They’re at it again. Comcast, now calling themselves Xfinity, has been running a new series of television commercials claiming that satellite TV is not reliable in inclement weather. The commercials show what appears to be a typical rainfall happening outside a satellite viewer’s home when the service is suddenly disrupted.

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

Or perhaps I should say Xfinity? The cable giant seems to be moving towards changing their name from Comcast to Xfinity, so I guess we can expect to see more of that cool “X” name soon.

Anyway, the latest round of Comcast commercials almost had me rolling on the floor laughing. The ad shows two piles of televisions stacked up; one pile on the right and one pile on the left. The pile on the right is dramatically bigger than the pile on the left.

The ad then goes on to say that the pile on the right represents the number of HD “choices” offered by Comcast, while the pile on the left represents the number offered by satellite TV providers.

Although the ad does not come right out and say “channels,” that is the word that Comcast is probably hoping pops into the minds of those watching that particular commercial.

By “choices,” Comcast has to be including their library of on-demand programming into the equation. Yes, cable has always had more on-demand programming than satellite due to the nature of the way each service is distributed, and I don’t think anyone disputes that. However, I’m far more accustomed to hearing the various pay-TV services comparing their number of HD channels to the competition, which is something Comcast is reluctant to do since that reveals too much of the truth.

Does each on-demand program available in HD format equal an HD channel? I don’t think so, but that would certainly explain the dramatic difference between what Comcast says the satellite companies are offering and what they claims to be offering. How about pouring a little truth into the mix?

I’ve just finished checking the HD channels that Comcast offers in my area. I did not count HBO, Showtime or any of the other premium movie channels. The number if HD channels available from Comcast in my area is a whopping 36.

After that, I checked my DISH Network programming guide to see how many HD channels I could find. Again, not counting any premium movie channels, I counted a total of 64 HD channels on DISH Network. I excluded a number of HD sports channels that I presume are also premium channels, so if anything, the number I came up with for HD channels on DISH is conservative.

To take things to an even more ridiculous level, the new ads claim that Comcast’s HD picture quality is superior to satellite. My experience suggests otherwise. I have relatives that had Comcast cable (before they switched to Verizon FiOS recently) and comparing my DISH Network HD picture quality to theirs left no doubt that Comcast’s picture quality was inferior. My relatives even have a much newer and more expensive HD television set than I do!

Sorry, Comcast, or Xfinity, or whatever you are calling yourself, “choices” does not equal “channels,” and at least where I live, both satellite providers beat you hands down when one takes the time to actually count the number of HD channels from each provider. And from what I can see, as far as picture quality goes, that has not changed in the dozen or so years since I was a cable TV subscriber myself. Satellite delivered a better quality picture then, and still does today.

That’s the route that my favorite cable company seems to be taking. News has emerged that Comcast is planning to rebrand itself as Xfinity. Not sure where that name came from, but unless the exorbitant amount of money they charge me monthly just for broadband internet service comes down, I’m not going to like them any better with the “Xfinity” logo at the top of the bill than I do now with the “Comcast” logo at the top.

Although Comcast claims the name change is being done to “promote the company’s digital technology prowess,” not everyone is convinced.

Some reports are suggesting that the company is changing its name in order to distance itself from its reputation for lousy customer service. Checking out “Comcast” on YouTube does not do much for the company’s image. The number one result is the infamous video of the sleeping Comcast technician who was supposed to be working on a problem in a customer’s home and would up falling asleep on the couch as he waited for a call from the company’s office.

As someone who is locked in as a Comcast customer due to their monopoly on broadband service in my area, I understand why they might want to ditch the old name and go for a massive mulligan. I genuinely hope that this change brings about better customer service, and more importantly, more realistic prices.

As it stands now, I pay about $8 a month more for my DISH Network service (with all the channels I want) than I do for my broadband connection. Naturally, I would pay less for the internet if I was a Comcast cable TV customer, but to me, that’s like saying that they value me less as a customer because I only want broadband.

Perhaps they don’t realize it, but that leaves a bad taste in a customer’s mouth, and in my case, as soon as another broadband option becomes available in my area, I’ll be saying “so long” to Comcast, or Xfinity or whatever other name they may be using at the time.

In the unlikely event that they actually improve customer service and bring prices more in line with reality, I may consider staying on as a customer as long as the service is reliable and the cost is competitive with whatever other options might come my way.

I won’t be holding my breath.