The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament kicks off in just a few weeks, and satellite TV customers will certainly be tuning in to watch all of the action. Here we will briefly review the tournament action, and where you will be able to watch the games on DISH Network.

While DIRECTV still has the Mega March Madness package, DISH Network will still have plenty of action. Whether you are looking to watch the Conference Championships from around the country, or the actual NCAA Tournament, hundreds of games will be on Dish satellite TV over the next month and a half. The official start to March Madness is on the 16th of March, with the famous play-in game. I’m not sure why the NCAA still insists on matching team number 64 against team 65 for the right to go get slaughtered by a number 1 seed, but if your interested this game will be on ESPN.

ESPN is on DISH Network channel 140, and is also available in HD if you subscribe.

March Madness truly begins on the 18th of the March, and here opening round action will be televised on your local CBS station with DISH Network. NCAA Tournament games will kick off at Noon Eastern time, and continue until midnight. First round action will take place from New Orleans, Providence, San Jose, and Oklahoma City.

First round action continues on Friday, March 19th with another 16 games. Again tune into your DISH Network CBS affiliate to watch the games. Venues hosting Buffalo, Jacksonville, Spokane, and Milwaukee. The first two days of the March Madness tournament are the main reason many opt for DIRECTV where you can get the Mega March Madness package for about $70. While the CBS coverage on DISH Network will jump around from game to game, with the DIRECTV March Madness package you can watch the game of your choice, or even the Mix channel showing all of the games at the same time.

Weekend coverage of the 2nd round continues on March 20th and 21st. The same venues will host as the tournament field is cut down to the Sweet Sixteen. Saturday’s coverage begins at 1PM Eastern, and continues to 10PM. Sunday starts the same time but wraps up around 7PM Eastern.

The Sweet Sixteen kicks off on March 25th, with a double header from Syracuse and Salt Lake City. Action runs from 7PM til Midnight Eastern. The same schedule applies on Friday the 26th, with games being held in St. Louis and Houston. The Regional Finals on Saturday the 26th will run from 4:30 til 9PM Eastern, with the Sunday regional scheduled from 2PM til 7PM. Again, all of the action on DISH Network will be found on your local CBS station.

The Final Four on DISH Network will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana this year. Lucas Oil stadium will be able to hold 70,000 fans for this years event. The Final Four kicks off on Saturday, April 3rd at about 6PM Eastern, with a half hour break between the first and second game. March Madness culminates with the national title game on Monday, April 5th with a 9:15 Eastern start time.

When watching March Madness on DISH Network, the key to the tournament is your local CBS affiliate. DISH Network currently reaches 97% of America with local SD channels, and 93% of the United States with local HD coverage.

If you live in an area served by Charter cable, no doubt you have considered whether it is better to use their cable service or perhaps go with one of the satellite TV companies. In this article, we will compare Charter vs DIRECTV satellite TV, and consider which one will be best for your situation.  Charter cable is currently the fourth largest cable TV company in America, and has nearly 5 million subscribers. DIRECTV is the largest satellite TV company, with 18 million subscribers. Their primary competitor remains Dish Network, who boasts 14 million subscribers of their own.

When starting a comparison of DIRECTV and Charter cable, one thing to do up front is evaluate exactly what services you need in your home, and do you only want to deal with one company for those services. DIRECTV of course is a pay television provider, so you won’t be ordering a DIRECTV bundle of home phone service and high speed internet from them. On the other hand, a cable TV company like Charter has the capability of offering all of these services. While a Charter bundle might seem like the way to go based on this information, considering other factors like price, customer service, and HD channels access are also important.

Now if you do decide that DIRECTV is the right choice for you, the alternative is to use Charter or your local phone company for high speed internet and phone service. Big telecom companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Qwest have partnered with DIRECTV so that you can sometimes get a discount on service, or at least combined billing for DSL, voice, and DIRECTV packages.

Charter vs DIRECTV Channels

If you compare the channel lineups in the Charter packages and the DIRECTV packages, you probably will not see much of a difference. Certainly there are a few channels here or there that may not be found with one company or the other, but generally the major cable channels and local networks like NBC are going to be found with both companies. If there is a secondary cable network you are especially interested in, be sure to either call Charter and DIRECTV and see which package has your channel of interest before ordering.

