Satellite Dish companies are stepping up the war for new customers on the airwaves and the cable companies are answering with their own advertising campaigns. It seems like we are bombarded every day with advertisements from the television providers asking for our money and trust in their product. So who has the best deals?

Lets look at the individual players in this war.

Satellite Dish providers sell you a dish that attaches to the roof of your house (or some other convenient location) that can track the providers satellite and bring the signal into your home. Most of the dish companies are offering the dish as a free incentive to subscribing to their service so this cost is absorbed by them, which is very nice. The usually ask you to sign a contract for 18 months and they offer a relative low monthly payment for basic channels. (I am old enough to remember the only thing available was black and white reception and only 3 channels. Now you have several hundred channels available to watch. It must take hours just to find out what is on them all). If you want the other extra nice program packages it is an additional monthly cost. The addition of what you really want, movies, sports, etc. These can really bring the monthly cost up to the point of threatening your budget. Additional incentives to get your business are: Lower monthly charges for the first couple of months, DVD and HDTV. Some of these add-ons are only offered free for the first couple of months and then their charges are added to you monthly payment. Watch these as they will add up quickly. Is it really necessary to have everything? Just order what you can afford.

If you should want to move during your contract period it is nice to know that they will move your equipment to your new residence and you do not have to go through all the trouble of starting over. There may be a fee for this service but you never have to worry about moving to an area where you cannot get reception and that is really nice. They frown on your trying to cancel the contract and there is usually a stiff penalty so be sure that you want to pay the monthly fees before you sign up.

The Satellite Dish programs are all very good and offer installation for several rooms, free installation, free upgrade and outstanding customer service.

Cable providers offer pretty much the same packages but there are some draw backs to their offers. The most disturbing is the lack of coverage in large parts of the country. I live in an area where the cable is available across the street but not on my side of the street. That seems a little strange to me but that is the way it is and nothing I can do or say will change it. Cable offers to relocate your service if you move within their territory for coverage and they will refer you to another cable company if you move out of their territory, but not all cable companies are the same and you may be looking at higher costs and fees that are not in your best interests.

Let me ask you a question, where does the cable company get their signal? Answer, from satellite dish companies. Now it seems reasonable to me that if you cut out the middle man and go straight to the provider you should save money. What happens if the satellite dish companies decide to raise the rates for the cable company? Your rates go up. (I think that the government has a control on this so it is unlikely that it will happen, but then I thought the government had control over the rates of the phone and utilities companies and my rates seem to go up every year anyway).

The good old fashion antenna in the attic is another choice, reception is not very good, no additional perks like DVD or HDTV but the cost is right. ZERO Cost. If you grab hold of the antenna wire, stand on one foot with your thumb in your mouth and turn just the right way reception will improve, but it is hard to watch the TV and stand on one foot very long so maybe you can wire up the dog.

So what is the conclusion here? Which is better for you? As always it comes down to what you can deal with. Maybe our parents were right after all. We watch too much TV, go outside and play. Costs less and is better for us, but since that is not going to happen I think the best option is Satellite Dish. Reasonable cost, good program selection, good incentive offers and can be moved to any location in the world.