Hundreds of Channels Right at Your Fingertips!

By Wendy Croix
Learning & Life Columnist

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2004's Oscar-nominated Story of the Weeping Camel concludes when a baby camel reunites with its rejecting mother, and a young Mongolian boy gets what he hungers for: satellite TV. Yes. It's true. In the twenty-first century, a nomadic family living in a yurt in the Gobi Desert can connect with the world through the magic of the satellite dish. But, let's back up to 2001 for a moment, shall we?

Satellites - In the Beginning

Long before famed sci-fi novelist and futurist Arthur C. Clarke penned 2001, A Space Odyssey, he published a visionary essay in the February 1945 issue of Wireless World Magazine. Clarke became the conceptual father of satellite television by suggesting that orbiting space platforms could provide global communications.

Fast-forward three decades to September 30, 1975. The "Thrilla in Manila" slugfest between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier became the first ever live satellite television broadcast, courtesy of HBO. One decade later, HBO figured out how to encrypt their satellite signal, providing a profit motive that has paid off in extraordinarily diverse programming and global availability.

We Are the World

Usted no habla inglé? Or espańol? No problem. Satellite TV's DISH Network offers programming in a staggering array of languages. Need television in your native French, German, or Portuguese? Armenian, Polish or Tagalog? Satellite has it.

Want to watch a movie in Urdu? Go right ahead. Need children's programming in Farsi? Get the Farsi Super Pack. Speak Arabic? You'll choose from 15 channels in your native tongue. Chinese? Try 28! In fact in China, where satellite dishes are called "little ears," satellite television played a major role in breaking the government's monopoly on information.

Something for Everyone - And I Do Mean Everyone

On satellite you can get a variety of HDTV stations and the NFL Sunday Ticket football package. Satellite television offers hundreds of channels with niche networks for every taste, from non-profit Free Speech TV's 24/7 independent media to Mega March Madness hoops.

If you have DirecTV's TiVo, you can simultaneously record two shows on different channels, or you can record one channel while watching another. Personal video recording means fast-forwarding through what you don't like, rewinding and repeating what you do, and pausing live TV when your phone rings. TiVo means never having to say that you're sorry; you can't talk; your show's on.

You're Watching Cable & Why?

If access to that grade school Christmas pageant is your thing, it's costing you. The Consumers Union found that cable rates nationwide increased by 36 % in the years between 1996 and 2002, three times the rate of inflation.

In August 2003, the Associated Press reported an 8% satellite rate increase since 1998 versus a 41% cable hike over the same five-year period. Consumer advocates say that viewers now pay twice as much per channel for cable as they do for satellite, and digital cable's relayed signal gives them images and sound far inferior to satellite's direct-to-viewer feed. Plus, DirecTV and DISH Network satellite providers have topped J.D. Power & Associates consumer satisfaction list for three years running.

Satellite Dreams

Satellite TV is great, but it isn't perfect. A white-out blizzard outside means white-out snow on your screen. Only cable is immune to extreme weather - and 12-month commitments. Also, you can see your hometown city council meeting on cable, since cable has to provide local access programming. Satellite doesn't currently offer that type of programming.

Although satellite providers require a one-year contract, you can take your satellite service with you if you move. In fact, you may literally take those hundreds of channels with you, since you can get satellite television in your mini-van or your RV. Or your yurt.

Sources:

"Cable companies raising rates again." ClarkHoward.com. Consumer Action Center. http://clarkhoward.com/library/tips/satellite_tv.html (April 23, 2005)
Carr, Jason. "Battling the Cable Company." 2 July, 2003. http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/features/curmudgeon (April 24, 2005)
Davis, Jennifer. "Cox hikes cable fees 2nd time in a year." The San Diego Union-Tribune. 20 June, 2002. http://www.ucan.org/consumer_info/coxratehike.htm (April 23, 2005)
Labrador, Virgil S. and Peter J. Galace. A Brief History of the Satellite Communications Industry. http://www.satnews.com (April 24, 2005)
Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association. http://www.sbca.com (April 24, 2005)
"Satellite TV's Cheaper Than Cable." CBSNews.com. SciTech. 19 August, 2003. http://www.cbsnews.com(April 24, 2005)
"Satellite vs. Cable TV." Consumer Reports on Yahoo Shopping Network. http://www.shopping.yahoo.com(April 23, 2005)

About the Author
Wendy Croix, Ph.D. is a freelance writer, cultural critic and university professor. In her twenty years as a professional educator, Wendy has guided hundreds of students toward the careers of their dreams.

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