Big dish satelite system: obsolete?

[Ernesto]

I have had a 4DTV system for msny years. Has the time come to down size to one of the many mini dish systems? With so many choices, the competition factor must be good for consumers, no?

[CanuckAmok]

1. Can't you only get...

Brazillian bare-knuckle fighting and weird South American trans porn with a big dish?

Have I been undersold?

[Ernesto]

3. I probably get the same crap

as the mini dishes. So my question is: Can anybody intellegently compare the big dish to the small dish?

[CanuckAmok]

6. we have a digital dish....

it's okay, but unlike the local big-dish provider, we have to chose channel packages, instead of the specific channels we want.

Country Music Television, anyone?

[Ernesto]

8. Hey big dish material is scrambled

so I have to buy a program package subscription too.... maybe my choice is greater, but is it worth it?

[onebigbadwulf]

2. Digital cable is pretty good too

especially since you get local channels.

[Ernesto]

4. Thanks

but I don't live "in town": no cable.

[truthseeker1]

5. DirecTV with TiVo

is the way to go! We just got the Hughes TiVo with DirecTV receiver built in. It is soooooo nice.

[Liberal Veteran]

13. I can't agree...

Rupert Murdoch is buying DirecTV and putting a ex-FOX news exec in charge of it. After almost a decade of having DirecTV, I switched to DishNetwork and like it.

[truthseeker1]

17. Not yet

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=442544#443693

Well, at least by skipping through all the commercials with TiVo, I'm not supporting any of the advertisers. Plus I can watch what I want when I want to watch it.

[shanti]

18. no way

direct teevee is owned by rupert murdoch, so it is OUT. dish all the way!

[Champion Jack]

7. Google --"C-band"

[UTUSN]

9. Isn't Direct Being Taken Over by MURDOCH?

& Dish has been criticized here on, I think, union grounds, but Dish carries Free Speech TV.

I ended up with Dish because the big dish carrier was dropping channels like Bravo one by one. They said big dishes were on the way out and facilitated the switch to Dish.

Packages are horrible. To get ONE particular "news" channel (O.K., I'll say it: Faux) you have to go to the next higher package. Plus there are all those channels *never* to be seen.

When there's a storm, the signal is lost for awhile, otherwise O.K.

[Ernesto]

10. MURDOCH?

Now there's a real ISSUE that I had not thought of. Thanks!

[Cleita]

11. Murdoch is taking over DirecTV. It seems it was a hostile

takeover too although not much is being said about this.

[mac56]

14. DirecTV had previously been owned by a subsidiary of General Motors.

Murdoch was prepared to buy General Motors, keep DirecTV, and spin off the rest of the company. So say the rumors, anyway.

[truthseeker1]

16. It's not a done deal yet.

The FCC is investigating. I talked to an employee at DirecTV just a couple days ago and her budget was frozen until the deal goes through/or doesn't go through. Not sure what the holdup is.

No, I'm not looking forward to Murdoch taking over but I'm not happy about owning a piece of GM either.

[papau]

12. Saves money - but reduced choices - EU and SA are gone

and you lose the interesting broadcasts that you can now see that fill the time the small dish folks are forced to watch comercials.

And you lose the repeat schedule and ability to get a show no longer playing in your time zone.

It is certainly a cheaper way to get the various movies packages - but I found myself dropping those years ago.

[Ernesto]

15. Oh no.....

Big dish owners pay 3 times...!, We invest big money in equipment 2, We pay for unscrambled program packages 3, we get to indure commercials.

[BiggJawn]

19. "Big Dish"? You mean "C" Band?

I didn't know there was anything left to watch except Televangelists and home shopping on C-band...

[Piperay]

20. I am looking to get a big dish

because the small ones offer alot less, not much international programming it's mostly just commericial crap. I would keep the BIG dish if I had it.