Well it is the time of year when both cable and satellite TV companies are raising rates.Comcast got the ball rolling in November of 2008, with notice that they would be raising rates on their customers. Dish Network followed up with their own announcement that took effect in early February of 2009, also raising prices on customers.

Direct TV is the latest major player to announce a rate increase. The Direct TV price hike will take effect in early March, and will raise the prices of most packages between $3 and $5 dollars each. DirecTV is citing higher programming costs as the reason for the increase. Direct TV prices have been raised for the past three years.

All in all, the increase won’t break any budgets. When you look at it logically, they are basically raising the price of service about a dime a day, well worth it for most satellite customers who watch between one and four hours of television each day. Still, it seems as if consumers are getting nickel and dimed to death, even with the economy going into the tank.

On the other hand, compare DIRECTV vs Dish Network and that will provide you a good idea on what satellite TV can offer. One example is the price charged for DVR service every month. The DirecTV DVR is about per month, while Comcast charges nearly for their DVR service. Charges like this really can increase your bill.

Direct TV had another stellar quarter to finish out 2008. They added over 300,000 customers in the latest reporting quarter, while Comcast lost a half a million. That in itself show that DirecTV feels comfortable raising rates, even though the economy continues to slow to a crawl. Dish Network will certainly have a hard time keeping up with Direct TV in 2009, as they have lost a key reseller, with AT&T switching over and offering Direct TV service this year.

In today’s economy, pay television subscribers are looking for any way possible to stretch their dollar. One area you may want to consider is your cable television bill, as rates continue to rise in this industry. One alternative to evaluate is satellite television service, specifically either DIRECTV or Dish TV and the options they offer today.

Dish Network is the second largest satellite TV company, with nearly 14 million subscribers. Because of the heated competition in the pay television market, Dish Network offers great deals to new customers, in the hopes that they will become a long-time subscriber.

So where should you search to find the best satellite TV deals? The internet of course is a great place to begin investigating satellite television offers. At this time, Dish Network is offering a promotion which can get you started with satellite TV for just 9.99 per month. Of course the customer should be aware that this is a promotional price on the Classic 100 bundle, which is normally priced at 34.99 per month. In addition, local channels are not included in this price, so expect to pay an additional $5 or so for local programming.

Now many consumers today are in the market for an all-inclusive satellite TV package? The item that would fit the bill in this case would be the America’s Everything Pak, which is offered at a promotional price of $72.98 for six months, and $97.98 per month after that. Included here is every cable television channel you can think of , including 31 premium movie channels like Showtime. Another great option is the Dish Network Classic Silver package, offered at around $50 per month, with a $25 discount for the first six months of service.

Another great thing about satellite television is that most of the equipment is provided at no charge. From the satellite dish to the HD DVR, Dish Network will set you up. Generally, you will only incur upfront costs if you desire to have multiple DVR units. In addition, the satellite TV installation process is a snap as well, offering free installation in up to four rooms in your house.

Why not check out the deals on Dishnetwork available and compare them with what you currently pay for cable TV. Odds are you will be surprised at how much cheaper satellite TV costs.

The digital video recorder has to be the greatest add-on to my television. Ever since I got connected to the Direct TV Russian package and their new DVR, my TV viewing habits have changed.

Here is how I do it.

If you have not watched television with a TiVo or a DVR, you are missing out. You have complete control over everything you decide to watch. If you are watching a program, and all of the sudden you realize that you are starving, you can just hit the pause button. Go make your food, and then come back when you are ready, even if it takes an hour!

Then when you start watching your show again, you will have the added bonus of skipping through any commercials that come up. Pass right through them each time they pop up! I don’t think I’ve seen a full commercial in three months.

Now here is how I get the most out of my DVR. I don’t surf through channels anymore. I simply set up my DVR to save the shows I like. Even when watching football, I set the digital video recorder, then I sit down about half an hour after the game starts. That way, I can skip through all the commercials, and watch the game in half the time.

Finally, I can always see new episodes of my favorite series. An example, new episodes are coming out soon of Friday Night Lights. On my DVR, all I need to do is select the record series choice, and every time the show airs, my Direct TV DVR finds it night or day, and saves it for me. I can set it to save all of the episodes, or just the first-run episodes. All of this in high definition too!

Then, when I have the time to watch TV, all of my favorite shows are ready and waiting there for me to watch. No need to rearrange my schedule around the networks, not with my new Direct TV digital video recorder.

While other companies like U-Verse and Verizion Fios have also begun to offer DVR service, satellite TV companies like DIRECTV pioneered the product.

Ever since the invention of the television, it has been the top media channel in the modern world. In the United States alone, there are millions of people who rely on television for both information from news and entertainment from daily scheduled programming. Today, a popular method of TV broadcasting is done via cable networks.

Cable television or CATV was commonly used in mountainous regions where broadcast signals are weak, so they used coaxial cables to broadcast television programming. Today, it is a common television service and in the United States there are a lot of cable providers to choose from. Unfortunately though in most areas, you will just have one cable TV company serving your area, so if you want something different, you will have to go with satellite TV. This is not always a bad thing, its a good idea to line up the companies side by side, comparing Comcast or DirecTV.

The top cable provider in the United States is Comcast, it is by far the largest cable company in the country. It also offers high speed internet service and is currently in second place and fourth place in providing telephone service. However, they have a reputation for having some of the worst customer service among any company or government agency in the United States. Next is Cox cable, which is owned by Cox enterprises. They have nearly 6 million subscribers to their cable service, internet and home phone service. They are currently the third largest cable company in the country. The third largest in terms of revenue is Charter cable Television company. In terms of revenue, they are behind only from Time Warner cable and Comcast. Then we have bright house cable which is the sixth largest cable company. Most of these companies now also offer home telephone service.

Many are satisfied with the Comcast basic cable packages, however if these do not catch your fancy you can also turn to satellite TV companies like Dish Network who also provides high definition or HD service for those who want it. The only problem being it is sometimes difficult to get Dish Network in your condo

Finding a good deal on cable TV isn’t difficult, that is as long as your not already a customer of the cable company.

The reason for that is due to the fact the cable TV company wants to increase their customer base, so of course they are willing to offer you a great deal, usually for the first six months of service. The cable provider understands if you get service from them, you may set up a with one of their triple play bundle that puts all of your services together like voice, video and hi speed internet.

You can usually get a triple play bundle for just per month for the first six months or so. Here is an example of what cable TV company pricing could cost: Basic TV costs per month, high speed internet is per month, and phone service is per month. With prices like this, your overall bill would be 0 per month before taxes and fees that always seem to find their way onto your cable bill.

But it is good to consider how this might turn out down the road Well think about where you will be once the promo is over. You will have all of your television sets connected to cable TV, your internet connection including your e-mail account through the cable company, and of course your home line through the cable company as well. But all at once your price goes up almost 50%, from around $100 every month to $140+ each month. Now is it easy to switch?

Maybe, maybe not. The smart thing to do ahead of time is compare providers before making your final choice.One would be wise to comparison shop Dish Network vs cable before making a hasty decision.

While you might logically say it is easy to switch to some kind of deal from DirecTV or something else from your local phone company like Verizon FiOS. Some things though are easier said than done. Often the time and hassle involved with switching from cable to a different provider makes the customer stay with whatever service they have. Even though the monthly bill is high, the subscriber stays with the company because they have all the services on the same bill from the same provider. That is what the cable TV company expects when giving the subscriber a good short term deal.