Direct TV vs Dish Network SatelliteDirect TV vs Dish Network. The debate will continue forever because the real answer depends on you. What programming and what services you want. To help with that decision, I’ve put together a comprehensive comparison based on my experience and knowledge. By the way, the correct spelling is DirecTV, but more people use Direct TV, so I’ll use them interchangeably.

Basic Programming Packages

Direct TV:

  • Family Package: 40+ channels including Discovery, Nickelodeon, Science Channel, and National Geographic, plus locals for $29.99/month
  • Choice Package: 100+ channels including CNN, Comedy Central, ESPN, MTV, TBS, TNT, USA, 50 XM Radio music channels for $46.99/month (Add $3.00 for locals)
  • Choice Xtra: 185+ channels including the 100 Choice channels plus E!, National Geographic, Science Channel, Speed, and others, a total of 68 XM Radio music channels for $51.99/month (Add $3.00 for locals)
  • Premier: 250+ channels including the 185 Choice Xtra channels plus HBO, Starz, Showtime, Cinemax, and Sports Pack channels for $96.99/month (Add $3.00 for locals)

Dish Network:

  • Dish Family: 40+ channels including Animal Planet, Discovery Kids, Nickelodeon, and Science Channel for $19.99/month (Add $5.00 for locals)
  • America’s Top 100: 100+ channels including CNN, Comedy Central, ESPN, MTV, TBS, TNT, USA, 30+ Dish CD music channels for $29.99/month (Add $5.00 for locals)
  • America’s Top 200: Includes Top 100 channels plus Bravo, FOX News Channel, SPEED, Animal Planet, 50+ Sirius Radio music channels, and more for $42.99/month (Add $5.00 for locals)
  • America’s Top 250: Includes Top 200 channels plus Discovery Kids, Fox Movie Channel, National Geographic Channel, Science Channel, and more for $52.99/month (Add $5.00 for locals)
  • America’s Everything Pack: Top 250 channels plus Showtime, Starz Movie Pack, HBO, Cinemax, and NBA TV for $89.99/month (Add $5.00 for locals)

DVR (Digital Video Recording)

DirecTV: $5.99 per month flat fee (up to 6 DVR recievers).

Dish Network: $5.98 per receiver per month (Dish Network DVR receivers are multi-room capable which means one receiver can provide programming for two TV’s in different rooms).

HD Programming

DirecTV: $9.99/month includes up to 75 national HD channels, plus locals (if available).

Dish Network: $20.00/month includes 12+ national HD channels, plus 15 national exclusive HD channels (formerly Voom channels), plus HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz (if subscribed), plus Regional Sport Channels (if subscribed), plus PPV HD. 7 additional national HD channels will be added by September 2007.

Extras, A la carte

DirecTV:

  • 7 HBO channels: $13.00/month
  • 12 Starz channels: $12/month
  • 9 Showtime channels: $12/month
  • 3 Cinemax channels: $12/month
  • 30+ Specialty and Regional Sports channels: $12/month
  • MLB Extra Innings: $129/season
  • NASCAR Hot Pass: $99/season
  • NFL Sunday Ticket: $69.99/month
  • NBA League Pass: TBD
  • Mega March Madness: $69/season
  • ESPN Full Court (NCAA Basketball): TBD
  • NHL Center Ice: TBD
  • MLS Direct Kick: $79/season
  • ESPN Gameplan (NCAA Football): $109/season
  • Setanta Sports (International): $14.99/month

Dish Network:

  • 9 HBO channels: $14.99/month
  • 9 Starz channels: $12/month
  • 11 Showtime channels: $12/month
  • 6 Cinemax channels: $12/month
  • Playboy channel: $14.99/month
  • Any 2 Premium Packages: $22/montn; Any 3: $31/month; Any 4: $40/month; All 5: $50/month
  • Specialty and Regional Sports channels: $5.99/month
  • NBA League Pass: TBD
  • ESPN Full Court (NCAA Basketball): TBD
  • MLS Direct Kick: $79/season
  • ESPN Gameplan (NCAA Football): TBD
  • NHL Center Ice: TBD

Other Fees

DirecTV:

  • Lease Fees: $4.99/month per additional receiver (1st one free). This fee is the same for all types of leased receivers.
  • DirectTV Protection Plan: Optional $5.99/month covers repair/service calls for all equipment on the account.

