Phoenix Satellite Television vs. Phoenix Cable TV
If you’ve read through our other articles already, you might be feeling a little left out. Perhaps, you’ve been thinking, the Internet Lion crew is concerned with comparing satellite vs. cable TV deals in only a handful of cities, none of which are mine. But, being the ever-considerate folks that we are, we here at InternetLion.com foresaw this problem and instead of leaving you in the dark, we’ve decided to publish a series of articles explaining the differences between satellite and cable TV services in specific areas throughout the country.
The first installment of our series will zoom in on the booming metropolis of Phoenix, Arizona, to explain whether DISH Network Satellite TV in Phoenix or Phoenix Cable TV is better. As with the rest of the U.S., Phoenix satellite television is of course a superior choice. But given that we haven’t asked our readers to believe anything without knowing the facts so far, we’re certainly not going to start now.
DISH Network Satellite TV in Phoenix or Phoenix Cable TV
The Phoenix satellite television providers currently on the market are the big two: DISH Network and DIRECTV. And, there’s only one Phoenix cable TV provider: Cox Communications.
Now, naturally, we would love to compare all three companies, but for brevity’s sake we’ve decided only to compare the current DISH Network deals with Cox Cable packages in the Phoenix, AZ TV market. If you want to learn more about how satellite providers DISH Network and DIRECTV compare, then you’ll enjoy reading the many articles on InternetLion.com about that very topic.
DISH Network Satellite TV in Phoenix or Cox Cable?
Moving on then, the first thing we should look at when determining whether DISH Network Satellite TV in Phoenix or Phoenix Cable TV is better, is price. At the time we wrote this article, DISH Network was offering four packages with the following promotional pricing: America’s Top 120 for $24.99 per month, America’s Top 120-Plus for $29.99 per month, America’s Top 200 for $34.99 per month, America’s Top 250 for $39.99 per month and America’s Everything Pak for $74.99 per month – all with 24 Month Agreement and AutoPay with Paperless Billing.
On the other hand, Cox Cable’s package pricing work according to a slightly different system. All Cox subscribers, you see, must order one of three basic packages listed on the Cox TV website: A Cox TV Essential package for $52.99 per month, a Cox Advanced TV Preferred package for $64.99 per month or a Cox Advanced TV Premier package for $70.99 per month. Then they must add smaller optional packages to build up their channel lineups.
But just listing prices really won’t help us understand whether satellite service is better than cable service in Phoenix. Rather, the true proof of whether DISH Network Satellite TV in Phoenix or Phoenix Cable TV is better, lies in the number of channels Cox Cable’s basic packages offer in relation to the packages’ prices.
According to the Cox TV website itself, its basic Cox TV Essential package offers “approximately 95 channels.” Whereas DISH Network’s basic America’s Top 120 package offers, well, 120 channels. So doing a bit of arithmetic, dividing the monthly package price by the number of channels in the package, we see that Phoenix residents who subscribe to the basic channel package at DISH Network pay about 20 cents per channel every month while those who subscribe to Cox’s basic package pay a monthly fee of about 55 cents per channel.
“Then again,” you might be thinking, “Cox Cable has to have other packages. Maybe one of those is a better value.” But sadly, this doesn’t seem to be the case. A Cox Advanced TV Preferred package costs $64.99 per month for “up to 236 channels” while DISH Network’s America’s Top 250 package only costs $39.99 per month; and a Cox Advanced TV Premier package costs $70.99 per month for up to 270 channels while DISH Network’s America’s Everything Pak offers over 295 channels for $74.99 per month.
Breaking down the pricing from these two comparisons as well, we see that a Cox Advanced TV Preferred package costs about 27 cents per channel per month in comparison to the 19 cents or so America’s Top 250 subscribers pay per channel every month. And even in the case of Cox’s deceptively cheap Advanced TV Premier package, subscribers pay about 26 cents per channel per month, which is only 2 cents less per channel per month than America’s Everything Pak subscribers pay for a package with at least 25 more channels.
Finally, we should note that Cox’s Advanced TV Premier package only promises to offer “up to 270 channels” and an America’s Everything Pak promises “over 295 channels.” So, in reality, Phoenix Cox Cable customers might receive fewer channels than the number listed and DISH Network customers might receive more. Consider that on top of everything else we’ve already mentioned about the prices of smaller packages, and it’s pretty easy to see that Phoenix satellite television is simply a better choice than Phoenix cable TV. Whether you’re in Phoenix or another locale, DISH Network has the best value in TV entertainment with the lowest all-digital price nationwide…every day! Learn more about how the switch to DISH Network to start saving today.
Disclaimer: Please note that this article was written when the satellite TV provider DISH was branded as DISH Network. As of 2/1/2012 DISH Network has changed their branding name to DISH. Article post date: 08/27/2010.
