Rickochet
regarding do you own the equipment? I have no idea. If I decide I no longer want DirecTv and decide to go back to local cable - I don't want the satellite dish on the eave of my house. The digital receivers are worthless to me. They change every few years anyway, with new equipment, so the digital receivers are basically worth nothing if they're not reprogrammed to what is current technology.
I'm basically renting the dish and the receivers, I guess. But it's still much more inexpensive than what my local cable company can offer me. I have 4 televisions in the house with digital receivers and DVR capability. All hi-def.
We live in an area where only one cable provider is legally permitted to provide cable tv service. It's a territorial monopoly, no other local cable company is permitted to compete with them. I looked into other local services and found that they're not legally permitted to offer service in our area.
DirecTv has been great, no reception issues. I get all of the channels that were offered via the local cable company. I pay $80/month for service that would otherwise cost me roughly $140/mo. I'm sure Dish is the same.
I do however use the local cable company for internet, again, because they're the only cable/internet company providing service for our area. My internet service is usually great, high-speed with the premium residential service. I could get internet via DirecTv, but tried that years ago and was hugely unimpressed.
Dish and DirecTv are pretty much the same imo. I get a discount via DirecTv for being an AT&T wireless customer, which is enough for me to save approximately $100/mo. The only thing is that every couple of years, when my contract expires, I have to spend an hour or two negotiating a better deal.
My local cable company sucks big time. Their customer service is horrible, which was what prompted me to consider satellite tv to begin with. But their internet service is generally very good.