Now if poor customer service gets to you, pay attention here to how DIRECTV compared to Charter cable. Its hard to argue that ANY pay television company provides great customer service. For years, cable TV built a poor reputation nationally as they pretty much ignored the service aspect of the business. While horror stories about both DIRECTV and Charter abound on the internet, customer service surveys give a better picture of how these companies perform. The latest University of Michigan survey rates DIRECTV at the top of the heap when it comes to customer service beating out Dish Network, Time Warner and Comcast among the biggest providers. Unfortunately Charter cable came in at the opposite end of the rankings.

According to the 2009 ACSI survey, Charter cable scored a 51, which was a decline of 5.6% when compared to their 2008 score. DIRECTV scored a 71, which was a 4.4% increase over their 2008 score. While Charter cable is currently in bankruptcy, it really doesn’t excuse being the lowest rated cable or satellite provider in America.

New customer Deals

So lets look at the pricing and package structures of both Charter and DIRECTV satellite television. Both Charter and DIRECTV offer deals if you are a new customer. With DIRECTV you can take $26 off of your package price for one year, as long as register for your rebate, and register your email address online and accept e-mail from directv.com. Charter cable deals are as follows:

Charter starter cable is just $9.99 a month for six months. This is an absolute bare bones basic cable package, which has your local channels and a few other networks tossed in. Most will want to start at least with the Charter digital cable package, which is $49.99 a month for the first six months. Charter on demand programming is also included here, which will give you access to more than 6,000 shows and movies each month. The regular price for this package is $70 a month in the St. Louis Missouri market, but you may want to check the area you live in as cable TV prices can vary based on the region you live in.

Finally, the Charter HD package is $54.99 a month for the first six months, and it includes everything in the Charter digital bundle plus of course any high definition channels available in your area. Normal Charter pricing on this package is $70 per month after six months.

Now if you are looking at comparable bundles from DIRECTV, the first option is the Family package, which runs $29.99 a month. This is the one package that DIRECTV does not offer a discount on if you are subscribing as a first time customer. Now if you are looking to compare a DIRECTV package with Charter Digital cable TV, the two offers that are most closely aligned are the Choice package and the Choice Xtra bundle.

The DIRECTV Choice bundle is currently priced at $29.99 per month for the first year, while Choicextra is $34.99 for the first year. Both of these prices reflect the $26 dollar a month discount discussed earlier. As far as channel selection, Choice has 150+ channels, and Choice Xtra has 200+ channels counting audio and video networks. By comparison, the Charter digital cable package has about 100 video channels and 45 commercial free audio channels in the lineup. HD access can be added to any DIRECTV package for $10 per month.

So who comes out on top when comparing Charter HD vs DIRECTV HD. This debate is pretty much over before it starts, as DIRECTV is one of the leaders in offering high definition content, while Charter cable lags behind both satellite and other cable companies. While DIRECTV claims to have more than 130 HD channels, they count their pay per view offers in that number. Actual HD channel count on DIRECTV is in the area of 84 when Premium movie channels are counted according to this unofficial chart.  Charter HD has about 63 HD channels total, though 33 of those are limited according to the same chart. Your actual HD channel count could be quite different depending on your area, as HD channels are not rolled out nationally with cable TV providers as they are with satellite TV companies.

If you are one who goes for the all inclusive type of package, both Charter and DIRECTV have something along those lines, just be prepared to shell out quite a bit of cash each month for this option. The DIRECTV Premier package is currently about $110 a month, then you would have to pay another $10 a month for HD, and $5 per month for each additional receiver. This package will give your more than 265 channels total, including more than 30 commercial free premiums like HBO. Charter has a similar option, which is basically the Digital Home with HD, then adding on the premiums at $36 for all of them together. Added to the promotional price of the Charter digital package with HD of $54.99 a month and the Digital view channels for $20 a month and you will be looking at $111 a month for the first six months before the price goes up.

Video on Demand – Which is better?

