U.S. Cable TV Guide Report
One of the most amazing aspects of the American cable industry is how many U.S. cable TV channels have become available since Congress first allowed CATV companies to create their own programming 40 years ago. In fact, today there are so many U.S. cable TV channels that’s it’s virtually impossible to list them all.
But, really, even if it were realistic to expect such a massive list, the list itself would be worthless. The reason for this is that you can’t even receive all 500-plus U.S. cable TV channels available in your region without subscribing to every carrier at the same time because many carriers also own the networks and production companies that create the channels.
In many cases, yes, they rent access to these channels to their competitors. For example, The Golf Channel comes as part of select DISH Network package deals, but is owned by DISH Network competitor Comcast. Though in many other cases, cable and satellite TV providers keep exclusive use for the U.S. cable TV channels their networks produce, for their own subscription packages.
What’s more, even if you did order service from multiple providers, your access would still be limited. Very few cable networks, you see, are “super stations,” or networks with single broadcast points that provide the same cable TV channel lineup on the same schedule throughout the U.S. Many U.S. cable TV channels, rather, are regional, especially sports and local channels. And, as a general rule, satellite and cable TV providers do not include channels that are specific to a geographic region outside of a subscriber’s area.
Your Local Cable Television Guide
Instead, then, all you should be worried about is whether your current subscription TV provider gives you access to more U.S. cable TV channels than its competitors. And to find that out, you will need a complete U.S. cable TV guide made specifically for the cable TV channel lineup in your own little corner of the world.
And yet, this can be tricky because the well-known cable television guide publication, TV GUIDE Magazine, has been known to cut listings and schedules due to disputes with networks. Also, the on-screen program listing and DVR guides that come standard with most subscription TV services today only list scheduling for the cable TV channel lineup offered for the subscriber’s particular service provider and package. The only real way to find a complete and accurate U.S. cable TV guide, then, is to access a site that offers a local cable television guide for every provider in a given area.
Finally, would also like to encourage you to use independent cable television guides to compare different subscription TV providers’ deals with DISH Network deals. We are sure if you do you’ll realize not only what a great subscription TV provider DISH Network is, but also how honest we are at InternetLion.com. Learn more about switching to DISH Network here...
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: 08/22/2010.
