Direct TV is a full service satellite television provider which takes advantage of satellite technology which is the brainchild of science fiction legend Arthur C. Clark and was developed as part of the Cold War Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. When Direct TV was founded back in 1994, the cold war was over, the Iron Curtain had fallen, and satellite technology had reached new heights. The recent revolution in satellite technology produced a number of innovations that made satellite television accessible to a much larger part of the populations. The satellite dishes got smaller- eighteen inches as opposed to ten feet- and the service got cheaper. New data compression technologies suddenly enabled a much larger number of channels do be delivered virtually anywhere, and digital television provided a much clearer picture and sound quality than any cable television company could manage at the time.



Now, twelve years later, Direct TV is still using the same technology in order to deliver the best possible service to its customers. The ranks of subscribers has grown to fourteen million, making Direct TV the largest television service provider in the United States, and the selection of channels has grown to eight hundred and fifty total channels of audio and video. While eight hundred and fifty channels obviously offers a huge amount of selection, it's generally understood that no one could possibly use that many channels, so they've been divided up into smaller programming packages.

A great example of how those eight hundred and fifty channels are divided up into programming packages can be seen in Direct TV's Total Choice series of programming packages. For example, the entry level package- Total Choice- still has an impressive number of choices at one hundred and fifty five channels. Those one hundred and fifty five channels include all of your local channels and a wide range of the most popular channels available today including favorites like Animal Planet, MTV, Comedy Central, Turner Classic Movies, The Discovery channel, and many more. Total Choice Plus adds another thirty channels to the mix created in Total Choice, and Total Choice Premier brings the total number of choices all the way up to two hundred and fifty channels. Total Choice Premier is a good option if you're a sports nut or a movie buff. A variety of regional sports networks along with plenty of other sports channels are all included with Direct TV's Total Choice Plus. When it comes to movies, Total Choice Plus provides variety by incorporating four different major movie packages into its ranks. Movie packages from Cinemax and HBO are complimented by the Starz Super Pack and Showtime Unlimited.

Direct TV has continued to take advantage of new technologies as they come out. For example, you can subscribe to a variety of HDTV channels the run the gambit from sports and movies to educational programming and major network programming. High definition television programming takes full advantage of the wide screen and high resolution of HDTV sets.

You can also get special Direct TV satellite receivers with built in digital video recorders. A digital video recorder is the high tech replacement for the now obsolete VCR which will allow you to record all of the programs that you love, but can't watch when they come on because of various real life obligations. A digital video recorder is easy to program and can record up to seventy hours of programming.

Direct TV has been an innovator from the beginning and Direct TV will continue to innovate as time goes on. Start now. Switch to the best.