Satellite TV rates have increased by about 8% over the years -- cable prices? Triple that! There's something wrong there, so I finally decided to switch to satellite TV.

Last Father's Day, my family got together and presented me with a state of the art wide screen HDTV and I knew the time had come to switch to a satellite system. I did a lot of research, having little knowledge of who offered what and for how much. It was a lot of ground to cover.

What I found out finally led me to choose Direct TV. They're the oldest and largest provider of satellite TV, with over 14 million happy subscribers. They were also the first ones to offer the smaller 18-inch dish. Am I the only one old enough to remember those behemoths that were the eyesore of every rural yard? Ya gotta love technology.

Anyway, Direct TV appealed to me not just because they offer over 250 channels, but because I enjoy, no, make that live for, watching my favorite sports. For the true sports fan such as myself, it became quite apparent early in my research that Direct TV K.O.s the competition for sports programming. Their NFL Sunday Ticket is their crowning glory. I could easily take up the rest of this article talking just about the Ticket, but there's more I want you to know about Direct TV, so I'll move on.

Having a brand new HDTV, the number of high definition channels was important to me. Direct TV already gives you 900 hours a week of HD programming, and has announced the addition of 100 new HD channels by the end of the year. I have to admit, I was ready to sign up then, but I held that impulse under control as I continued to read and learn more. (But c'mon, that means 230 NFL games in crystal clear, razor sharp high definition!)

I suppose it wouldn't be fair to let you believe that Direct TV is for no one except sports fanatics. They have something for everyone's taste. They offer all the popular premium movie channels, about 30 altogether, including HBO, Starz, Cinemax and Showtime. They even include one for the tiniest members of the family, Baby First TV. That doesn't take into consideration the 60+ pay-per-view movies each and every month.

I think what ultimately confirmed my choice of Direct TV were the exclusive options available nowhere else. Even though their prices start a bit higher than their closest competitor, no other satellite TV provider allows you to preview brand new FX series before they air. With Direct TV's interactive mix channels, you can watch up to 8 live channels of sports, news or kid's shows all on the same screen. And Direct TV offers musical events just for their subscribers to watch on CD USA.

You can do the homework and research the top satellite TV providers for yourself, but I think you'll come to the same conclusion I reached. Direct TV not only meets, but exceeds their customers' expectations.