In many ways, digital satellite TV is similar to traditional television broadcasts in that its content is transmitted through the airwaves and captured by an antenna (in the case of traditional TV) or satellite dish (in the case of digital satellite TV). Also, the types of content that can be broadcast by both systems are analog and digital.

Unlike traditional television, however, digital satellite TV is able to deliver digital broadcasts at more practical prices because of its significant coverage advantage. This advantage is brought about by the fact that in the satellite broadcasting the content is positioned thousands of kilometers above the ground (unlike the radio transmission towers used in traditional television which are, at best, just hundreds of meters above the ground), which translates to a much wider “footprint” and economies of scale that is applied to its pricing consideration.

Digital satellite TV compresses and encrypts the digital signals of the information prior to broadcast. These broadcasts are transmitted from satellite ground stations to the satellites, which are, in turn, “blindly” transmitted by the satellite to all areas within its “footprint”. These compressed and encrypted signals are received by satellite dishes that are installed at the households and, depending on the authorizations given based on the subscriptions availed of, get decompressed, decrypted, and displayed by the digital satellite TV set-top boxes that are connected to the television sets.

Compared to an erstwhile entertainment favorite, Cable TV, digital satellite TV has the following advantages:

PracticalityDigital satellite TV's main advantage over Cable TV is that it costs less to maintain the service because there are only four points of failure; i.e., the ground station, the satellite, the satellite dish, and the television itself. In Cable TV, there are several kilometers of cable that need to be checked when a particular subscriber loses his service, aside from trouble at the cable TV headend, other distribution points, and the television set. This advantage allows digital satellite TV service providers to charge less for digital content than cable TV providers.

Wider CoverageAmong the three broadcast media (digital satellite TV, traditional television broadcast, and Cable TV), Cable TV has the smallest coverage reach. This means that the addressable market is also the smallest for Cable TV, which limits the number of subscribers it can provide service to. In contrast, digital satellite TV only has one requirement, i.e., the area it will serve has a direct line of sight to the satellite. All a subscriber needs to purchase is a satellite-band compatible satellite dish, a provider-issued set-top box and a subscription plan with the digital satellite TV provider to enjoy the service.

There are several digital satellite TV providers that a potential subscriber may avail of. Among these are VOOM, DirecTV and DISH Network. These providers offer service packages that include high-definition TV channels and information aside from the standard packages that cable TV companies provide. All these without hurting your pocket any more than it would if you continued with your Cable TV service.