable TV customer; regardless of what cable company it was.

Even though it’s painfully obvious that Comcast lags behind the satellite providers when it comes to HD channels, I suspect they will continue with their sneaky TV commercials which claim they offer more HD “content” than satellite. There’s a difference between HD “content” and HD channels, so they must be including all their on-demand programming in their calculation of “content” and hoping that consumers will think “channels” when Comcast says “content.”

I guess most companies play games when it comes to making their offerings look good, but my years of experience as an unhappy cable TV customer might make me a little more cynical with regard to cable TV advertising claims.

Comcast Continues To Lose Customers

That’s the case with Won Tak Kim, “president” of an outfit called Panarex. The organization was in the business of selling “free-to-air” or FTA satellite systems, which can be perfectly legal when used to receive signals that are intended to be free for public consumption. Panarex, however, was also providing customers with some extra “features,” specifically DISH Network signals that are intended only for DISH Network subscribers.

Although satellite signals that are broadcast by pay-TV providers like DISH Network are encrypted in order to make it more difficult for individuals who attempt to “pirate” the broadcasts without paying for a subscription, there are some individuals who have the technical expertise to manufacture the equipment required to receive the encrypted signals.

When DISH Network learned that Panarex was selling satellite systems that were imported from South Korea and were able to receive encrypted DISH Network broadcasts after downloading decryption codes from the internet, they took legal action.

A federal district court in California ordered Panarex to surrender their inventory and stop selling the illegal receivers. The company was also ordered to pay a $121 million penalty to DISH Network.

No word on how Panarex customers will fare after this settlement, but I would not want to be someone with one of those illegal receivers in my home. Some customers probably believed that they were buying satellite systems that were legal, but there is no doubt that many of them knew exactly what they were getting and may be at risk of prosecution.

Another DISH Pirate Goes Down In Flames

A special feature of this new addition is the airing of Centroamerica TV’s La Liga (Spanish soccer league) game of the week, which airs every Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Centroamerica TV is available in the U.S. only via satellite and can be found on DISH Network Ch. 832. The new channel comes at no extra charge to subscribers of DishLATINO Clasico and above programming packages. The channel will  provide Central Americans living in the United States with a solid connection to their home countries using informative and entertaining programming that includes "Viva la Manana" from Guatemala, "Hola El Salvador," "Noticias 12" from Nicaragua and "Telenoticias" from Costa Rica.

The channel will also air live soccer games each week and sports highlights programs like "El Pizarron Deportivo" from El Salvador, "Resumen Deportivo" from Costa Rica and "Gol a Gol," a thorough recap of the week’s highlights from La Liga.

"DISH Network is the leader in Spanish-language programming because we continue to bring new and exciting programming like Centroamerica TV to the wide variety of Latino communities in the U.S.," said Dave Shull, senior vice president of Programming for DISH Network. "We are very pleased that the millions of Central Americans who live in the U.S. now have access to Centroamerica TV at a value unmatched by any other pay-TV provider in the country."

"We continue with our commitment to serve the Central American community in the U.S., and we are thrilled Centroamerica TV is now available through DISH Network’s DishLATINO suite of packages," said Antonio Briceno, general manager for Centroamerica TV and vice president of Distribution and Channels for Imagina U.S. "This reaffirms our standing as the leading channel for Central Americans living in this country."

DISH Network Adds Centroamerica TV To DishLATINO Packages

According to the report, the local channels will be available for DISH Network customers to order tonight starting at 7:00 p.m. EDT.

Photo: takomabibelot

Comments in response to the news from Upper Michigan’s Source seem to indicate that some UP residents have had problems receiving their local TV channels since the cutover to digital TV. Something I can relate to here at my home since DTV seems to be a bit less “stable” than the old reliable analog signals that served us well for many decades.

I signed up for the local channel package from DISH Network a while back, mainly to receive our local ABC affiliate that is located in Manchester, NH. The terrain between our home and the stations transmission tower make it impossible to receive a reliable signal these days following the DTV transition, although we could usually count on a snowy, but watchable signal when they were broadcasting an analog signal.

Residents of the UP who are not already DISH Network customers and who would like to sign up or learn more about DISH Network can visit the DISH Network website by clicking here for all the latest information on programming packages and pricing.

Local Channels For Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Coming Soon?