Another consideration when looking at a comparison of DIRECTV vs. Charter cable is the On-demand platform offered by each company. Charter has deployed on demand content like other big cable companies like Comcast and AT&T U-verse, though they have fewer selections at this time. Right now, Charter offers more than 6,000 titles in their on demand library, which kind of pales in comparison to Comcast’s 17,000 plus titles, or the 18,000 offered by Verizon Fios at this time. Then again, how much TV can one person really watch? DIRECTV offers their own on-demand system as well, but it relies on the customer having their own high speed internet connection, which you don’t need with Charter on demand. While the DIRECTV on demand setup is workable, it can be a bit frustrating compared to the robust on demand platform of Charter, or any other cable TV company for that matter.

Attention Sports Fans

Now if you are a hardcore sports fan, you certainly don’t want to be left out in the cold when it comes to the big game. If you are serious about your team, you may want to seriously consider DIRECTV over Charter cable, as the sports programming options are far superior on satellite TV.

The basic sports channels can be found on both Charter and DIRECTV. These include ESPN, ESPN2, and other regional sports networks like Fox Sports. The area where DIRECTV holds an edge is in carrying the premium sports packages, and some of the secondary sports channels like the NFL Network. Everyone of course is familiar with the NFL Sunday Ticket, which is an exclusive of DIRECTV.   But it goes quite a bit further in that DIRECTV carries, all of the sports bundles, and Charter doesn’t carry many at all.

With Charter, you will only be able to subscribe to the following sports packages if they are of interest to you: MLB Extra Innings, NHL Center Ice, ESPN Gameplan and ESPN Fullcourt.   With DIRECTV, you can get all of these packages, plus these if they are your cup of tea: NBA League Pass, NCAA Mega March Madness, MLS Direct Kick, the previously mentioned Sunday Ticket, and NASCAR Hotpass which is actually free at this time.  Obviously most of these premiums sports packages are going to cost you some money, but keep in mind you won’t even be able to get them on Charter.  The NFL Network is another important sports channel that is not carried on Charter or Time Warner cable.

Another consideration is DVR service, and because of the convenience and popularity of digital video recorders, you definitely will want to get one with either Charter or DIRECTV.   The Charter DVR will run you $15 a month for each DVR, while with DIRECTV it is currently priced at $6 per month.  You really won’t notice a significant difference in the functionality of the DVR with either company, so price is really the main thing to look at here, and DIRECTV comes out ahead.

As mentioned earlier, both Charter TV and DIRECTV want your business, so they offer deals to new customers to get you to sign up.  DIRECTV offers include free installation and a discount for a year.  Some of the additional Charter deals are as follows.  Charter offers the Digital home, Digital view, and 2 premiums package for $80.99 a month for 6 months, then the regular price is $94 a month.  The basic Charter triple play offer is $69.97 for limited basic cable, 1.5 Mbps DSL and Digital phone.  This is good for 12 month then goes to the regular price of $104.97.

Charter Digital Cable plus  5 Mbps Internet package is $93.98 for six months, and includes one premium channel but no Charter phone service.  The regular price here is $138.99 a month.  The Charter Ultimate Bundle includes anything and everything from the cable company.  Charter Digital home, Charter HD, and 3 Premium movie channels kick off this package.   Added next is 10 Mbps Charter high speed internet service, and finally Charter Telephone with unlimited local and long distance calling to the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico rounds out the bundle.  Total price here is $165.97 for one year, then $200.97 after the promotional period.

Additional Charter packages are available which mix and match different levels of cable, internet, and home phone service to your specifications.  Full details can be found at their website charter.com or by calling Charter customer service at 1-888-438-2427.

For further information, please browse our Charter cable review, or visit our homepage to start learning more about satellite TV.

DIRECTV is once again offering extra viewing options for golf fans, this time with expanded coverage of the US Open Championship. This year’s tournament will return to 7,426 yard Bethpage Black course in Farmingdale, New York. The event will begin on Thursday, June 18th and continue through Sunday, June 21st, 2009.

Following up on their Masters coverage in April, the largest satellite television company will again offer “Mix Channel” coverage of the tournament. This unique offering allows viewers to watch multiple channels at once, then switch to any of the channels to get an up close view of action that interests them. Even better, coverage will be in HD for the entirety of the tournament.

The Mix channel can be found on DIRECTV channel 701. Four views will be offered here, the first being the main network feed which will be from ESPN on Thursday and Friday. Coverage from NBC will continue on Saturday and Sunday on the first Mix channel, which can be viewed full-screen on DIRECTV channel 702.

