Making the choice between cablevision and satellite for your television reception is a tough one. Both offer a broad range of programming choices, price ranges, and clear reception, but there are differences that you should be aware of before making your final decision.

Channel Choices

Although cable and satellite both offer the premium channels like Showtime, Home Box Office, and Cinemax, if you are interested in foreign language channels other than Spanish, satellite would be the choice for you. A satellite dish has the capability to bring you programming from across the world. Soccer games and even soap operas that are being broadcast in Italy can be shown every night in your living room. Multi-language speaking families who have relocated to the United States have the opportunity to keep up with the local happenings of their home countries by watching the daily news from there. I'll tell you that for those of us raised in the good old US of A, it can be very interesting to hear the same news relayed from another country's perspective.

With a satellite dish you also have the option of getting a local feed from a different part of the country than where you live. My mom, for instance, lives in Florida but watches the New York feed for her daily news. It used to be a problem getting your local stations with a satellite dish but I believe, that in most areas, for an additional fee, they have rectified that. Being able to get different area feeds is also important to the sports fan who may have relocated or whose favorite team originates from a different region than the one they live in.

Weather Problems

Satellite television is notorious for having reception problems during inclement weather. Although cable can and will go out if a line is taken down during a serious ice or snow storm, satellite dishes can give you problems even on a cloudy day. Even the sun can sometimes interfere with your satellite reception. When you have these problems, you need to adjust your satellite which is not always that easy for a layperson to do.

On the other hand, when the satellite is having a reception problem, it tends to last for a short period of time, whereas when a cable line is down, it can take hours before it gets repaired. With a serious problem, it can take days before your service is up and running again.

Aside from Weather Related Problems

Your cable reception can be interrupted from other things besides the weather. A car or truck accident can knock a line down if you are in an area where the cable lines are installed above ground. And even in areas where your cable line is buried underground you can run into problems if there is any construction being done in the area. Just putting in a new driveway at your home can knock out the cable for an evening. When you have teenagers at home, this can prove to be extremely unpleasant.

Technical Difficulty

Satellite dishes, from time to time, need to be adjusted. While some people have no problem with this, others have great difficulty. Just to make a point here, we'll go back to my mother. For some reason, Mom has the magic touch when it comes to adjusting her satellite dish just right. My brother, who is much younger and whom you would think would be better able to handle new technology, just can't do it. They live next door to each other in a rural area and so would have the same types of problems at the same times. He became so frustrated with his satellite that as soon as they brought in cable lines, he switched over. Mom, on the other hand, enjoys her New York news.

Company Options

With cable, you are pretty much stuck with one provider. The only choice you have, is which of their packages you prefer. Your finances will determine which package will be right for you. If and when they decide to raise prices, other than dropping the reception and going back to having an antenna atop your house, you will be left with no other option but paying the increase. Can everyone say, monopoly?

On the other hand, with satellite reception, you have several companies to choose from, and each offers different packages. While some of the companies offer you their dish as part of their package, others will require you to purchase the dish separately. Competition and choice is usually a good thing for the consumer.

Number of Receivers

Along with your satellite dish, you will need a box, or receiver, for each and every television you have in your home. Nowadays, most families have more than one television set. Some people even have one in every room of the house, including the kitchen. You will also need to make sure that your satellite is capable of sending signals to more than just one television set at a time. Even after you purchase the receivers, you will be billed a monthly charge for every receiver. While cable also requires a box for each television to receive their premium channels, you can get their basic channels on every television in your home using only a standard cable wire.

Availability

In some areas there is no choice. Even today there are rural towns that are not yet accessible to cable. Although cable is spreading far and wide and the gaps are getting smaller daily, some places have no choice but to get a satellite hook up.

Other Offered Services

Cable offers a lot more services than just good television reception. With only one bill, you can get your premium channels, rent movies any time you want, have a fast computer modem, along with reasonable local and long distance telephone service.

The Choice is Yours

Cable television and satellite both offer similar premium channel packages in similar price ranges. Both provide professional installation and good customer service. After considering the pros and cons of both cable and satellite, you will have to decide which of the two offers the features you would prefer the most. In other words, they both have their problems. Which will bother you the least?