Satellite service providers are not only a great alternative to cable for regular TV programming, they're also a primo source for HDTV. The satellite companies were among the first to offer HDTV - using HDTV as a serious competitive advantage to counteract cable companies' digital cable offerings, such as Video on Demand (VoD).
With its very small (usually 18- to 24-inch) dishes, Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) allows all but the most remote viewer to receive HDTV economically.
You have to subscribe to a provider if you want HDTV channels from a satellite. Three TV service providers have significant HDTV programming:
- Dish Networks, owned by EchoStar
- Voom, owned by Cablevision
Your home probably can receive all three satellite-HDTV providers. If you can decide by features and price (most folks who live in medium-sized and larger cities can decide that way), the trick becomes sorting through the offers du jour.
Programming
All the HDTV satellite providers have the common channels that you expect in any cable or satellite system. But actual HDTV channels vary from provider to provider.
DIRECTV channels
DIRECTV offers several channels of HDTV broadcasts of popular networks (including HBO, Showtime, TNT, Discovery, ESPN, and Spice - use your parental blocking if you need it!), plus a pay-per-view offering.
DIRECTV sells its equipment through major retailers, such as Best Buy and Circuit City, and directs customers to the nearest retailer from its Web site.
Dish Network channels
Dish Network offers several network HDTV channels (including HBO, Showtime, TNT, Discovery, and ESPN), plus some special HDTV-only content:
- An HDTV Pay Per View channel, featuring recent movies and some IMAX films
- HDNet, which carries live sporting events and a variety of dramas, documentaries, and other programming
- HDNet Movies, which shows (you guessed it!) movies from Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures Television, and independent sources
Voom channels
Voom has the usual HBO, Showtime, and ESPN HDTV channels. Some Voom programming is specifically for Voom's lineup. These channels include such unusual offerings as
- Equator HD, which broadcasts "intriguing and visually stunning sights and sounds that capture the world's most unique people and places" - that is, documentaries and other visually appealing fare
- A channel of beautiful HDTV images and music
- Special events, such as the June 2004 sale of Eric Clapton's guitar collection
At Voom, you can also watch Westerns on the Gunslinger channel, plus classic or epic movies (or epic classics, no doubt!).
Digital video recorder (DVR)
Digital video recorders let you pause, do instant replays, and time-shift your favorite programming. A DVR is more powerful and easier to use with an HDTV satellite system if the DVR comes included in the satellite receiver.
You have some options if you want an HDTV satellite system with an integrated DVR. These options have the same basic capabilities:
- DIRECTV: Its HDTV receiver can come integrated with a TiVodigital video recorder.
- Dish Network: Its own DVR (the Dish Player-DVR) doesn't use TiVo technology.
- Voom: Its "Whole-House" DVR lets you control several TVs around your home from one receiver.
