NFL Sunday Ticket History Question...

[charper1]

This guy writing the article is a near idiot and likely one of the few that can't have a dish for some stupid reason.

 

[vampz26]

This guy writing the article is a near idiot and likely one of the few that can't have a dish for some stupid reason.

Well, like I said, its written by a sports writer, I doubt the article contains a lot of industry insight.

 

[smaug07]

Also they didn't even mention how E* customers may like this. I have to believe that E* wanted in on this as well, since they would likely want it more than anyone else since they would finally have the major advantage that D* had for themselves.

Overall I'm not complaining. I had D* for a year without Sunday Ticket and I still loved it. That's not to say if I were to move into a better cable provider that I may not switch, but if they keep their service and channels the way they are and don't raise ST too much, I don't see that ugly dish going anywhere anytime soon. My cable service is just... ugh so God awful. I go on EngadgetHD.com and I see all these articles about how all these cable markets are getting more HD stuff, and there has NEVER been a mention about Cox in the Northeast. I feel so sorry for them, but then again, shame on them for not being a good consumer and doing their research (satellite availability issues aside.)

The guy in the article is just another frustrated cable subscriber who is unhappy with the service. I am thinking he must be one of the "many" people (as he would like to think) that cannot get satellite service due to "technical issues". Quite honestly I don't know what he's talking about. I know of many people in my area who have extensive trees facing the southern horizon and they can receive both D* and E* without a problem. Most people can find a way to receive a signal, it's just a matter of whether they want to make the effort (I know some people in apartments cannot for various reasons, and I am excluding them from my point, but most owners of houses can receive a signal if they try hard enough; not all, but most). Even without Sunday Ticket, which I subscribe to and think it's fabulous, DirecTV is far better than any cable system I have ever subscribed to in the past, and is far better than any system I have seen recently. If you are a sports fan, there is simply nothing better than DirecTV. You have access to virtually every professional game (with the proper sports subscription), and most games are now in HD! And, even if you're not a sports fan, you never have to worry about D* adding a new channel, or dropping a current channel; they add new channels generally as soon as they're launched, and I have never seen them drop a popular channel like E* or cable has in the past. And in regards to the pixelation in the rain, I personally only lose the signal about three times a year due to heavy rain; I used to lose cable about once a week when I had it years ago. I have seen various posts on many sites from cable subscribers complaining about this and complaining about that which always makes me smile and think "if cable is so bad, why do you have it?"

 

[yourbeliefs]

The guy in the article is just another frustrated cable subscriber who is unhappy with the service. I am thinking he must be one of the "many" people (as he would like to think) that cannot get satellite service due to "technical issues". Quite honestly I don't know what he's talking about. I know of many people in my area who have extensive trees facing the southern horizon and they can receive both D* and E* without a problem. Most people can find a way to receive a signal, it's just a matter of whether they want to make the effort (I know some people in apartments cannot for various reasons, and I am excluding them from my point, but most owners of houses can receive a signal if they try hard enough; not all, but most). Even without Sunday Ticket, which I subscribe to and think it's fabulous, DirecTV is far better than any cable system I have ever subscribed to in the past, and is far better than any system I have seen recently. If you are a sports fan, there is simply nothing better than DirecTV. You have access to virtually every professional game (with the proper sports subscription), and most games are now in HD! And, even if you're not a sports fan, you never have to worry about D* adding a new channel, or dropping a current channel; they add new channels generally as soon as they're launched, and I have never seen them drop a popular channel like E* or cable has in the past. And in regards to the pixelation in the rain, I personally only lose the signal about three times a year due to heavy rain; I used to lose cable about once a week when I had it years ago. I have seen various posts on many sites from cable subscribers complaining about this and complaining about that which always makes me smile and think "if cable is so bad, why do you have it?"

Yeah. I love my D*. The only thing that I wish it had was InDemand (not ON demand, but the ability to get like WWE 24/7 and Howard TV.) Of course I doubt that'll be available anytime soon.

Talking about writing articles complaining about television, I wrote a letter to the editor of my local paper saying how horrible the cable service was. I think I make better points than this guy did:

Cox televisions' ad slogan is that they are our "Friend in the Digital Age." They fail to mention exactly what KIND of friend they are. They seem to be the friend who is unreliable, doesn't pull their weight, and always thinks of themselves before anyone else.

Given how bad Cox is, I am shocked that every other house in this town doesn't have a satellite dish on it, whether it be DirecTV or Dish Network. As someone who has experienced all 3 services, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Cox is NOT your friend in this age, and that if anything they are just a bully, by constantly raising prices and removing channels.

I feel it's time to debunk a few myths about satellite versus Cox. For one, don't believe that your satellite signal is going to constantly go out. If installed and aligned correctly, your signal will only go out in the worst of weather conditions. I'm not referring to a rain storm, but when it looks like a monsoon outside, and how often have we had those? Also, while its true that Cable is the only way to get on demand service, the Cox On Demand is by far the ugliest and most convoluted interface I have ever seen. If you don't believe me, go to someone who has Comcast On Demand. Comcast has a nice menu with big text and descriptions. The Cox menu looks like what you see when you go to a 2 star hotel and hit the "Menu" button on your tv remote. Small text, bright colors, and information that doesn't make sense. Finally, Cox HD service is nothing to applaud. You get 19 HD stations, counting local channels and premium channels (HBO, Showtime.) I only mention those two premiums because that is all they have. The other ones like Cinemax and Starz! have HD channels, but Cox doesn't provide them. Compare to Dish Network, which provides 32 HD channels (NOT counting premium movie channels,) and DirecTV is planning to add 50 HD stations before the end of September.

Finally, for all you skeptical Cox customers, let me ask you some questions: When was the last time you had a channel ADDED to your lineup without paying extra? Also, remember that you used to get NBC 4, CBS 2, and Fox 5 at one time? Remember watching your Knicks games on MSG? Are you Mets fans still waiting for Cox to give you SNY? These were all the reasons that I left Cox and went to DirecTV. I get all the New York stations mentioned, all my local sports that I USED to get from Cox, along with other great sports packages that for an out of market fan such as myself are great.

It is time for Cox to get a wake up call. Don't let yourself be subjected to underwhelming programming at overwhelming prices. This is not meant to be a knock on cable. People in Wallingford who get Comcast cable still have all their New York stations, and get all those sports networks I mentioned. To see cable done right, check out the channel lineup available to them at the Comcast web site, and then ask yourself, "Is Cox my friend in the Digital Age?" I think not. Of course, we can't get Comcast cable here in Cheshire, so here Satellite is the way to go. You could argue that it may be more expensive, but if its worth it and you're willing to pay, what's the wrong in that? If you care at all about your television service, you owe it to yourself to look beyond just what Cox is throwing at you.

To be fair, Cox now has 36 HD stations.. TOTAL. Way to keep up with the competition.