Dish Network:

  • Lease Fees: $5.00-6.00/month per additional receiver (1st one free). (Dish Network DVR receivers are multi-room capable which means one receiver can provide programming for two TV’s in different rooms).
  • Dish Home Protection Plan: Optional $5.99/month covers repair/replacement of leased and/or purchased equipment ($29.99 for in-home service vs. $99.99 without plan).

Special Packages

DirecTV:

  • Plus DVR Package: 185 Choice Xtra channels and locals, plus DVR Service for $59.99/month (savings of $1/month)
  • Plus HD DVR Package: 185 Choice Xtra channels and locals, plus DVR Service and HD channels for $69.99/month

Dish Network:

  • Dish 100 Plus: America’s Top 100 Package channels, plus locals, plus Regional Sports channels for $39.99/month
  • Dish DVR Advantage: America’s Top 200 Package channels, plus locals, plus 2-room DVR service fee for $49.99/month

Current Promotions for New Customers (Best Deals)

DirecTV:

  • Save $20 per month for 12 months: More Info.
  • Get every Premium Movie Channel Free for 3 months: More Info.
  • All new sign ups get a FREE DVR or HD Receiver upgrade(regularly $99) or $100 off an HD DVR Receiver upgrade (with HD or DVR service and a two-year programming commitment), plus a FREE portable DVD Player by mail, and FREE professional installation in up to 4 rooms: More Info.

Dish Network:

  • FREE Equipment and Installation in up to 4 rooms, including HD, DVR, and HD DVR receivers (some restrictions apply), plus get $100 rebate ($10/month bill credit for ten months) with most packages, plus get ANOTHER $100 rebate ($10/month bill credit for 10 months) when HD service is ordered, plus get FREE activation (regularly $49.99) with 18-month commitment, plus get HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, or Starz FREE for 3 months (some restrictions apply): More Info.

Equipment

DirecTV:

  • Standard Receivers:
    • DirecTV D12: Provides one tuner for one TV.
  • Standard Definition DVR Receivers:
    • DirecTV Plus DVR (R15): Features two tuners to record up to two shows simultaneously. Stores up to 100 hours of programming
      .
      DirecTV Plus DVR
    • DirecTV R10: No longer offered by DirecTV, but used ones can be found on ebay, etc. Has two tuners to record up to two shows simultaneously, stores up to 100 hours of programming. Many people prefer this unit to the newer one because of its TiVO user interface and dual live buffers.
  • High Definition Receivers:
    • DirecTV H20: One Satellite HD tuner and one ATSC antenna input to provide programming for one HDTV.
    • DirecTV H21: Note yet released update to H20. Not many changes except that it DOES NOT have an ATSC tuner
  • High Definition DVR Receivers:
    • DirecTV Plus HD DVR (HR20): The newest receiver offered features two HD satellite tuners, and one ATSC attenna input for Over-The-Air (OTA) HD broadcasts. Can record two HD programs simulaneously while watching another pre-recorded show. Also features a single 90 minute buffer. (While tuned to a channel you can rewind/pause up to 90 minutes of live TV without having to record it.)
      DirecTV Plus HDDVR
    • DirecTV HR10-250: No longer offered since it cannot receive the new HD channels broadcast with MPEG4 compression. It does currently still work and can be found used. Many people prefer this unit to the newer one because of its TiVO user interface and dual live buffers.
  • Common Features
    • All current receivers can display caller ID information on the screen when the receiver has a phone line connected and caller ID service is enabled by telephone provider.
    • All receivers have Dolby Digital output for when the programming supports it.
    • All receivers feature on-screen program guide data.
    • All receivers use a custom user interface created by DirecTV. The previous DVR receivers used a TiVO branded user interface, which according to user reviews is preferred over all other DVR user interaces. Even earlier models used the Ultimate TV user interface (developed by Microsoft), which was also well liked.