Three additional Mix channels will also be offered on channels 703-705. One channel will be featuring coverage of a specific group of players. Don’t be surprised if to see coverage of Tiger Woods’ group on this channel. Another Mix channel will focus on a particular hole being played at BethPage. Finally, the last Mix channel will cover the US Open Championship in-depth, with player features, interviews and highlights.

Another great feature that DIRECTV customers can use when watching the tournament is the ScoreGuide button. By using the red button on your remote control, you can easily access information on leaders, find hole-by-hole scoring on any golfer, and play US Open trivia. Viewers can also quickly switch to the Mix channel of their choice through the red ScoreGuide button.

DIRECTV will cover all four majors this year with interactive coverage, following up with coverage of the British Open and the PGA Championship later this year. In addition, DIRECTV will once again be offering interactive coverage with their Wimbledon Mix channel starting next Monday, June 22nd.

Today’s pay television subscriber is looking for the most bang for the buck. With over 265 channels of programming, one option is an all-inclusive satellite TV bundle which offers all kinds of programming, whether it be sports, movies, drama, or commercial free music for your listening pleasure.

DIRECTV Premier Package Review

So what exactly does DIRECTV give you with the Premier package?   Well, as we have already mentioned, everything is here, but let’s get a little more specific.
You may never go to a movie theater again, as there is a wide selection of premium move channels included in the Premier package. All in all, there are 30 premium movie channels. These would include 7 channels of HBO, 12 channels of Starz, 3 channels of Cinemax, and to round things out 9 Showtime movie channels.
Sports fans will also find anything and everything in this package. In addition to the standards such as ESPN and ESPNEWS, there are 35 additional sports networks included. Included are 3 Comcast regional networks, more than a dozen Fox Sports Net channels, and the YES channel, home of the New York Yankees. The DIRECTV Sports pack is normally an additional $12, but it is included in the Premier package.

Local channels are here also in almost all parts of the country. ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox are the standards, while the CW and PBS stations are available in some areas.
Plenty of audio programming is also accessible in the Premier package as well. XM is the provider, with up to 73 different stations available.
HD programming is about the only thing not available in this package. In order to receive HD channels, there is an addition $9.99 per month HD access fee.

So what will all of this cost? Actually less than you think. The normal price for the DIRECTV Premier package is $104.99 per month, and for new customers there are always promotions available. Once a year, DIRECTV offers the best satellite TV promotion in conjunction with the NFL Sunday Ticket.

This year’s promotion offers new customers the Premier package free for four months when they pay for the NFL Sunday Ticket at the price of $74.99 for four months. In addition, DIRECTV is also offering a free HD DVR receiver upgrade, a $199 value. The current promotion runs through October 31^st, but the NFL season starts in early September, so it makes sense to get on board now in order to see all of the games.

Update: 2010 Masters Mix Coverage

Nearly two months from the initial announcement, the Masters Mix from DirecTV is nearly here. The enhanced coverage of the prestigious golf coverage will be televised on Direct TV channels 701-710 starting this Thursday, April 11^th.

The tournament, held every year at the Augusta National Gold Club in Georgia, will be covered from every angle. High definition coverage will be the name of the game, as 60 HD cameras will be in use, including 10 hand-held HD cameras. ESPN gets the early round coverage this year, while CBS will cover Saturday and Sunday’s action. Tiger Woods is of course this year’s favorite, looking for his fifth Green Jacket.

DIRECTV has struck an innovative agreement with ESPN and CBS to offer expanded coverage of the tournament. The nearly 17 million subscribers to the satellite television service will enjoy a free upgrade to the Masters Mix. While this year’s offering is free, Direct TV will surely be monitoring fan interest to gauge whether they will be able to charge for the service next year.

Described on their website as The Masters Experience, DIRECTV is once again dedicating resources in an attempt to please another group of sports fanatics. So what can DIRECTV subscribers expect to see during the tournament?

As mentioned, plenty of HD, as long as you are an HD subscriber. All of DIRECTV’s coverage including interactive features will be in high definition. The featured channel will be the Mix Channel, which will have 4 views on your television screen. One will simulcast the CBS/ESPN HD coverage.

The second will cover Amen Corner, holes 11, 12, and 13. The third will feature the 15^th and 16th holes. Finally, the last will cover the highlights, lowlights, and leader board information.

