In today’s tough economic times, it pays to exercise caution before making purchases of any kind. This rings especially true when it comes to choosing a home entertainment provider. These days, the two basic sources of home entertainment are cable and satellite television. To help you make an informed selection that you’ll be happy with in the long run, this article will focus on the pros and cons of opting for a satellite subscription.

There are actually many advantages to choosing satellite service for your home. These include a wide variety of programming across the board, access to exclusive sports packages, affordable premium movie channels, hundreds of HD channels, a personalized viewing experience through interactive features, virtually unlimited accessibility, affordable package pricing and superior customer service.

Because satellite television signals are transmitted over the air by a satellite that orbits the earth and communicates with a satellite dish mounted on your roof or high exterior wall of your home, this service can be received almost anywhere in the United States. Access to cable television, on the other hand, is limited by the restrictions of physical cable networks that do not reach all rural communities and remote locations in the United States. The way satellite signals are transmitted also provides excellent picture and sound quality. Unlike cable signals, all satellite signals are in digital format, which is much easier on the eyes and ears than the standard format. The digital format is also responsible for making high definition channels possible. A basic satellite subscription comes with a wide variety of HD programming.

Another key benefit is the variety of general programming that the satellite offers. If you compare a satellite package to a similarly priced cable package, you’ll notice that the satellite package comes with many more channels. This means that satellite service actually costs less per channel than cable service. This includes premium movie channels – with satellite, you not only have more to choose from, but they are also less expensive. In fact, many times you don’t have to pay anything to add these premium movie channels to your satellite package, at least for a set trial period, during which you can get a sense of how much you really want them. There are also a number of sports packages, such as the ever-popular NFL Sunday Ticket available exclusively through the satellite service.

When you sign up for satellite service, you can also expect fantastic customer service. This starts with the professional technician being sent to your home to install all of your system equipment completely free of charge. Once everything is set up, you will receive ongoing technical support for the duration of your subscription.

Of course, satellite television also has its drawbacks. For example, in some areas satellite subscribers do not have access to all of the local programming that is available through cable television. Another downside is the fact that extreme inclement weather can disrupt satellite signals, so this needs to be taken into account depending on exactly where you live.