Dish Network:

  • Standard Receivers:
    • DISH 322: Features two tuners for independent satellite TV viewing on two separate televisions. Product Brochure
  • Standard Definition DVR Receivers:
    • DISH DVR 625: Two tuners to support two separate televisions. Can record two programs simultaneously while watching a third pre-recorded program. Stores up to 100 hours of programming. Product Brochure
      Dish 625
    • ViP222: One Satellite HD tuner and one ATSC antenna input for Over-The-Air (OTA) HD broadcasts to provide programming for one HDTV, and also one standard definition tuner for a separate TV. Product Brochure
    • ViP211: One Satellite HD tuner and one ATSC antenna input to provide programming for one HDTV. Product Brochure

    • High Definition Receivers:

  • High Definition DVR Receivers:
    • ViP622 DVR: Features two Satellite HD tuners and one ATSC antenna input for Over-The-Air (OTA) HD broadcasts to provide programming for one HDTV, and a separate standard definition TV. Can simultaneously record two HD or SD satellite programs and one OTA program (if an antenna is hooked up) while watching a fourth pre-recorded program. All functions can be controlled from either TV. All SD programming can be up-converted for viewing on the HDTV. All HD programming can be down-converted for viewing on the SDTV. Records up to 200 hours of standard definition programming and/or up 30 hours of HD programming (hard drive space is shared for SD and HD content). Can receive MPEG2 and MPEG4 broadcasts. Should be compatible with external hard drives to increase recording capacity by end of 2007 (connects via USB). Product Brochure
      Dish ViP622
    • Dish 942: Similar toVi622, but no longer sold. This receiver is only capable of receiving MPEG2 programming. Dish is in the process of moving all HD broadcasts to MPEG4 compression to make room for more channels.
  • Common Features:
    • All receivers can display caller ID information on the screen when the receiver has a phone line connected and caller ID service is enabled by telephone provider.
    • All receivers have Dolby Digital output for when the programming supports it.
    • All receivers feature on-screen program guide data.
    • Multi-room receivers (all but 211 and 311) can provide programming to a second TV in another room. This is accomplished by RF modulation on selected channel. The 2nd television must be feed via coaxial cable from the receiver. Remote control is enabled by Radio Frequency (UHF), which unlike most remotes that are infrared, RF remotes can send signals through walls. The RF modulation also allows the ability to distribute programming throughout an entire house for any TV to receive, although only one RF remote is provided, and only one program can be broadcast at one time.
    • All DVR receivers feature a 30 second commercial skip, which is becoming more scarce these days with pressure from the media giants. With a single button push on the remote, recorded programs skip 30 seconds ahead. Six pushes quickly passes by a 3 minute commercial. Most DVR service providers, including the independent TiVO service only provide fast-forward and rewind, which makes it difficult to stop right at the end of the commercial.

Key Differences

  • HD Programming and Pricing: Currently Dish Network HD service is more the DirectTV’s ($20 vs $10), but Dish does provide 15 exclusive HD channels not available anywhere else.
  • Multi-Room Recievers: Most Dish receivers are multi-room capable which reduces the number of receivers and lease feess, allows recorded content on DVR receivers to be access and shared with other TVs, but may also cause confilcts in certain cases (i.e. when there are only two tuners and one program is being recorded and another program being watched live, no live programs could be watched on the 2nd TV).
  • Commercial Skip: Dish Network DVR receivers feature a 30 second commercial skip (instant), while only the newest DirecTV DVR features a similar feature, 30 second SLIP: the skip is not instantaneous, rather one push of the button causes the program to fast forward 30 seconds ahead, so you see what what is being skipped/slipped.
  • Programming Packages: Both providers offer slightly different packages (i.e. the National Geographic Channel is included in DirecTV’s Choice Xtra package, but not in Dish Network’s comparable Top 200 package). For detailed channel lineups, check with each provider: Dish Network Channel Lineup or DirecTV Channel Lineup.
  • Extras: Movie channels offers are almost identical, but only DirecTV offers NFL Sunday Ticket.
  • HD Locals: Both providers offer local HD channels over satellite in select markets, and continue to grow those markets. Offerings differ between the providers, so check with each provider: Dish Network Local Channels or DirecTV Local Channels In areas without HD locals over satellite, an antenna can be installed to receive over the air HD broadcasts.

Conclusion

It’s probably apparent by now that neither provider is clearly better than the other. Their services are very similar. When making a personal choice between the two, you must decide which features and channels are most desirable and which provider offers the best solution at the best price for you. If you’re looking to get all the newest equipment (HD and DVR), the Dish Nework special for new customers will save you up to $400 on initial equipment costs compared to DirecTV. To learn more about the best deals for new customers, follow the links below:

Disclaimer: We are not affiliated with DirecTV or Dish Network. DIRECTV, CHOICE, PLUS, PLUS HD, PREMIER, DIRECTV Plus are trademarks of DIRECTV, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.