I'm bailing out of Comcast: now, is it Dish or Direct TV (Scranton area)? (transfer, neighborhood)

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by A_D_M

I'd go with Directv. Especially if you like NY sports.

That's pretty much the only reason I'm stuck with Comcast....Philly sports. CSN-Philly isn't available on satellite. But supposedly the FCC is trying to eliminate the loophole that allows Comcast to keep CSN off of satellite. The day that happens, I'm ditching Comcast and going to Directv.

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by blip

Word. Broadcast (15 HiDef channels *free*) + Netflix ($8.99/m) = more material than I'd ever want to watch. (Only thing we miss is Mad Men, which we buy on iTunes.)

Sorry if this isn't helpful; I just know that many people don't even remember/know that broadcast is still an option.

15 HD channels over the air? What can you pick up over the air besides the local ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, and CW?

[blip]

Originally Posted by go phillies

15 HD channels over the air? What can you pick up over the air besides the local ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, and CW?

the ABC affil has a second channel
Fox and PBS have 3 channels each
+ ION (Ch 64) has 4 channels

[KathyA11]

Originally Posted by lorac07

So what's the opinion on dish vs. direct in the Scranton area?

Considering you're in the NY Yankees footprint, are you a Yankee fan? If you are, it's a no-brainer -- go with DirecTV, because Dish refuses to add YES Network (and I'm pretty sure they won't add MLB TV, either).

[KathyA11]

Originally Posted by nkotb

I did say I TRIED... that was several years ago. And at anytime in the middle of the night when insomnia set in there was always a infommercial on most of the channels.

That's not DirecTV's fault -- the channels themselves sell that time.

[KathyA11]

Originally Posted by blip

Word. Broadcast (15 HiDef channels *free*) + Netflix ($8.99/m) = more material than I'd ever want to watch. (Only thing we miss is Mad Men, which we buy on iTunes.)

Sorry if this isn't helpful; I just know that many people don't even remember/know that broadcast is still an option.

It's not an option if you want to watch baseball. Most games are on cable.

[Chefkey]

Service Electric has YES and several ESPN channels plus NFL.

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by KathyA11

It's not an option if you want to watch baseball. Most games are on cable.

Agreed. Comcast in Scranton carries the channels for the Phillies, Yankees, and Pirates, plus MLB Network. Directv only has the Mets and Yankees here, and Dish Network has no local sports networks, only ESPN...and they don't even have MLB Network.

[KathyA11]

Originally Posted by go phillies

Agreed. Comcast in Scranton carries the channels for the Phillies, Yankees, and Pirates, plus MLB Network. Directv only has the Mets and Yankees here, and Dish Network has no local sports networks, only ESPN...and they don't even have MLB Network.

No, Dish has regional sports networks -- we had them when we lived in NJ. You have to add the package. It was $7 when I added it a few years ago, but I'm sure it's gone up by now.

The same goes for DirecTV -- if you have the complete package, you have regional sports networks. You can only watch the games on those networks if you're in that team's particular footprint -- if not, you have to add Extra Innings (it was $200 a year when I added it in March -- about what I would have spent on tickets to Yankee Stadium if we were still living in NJ, and worth every penny). We get all non-game programming on YES except Yankee games and Encores (and EI doesn't show the replay, which makes no sense) and Nets games, which we don't care about.

I don't ever expect to see MLB (or YES, for that matter) on Dish unless and until they get new management. It's a poor decision, since it lost them a lot of business in the NYC area when Cablevision refused to add YES in 2002. A forest of dishes went up on roofs in Bayonne -- and they were all DirecTV.

[lorac07]

BUMP!!!! Here I STILL am, facing another Comcrap increase after apparently several yrs (WHERE does that time go???? MUST be what these companies bank on---we peons getting so caught up in our daily grind that we forget/neglect/can't deal with the convoluted confusion of switching companies)----and now determined once again (this time, for good?) to switch companies. So I'm asking again, at this point in time---what are the options, and what companies are best out there (best = cost effective, most bang for the buck, least hassle with service people and service itself)--ie, what is everybody doing about their tv/internet these days? PS Reminder, what I need----I watch a fair amount of tv, mostly at night---I do like local channels for news/weather, some specialty channels like Discovery, History, Bio, BBC; premiums like HBO, SHO, MAX. I watch almost no sports so don't need those channels. And I do need internet access, preferably hi-speed like I have now with , well, you-know-who . It's about the ONLY thing that isn't so crappy---though I don't have a frame of reference comparison point anymore, having used 'them' (but not as much as they've used ME)---since they came to town and took over----whomever had the cable tv monopoly before.