DIRECTV is also offering additional features including an interactive features channel, as well as DIRECTV on Demand, promoting the ability to download preview information, recap shows, highlights, and historical moments in Masters Golf.

DIRECTV is forming another relationship in the sports world, this time inking a deal with the IndyCar Series as the Premier Official Sponsor of the series.

The sponsorship, valued in the area of $2 to 3 million per year for a six-year term by industry analysts, gives DIRECTV yet another platform to push its “High Definition” agenda. The series will now be called “IndyCar Series in DIRECTV HD.” The name itself lets everyone know how Direct TV is positioning itself in the marketplace, and that is:

DIRECTV=HD

The formula seems to be working for the satellite provider. DIRECTV is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to let the consumer know they are all about HD. The new deal with IndyCar will give DIRECTV all the branding and logo placements that come along with auto racing.

A few examples – The deal promises DIRECTV branding placements on all cars and driver uniforms, through pit row, and on camera mountings placed in cars. Kiosks at each race will also feature the DIRECTV brand in areas known as “Fan Zones.” The IndyCar Series logo will also promote the fact the all races are presented in DIRECTV HD. All in all, quite a bit of advertising for the reported price-tag paid by DIRECTV.

While DIRECTV does not currently have any broadcast rights to the race series, it could lead to an agreement in the future similar to the NASCAR HotPass. ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 will carry the series once again this year, including the Indianapolis 500 over Memorial Day Weekend. ABC’s rights to the IndyCar series currently run through the end of the 2009 season.

ESPNews HD will start broadcasting on DIRECTV according to anchors on the 24-hour sports news network. Anchors reported both Monday night and this morning that Direct TV would begin broadcasting the network starting Wednesday, April 2nd.

No mention was made on-air regarding DISH Network, while viewers were encouraged to “call their cable operator” if they wanted ESPNews HD through cable. No official statement has come from DIRECTV regarding broadcast of ESPNews HD.

The HD version of the all-sports network went live on Sunday, March 30^th. A larger, modern set and expanded scores and stats interface greeted sports fans. While some subscribers to ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD were able to see ESPNews in HD when it debuted on Sunday, most have not yet enjoyed the full effect of the new format.

If DIRECTV does add the channel as ESPNews anchors are reporting, it will be the first new national HD added since the Tennis Channel was added just before the New Year. With its latest successful satellite launch, DIRECTV claims it will have the capability to carry 150 HD channels, however it remains to be seen if programmers can keep up with the customers demand for high-definition.

Update: 2010 Master Mix

Golf fans who also subscribe to DIRECTV will get their fill this year at the 2008 Masters Tournament, held in Augusta, Georgia on April 10-13. That’s due to a new service from the satellite TV company, which will expand upon ESPN and CBS coverage with three additional broadcast channels, along with the “Masters Mix Channel,” giving viewers four views on one channel.


The new service, detailed in a press release from the company today, pushes the limit on covering a slow moving sport like golf. No doubt golf junkies will enjoy the fact they have multiple options instead of being tied to the main network feed. But will this much coverage entice the casual fan?
The Masters Mix channel, which will be on DIRECTV channel 701 for standard definition, and 706 for HD will offer four “views” on one screen. Viewers can hear audio on the channel of choice, and also enlarge the views to full screen via remote control. The views will be:

One-The main feed, CBS on the weekend and ESPN for early round coverage.

Two-Highlight channel, continuous coverage of the day’s best shots and replay coverage.

Three-“Amen Corner” provides coverage on the hallowed grounds of golf, holes 11, 12, and 13 at the Augusta Golf Club. Continuous coverage as players move through the corner.

Four-Holes 15 and 16. Generally regarded as the part of the course where the men are separated from the boys at Augusta National.

All four channels will be available in both standard definition and HD. The additional channels will be full feature, with their own cameras and announcers from DIRECTV and CBS Sports. DIRECTV has also enabled several interactive features including access to scores and stats, Masters trivia questions, leaderboard, and tournament history, all accessible via a menu icon on each channel.

There is no cost for the additional Masters coverage-at least not this year. Will more be better for the Masters? DIRECTV certainly thinks so, as it continues to expand on its wildly popular sports franchises, NFL Sunday Ticket and NASCAR HotPass.