Dish vs Cable

So which is best for you in terms of cost, picture quality, variety of channels, service, etc. -- cable or satellite?
Here is the lowdown on these and other questions in the cable vs. satellite debate:
   
Local access
    A subscriber to DISH satellite programing gets access to over 60 channels. That does not include the major over-the-air networks -- on Channels 2, 4, 7, 20, 50, 56, 62 in Detroit -- which are offered to qualified subscribers in a supplemental package for $5 per month.
    But many do not qualify. If you're within range of their signal, any Metro Detroit network affiliate can deny satellite delivery of a distant network station to your home.
    DISH also provides access to local affiliates, which means if you want to watch the local news it is already available

   
Picture quality
    Many people are drawn away from cable to satellite because the picture received through the little dish simply looks better, and the quality is more consistent from station to station, dealers say.
    "It's one thing to see it in a store," says Terry Williams, a senior buyer for the Minnesota-based Best Buy retail chain. "When you see it in a friend's home, you're really amazed at the picture and the sound.
    Although Williams won't reveal exact numbers, he says sales of satellite dishes at Best Buy have doubled in each of the last two years.
    "We see huge frustration with cable," says Jim Sanfemio at Audio-Video Alternatives in Royal Oak. "We hear about battles our customers have had with cable companies, usually over picture quality, and they're almost ecstatic to find a better means of bringing television into their homes."
   
Price
    It's about the same.
    DISH charges $29.99 monthly for satellite service, while the average monthly price of basic cable in Metro Detroit is $29.03, according to a recent Detroit News survey.
    In Hamtramck, though, a MediaOne cable subscriber pays $30.24 for 62 channels, including all of Detroit's network affiliates.
    Even without access to local broadcasts, satellite service has grown steadily in popularity since the 18-inch antenna dish was introduced in 1995. According to industry reports, satellite programing subscriptions have risen to 34.9 million from the first-year level of 1.8 million.
    Among the driving factors, industry analysts agree, is the wide range of sports packages offered as satellite options. For $47.99 per month, a DISH subscriber gets, besides the premium 150 channels, nearly two-dozen regional sports networks.
    Special sports packages are strong lures. NHL Center Ice offers up to 30 hockey games a week for $139 per season, and NFL Sunday Ticket delivers as many as 13 games each week for $159 per season. Similar deals are available for professional baseball and basketball and major college sports.
    Dealers have experienced some frustration of their own over the erratic pricing of satellite receivers. Although retail may be as much as $450 for a dish and set-top box, special promotions often bring the price down to as little as $50 when you sign up for two or three years of programing service.
    One drawback to both cable and satellite: Many homes have more than one TV, but many cable systems require you to pay for a separate cable box for each TV to get the service. The same holds true for satellite dishes -- you'll need to buy a separate box setup for each TV you want hooked up.
   
Installation
    Satellite installation typically costs about $250, and dealers generally urge their customers to have the antenna dish professionally set up.
    The digital transmissions come from satellites "parked" near each other 22,500 miles above the horizon in the southwest. The antenna dish must be able to "see" the satellites without obstruction. Sanfemio says he routinely sends an installer to a prospective customer's home to make sure line-of-sight can be achieved. "We've figured out ways to deal with obstacles," he says. "In fact, I can't think of a single instance where we've had to tell somebody it just wouldn't work."
    But sometimes cable can go places where satellite can't. Apartment buildings are a problem for satellite since each dwelling requires a separate dish. Sanfemio says gated communities with strict esthetic codes have actually been less problematic because the little dishes are easily concealed.
   

Who's winning?
    By any measure, the popularity of satellite television is growing. Satellite broadcast companies such as DISH held a 9.4 percent share of the national television market in 1998, up from 7 percent the previous year, according to a Federal Communications Commission study released late last year.
    But cable, which saw its share decline to 85 percent from 87 percent, remains overwhelmingly dominant.
    "With cable, there are no hidden charges," says Paula Peters at MediaOne. "You know which services you're getting for the money you pay. If something goes wrong, there is a local person you can call -- which isn't the case with satellite, where you're dealing with someone far away. And many people don't realize you don't get the local network stations included in a satellite package."
    Indeed, cable companies can only benefit from a federal court ruling in February that severely limits satellite broadcast of network programing.
   
The key problem
    The big problem for Barber and millions of other satellite subscribers around the country is that local television stations are not part of the satellite service. And those stations have the legal right to deny satellite feed from "distant stations" to any viewer within antenna range of local broadcast.
    If you can receive an "acceptable" picture via antenna, you can get your ABC, NBC and CBS programing locally.
    The real bone of contention for viewers such as Barber is the definition of acceptable. Barber says he has complained to Channel 62, asking for a waiver that would allow him to receive a national feed via satellite. So far, Channel 62, which is notorious for its weak signal but which is building a new broadcast tower, has refused the request.
    Kevin Cuddihy, general manager at Channel 62, says the station receives an average of 200 such appeals each week, but denies most of them. The reason: The station's ability to pay for programing depends on how many viewers it has, which determines the rates it can charge for advertising. Illegal subscriptions to satellite network feeds have cut into Channel 62's viewership, and this caused a drop in the station's revenues, Cuddihy says.
    Adam Thierer, a fellow with the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., says satellite subscribers are being treated unfairly.
    "A lot of people have invested in an entire new television infrastructure, rejecting the old technologies and embracing the new," Thierer says. "They've been offered this new alternative and now they're being told, 'Let's take a step backward.' "
    But Congress is working on plans to level the playing field for cable and satellite.
    "The key here is making satellite fully competitive with cable -- for instance, by solving the problems of getting local stations to local satellite consumers," says Congressman John Dingell of Detroit, the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees broadcasting.
    "When they compete on a more equal footing, it'll have obvious benefits for the consumer, primarily in terms of lower rates, better service and more programing choices."