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Satellite or cable service for local TV broadcasts?

Hello.

I don't know if this is the proper newsgroups to ask this. In a few months, my family and I (three people) will be relocating/moving to another house. We won't be able to get free over the air (OTA) due to a small mountain/giant hill blocking transmitters for Los Angeles/L.A. broadcasts. It is impossible to get a very high antenna (would require a high rise building height with twenty floors -- 193 or more feet for the local English stations in green color according to TVFool.com!). So that means we will have to order cable or satellite TV for TV feeds. Since we don't watch many movies and stuff (we just rent or stream), we will still keep it simple and basic. Hopefully, cheap/low cost. Basically, we want all local broadcast channels including foreign ones (asian like Chinese).

We are definitely ordering Time Warner Cable (TWC)'s Road Runner Internet service since that is the only fastest and cheapest ($52.99 per month for standard package) since nothing else and/or good is available (no DSL, no FIOS, satellite and dial-up sucks and are too slow).

TWC sales said for monthly payments as of Christmas break of 2011: $24.50 (basic/local broadcast TV) $52.99 (regular Internet package) $10 DVR rental (heard cable DVRs suck? Or should we get our own [however, I can't find one that doesn't require subscriptions like DTVPal and ChannelMaster DVRs] $49.99 for installation charge

Total = $84.79 per month for service (without $49.99 for installation charge).

Bundled packages and a single bill would be nice too if it is cheap/not much different, but if satellite TV service is a lot cheaper than we will get it. However, it will suck if the whole cable goes out/down, then no Internet and TV. :(

I read and heard that satellite TV services for TV stuff can be cheaper and better quality. We will also need to get a new DVR (we still have VCRs, but why?) to replace DTVPal DVR (only for OTA). There are several satellite TV services like EchoStar, DishTV, DirecTV, etc. Which ones to get? We have never owned satellite TV services before so this will be new to us. Also, we still use old CRT TVs but we will get HDTV ones later on when they break/die.

Thank you in advance. :)

Reply to
Ant
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Cable companies can (and usually do) carry more local channels than satellite systems do. They're both required to carry certain locals, but AFAIK, Dish and DirecTV carry few (if any) of the subchannels, and that's where many of the foreign-language broadcasts are. So check the channel lineups for all the companies you're considering before you make a choice, to make sure that you select one that has the channels you want.

Patty

Reply to
Patty Winter

Thanks. :)

Reply to
Ant

They don't. QAM tuners are in digital TVs. (Although as Bill noted, not in all of them.)

Given the information you've posted (repeatedly) in these groups and others, it's obvious that your new home will not get OTA without an impractically tall antenna, so just bite the bullet and do what we've all suggested: figure out which international channels you really want, check the channel lineups for the cable and satellite companies that are available at that location, and subscribe to the service that will give you those channels. If you're lucky and the channels you want are available from more than one provider, then you can compare prices on their websites and take the cheaper/cheapest one.

Patty

Reply to
Patty Winter

OK and thanks. So, OTA is definitely out.

Reply to
Ant

Well, 80+ channels seem to be out of the question, but the major networks seem very likely. I realize you can't live with that, though.

Reply to
Bill M.

Well said.

Reply to
Bill M.

What did the DirecTV and Dish websites say about local packages when you looked at them?

Reply to
Patty Winter

They included the other TV stations/channels like ESPN, AMC, TNT, Discovery, TBS, Nickelodeon, etc. I am trying to make the costs lower without them.

Reply to
Ant

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