Sports in HD: ESPN from DISH Network
Recent DIRECTV® commercials claim the satellite provider offers “the most sports in HD”. That is a matter of perspective depending on what your measure is for ‘the most’, but whether you’re technically getting “the most sports,” the question is if you need them—and, even more importantly, how much you’ll pay for them. Overall, after all, HD ESPN from DISH Network® is the same as Comcast’s ESPN HD channels and DIRECTV ESPN in HD. And, what’s more, receiving many of the extra sports channels DIRECTV is boasting about requires you pay an extra fee in addition to what you have to pay for a regular subscription.
So what exactly is the price for, say, receiving the NBA TV DIRECTV channels included in NBA League Pass from DIRECTV? And how does this price stack up to what you’d pay for a comparable package from DISH Network? Also, all ESPNs being ESPNs, how much more will you have to pay for Comcast® ESPN HD channels or DIRECTV ESPN in HD, as opposed to HD ESPN DISH Network? That’s exactly what this InternetLion.com article will tell you, so if you’re curious, read on.
Comcast ESPN HD channels
There were a maximum of four Comcast ESPN HD channels in our sample region for this article, Frederick, MD. Specifically, Comcast offers ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, ESPNews HD and ESPNU HD. Now, at first glance Comcast would seem to offer the better deal when it comes to ESPN channels because to get the same number of ESPN channels from DISH Network you’d have to order an “America’s Everything Pak.” And an “Everything Pak” costs $74.99 per month with Agreement, while a Digital Preferred package from Comcast costs only $80.85 per month in some areas.
But you see, with Comcast you have to pay $80.85 for the company to send you four ESPN channels. But you also have to pay at least $9.25 per month per HD receiver with Comcast because otherwise you won’t be able to watch your ESPN HD channels. And if you want more than one HD receiver, or if you want one or two HD DVR/receivers, you’ll pay even more with Comcast.
All told, then, the Comcast Digital Preferred package you’d need to order to get those four HD ESPN channels will cost you $90.10 per month at the bare minimum. Meanwhile, you can get the same ESPN channels from DISH Network for $79.99 per month for your first year, and that price includes up to three free HD receivers or one dual-tuner DVR/receiver ($6/mo. DVR Service fee applies). Not only do Dual tuners work with two separate TV sets, but to get the same capabilities from Comcast you’d have to $112.75 per month.
And this is perhaps the worst part of getting your HD ESPN channels from Comcast Cable. You see, even when DISH Network’s “Everything Pak” goes up in price your second year to $104.99 per month, over a two year period you’ll only pay only $2,219.76. For a Comcast package with the same capabilities and channels you’d end up paying $486.24 more over the same time period. Now wouldn’t you rather keep that kind of money in your pocket?
You can save even more by choosing the DISH Network starter package, the America’s Top 120 package, for only $29.99 per month, for the first 12 months with 24-Mo. Agreement. This package will give you all four ESPN channels listed above in SD and ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD, which is still a lot of sports for an industry low price.
DIRECTV ESPN HD Channels
Like Comcast, DIRECTV’s upfront pricing is a little more deceptive than most people realize. Yes, the satellite TV provider claims to offer “the most sports in HD,” but the way those commercials make it seem you’d think all those sports channels come standard with a DIRECTV package. Meanwhile, the reality is that to get these channels you have to pay extra. The sports channels that come standard with a DIRECTV package are the same as those that are part of DISH Network packages, but DISH Network packages cost less.
NBA League Pass from DIRECTV
As for all those extra HD sports channels DIRECTV boasts about, again, they’re going to cost you extra. For instance, to get all the NBA TV DIRECTV channels offered as part of NBA League Pass from DIRECTV you have to subscribe to a qualifying DIRECTV package (i.e. a “Choice,” “Choice Xtra,” “Choice Ultimate” or “Premier” package). Then, you have to pay an additional $191.96.
At the very least, then, you’ll have to order a $29.99 per month “Choice” package, and to be able to view your HD NBA TV DIRECTV channels you’ll have to pony up another $10 per month for an HD fee. All told, this will bring your annual cost to $671.84.
Of course, if $671.84 were it you could probably deal. But you also have to factor in the fact that DIRECTV requires you sign a two-year agreement when you order a “Choice” package. And that low $29.99 per month price only stays with you for 12 months. After that, the price shoots up to $58.99 per month, not counting the cost for an HD receiver. So even if you call in and cancel NBA League Pass the day the season ends (to keep your subscription from automatically renewing) you’ll end up paying $1,499.72 when it’s all said and done.
The DISH Network Difference
Now compare this to the deal DISH Network can give you: As with DIRECTV you can subscribe to NBA League Pass with a DISH Network account and get essentially the same programming. The difference is that DISH Network’s NBA League Pass only usually costs $189. You will have to check back in September for the 2011-2012 NBA League Pass cost with DISH Network. To order it you only need to subscribe to one of DISH Network’s super-reasonable “America’s Top 120 packages.”
Your first year expenditure with DISH Network, as a result, would come to no more than $488.88. And assuming you dropped NBA League Pass the second year—as we mentioned you should with DIRECTV to keep your costs down—your total cost for two years, even after a marginal rise in your subscription fees, would still only come to $968.76. That’s a savings of $530.96!
Plus, of course, with DISH Network you can watch your HD programming in HD for no extra charge, with 24-Mo. Agreement and AutoPay with Paperless Billing, and you can watch it on up to three TVs for free. DIRECTV can’t say that. In fact for similar multi-set setups DIRECTV would charge you yet another $20 per month. (Just in case you don’t want to do the math for that, that’s an additional $480 per month with DIRECTV, meaning DIRECTV basketball fans are throwing away close to a grand with the satellite provider.)
But actually, if you want to know how DIRECTV can claim it “offers the most sports in HD,” the key word is “offers.” You see, DIRECTV cunningly cut DISH Network out of the baseball programming market by signing an exclusive deal for MLB Extra Innings. So, yes, technically DIRECTV offers more sports in HD. But that doesn’t mean you won’t have to pay extra (exorbitant) fees for them.
Remember, with DISH Network you can get over 200 HD channels – more than DIRECTV or any cable company in America – for less. DISH Network is hands-down the best value in satellite TV. Click here to learn more about the benefits of switching to DISH Network 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: 12/31/2010.
