The Bobcat Nation

So after several years of spending each week during the football season hoping and praying that the week's Griz game would be available online, I've pretty much decided that, sometime between now and August 30, I'm going to replace my existing cable package with something that will allow me to get access to Root Sports. Given where I live, that pretty much means I'm switching to either DirectTV or Dish.

Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about either of them? I'm inclined to go with DirectTV, mainly because of the availability of NFL Sunday Ticket, but if anyone has had good or bad experiences with either service, I'd be happy to hear about them.

We've had pretty good luck with Dish, but I don't care too much about the NFL so I can't really speak to that part of it. I don't think DirecTV had the Pac 12 network for awhile (and maybe still doesn't), which was the only other difference between the two that I was aware of in recent times.

DirecTV

I can only speak regarding DirecTV, which I think is great. They have the most sports options (all major sports etc) and I order the Sports pack in the fall to be sure I get the Big Sky games on ROOT TV. I think that add on is about $13/mo. On top of that, their customer service has always been exceptional.

I've had both and prefer dish. Look at the cost for you pachage as a whole con sidering the 2 year obligation.

I have had both as well and currently have dish. Both are good and fairly comparable, though DirecTV obviously has Sunday ticket. Not sure what the place shifting technology that DirecTV uses is like but if you travel the Dish integrated SlingBox is amazingly great. Also of note with Dish is that as a Dish subscriber I now have access to ESPN3 which I don't believe DirecTV has, though not positive on that one.

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kmax wrote:I have had both as well and currently have dish. Both are good and fairly comparable, though DirecTV obviously has Sunday ticket. Not sure what the place shifting technology that DirecTV uses is like but if you travel the Dish integrated SlingBox is amazingly great. Also of note with Dish is that as a Dish subscriber I now have access to ESPN3 which I don't believe DirecTV has, though not positive on that one.

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Yes, the slingbox is definitely a huge feather in the dish network cap! Works exceptionally well....

DirecTV does not currently have a contract with ESPN3/WatchESPN, however, depending on who your ISP is, you may already have access.

Dish.

I’ve had both. I dropped DirecTV after a couple of years due to customer service issues. I’ve had Dish for 3-4 years, and have been happy with it.

DirecTV has the reputation as the premier sports provider, but outside of Sunday Ticket I’m not sure DirecTV truly has the advantage. Dish seems to have programming (e.g. PAC-12, SEC network) which DirecTV does not. I am not aware of any sports networks or packages not available on Dish ( except NFL Sunday Ticket ). Also, having ESPN3 access added will be nice as a sports enthusiast.

I think Dish has limited HD bandwidth. Some of their sports channels (Root and Altitude are good examples) are broadcast in STDef most of the time, and only broadcast in HD during live sporting events. If I recall there was a Cats game on Altitude last year where most of the first quarter was not available in HD, until another sporting event was complete to open up that bandwidth for the Cats game.

If Sunday Ticket is a requirement then you need DirecTV. If it is not, then you probably need to look and see what networks are in what packages and choose the one that is right for you. You really can’t go wrong with either one when comparing it to cable.

Several people have mentioned Direct TV and Sunday ticket. Just know that their slogan "Every game every Sunday" isn't true. That doesn't include the Sunday night game. I can't wait for my 2 year contract to be up.

Plus, you need to check to see if local channels are available in your county. I am in Lewis and Clark county and Direct TV tells me that the locals are not available here. When I ask them why they say "because the local channels are not available" The conversation is sort of like "Who's on First". Just over the pass from us in Powell County the local channels are available.

Thanks for the info, everyone. I'll have to compare what's available on both. Sunday Ticket isn't a "must have," but I do probably care more about it than about, say, the PAC 12 Network or the SEC Network. Living in a metro area with two NFL teams can be frustrating, because most Sundays, one of them plays at 1:00, and the other plays at 4:30...and those are the only day games available. And it always sucks when there's an awesome NFC North matchup going on, and I can't watch it because the only game on tv in my area is the friggin Jets and the Dolphins...

Grizlaw wrote:Thanks for the info, everyone. I'll have to compare what's available on both. Sunday Ticket isn't a "must have," but I do probably care more about it than about, say, the PAC 12 Network or the SEC Network. Living in a metro area with two NFL teams can be frustrating, because most Sundays, one of them plays at 1:00, and the other plays at 4:30...and those are the only day games available. And it always sucks when there's an awesome NFC North matchup going on, and I can't watch it because the only game on tv in my area is the friggin Jets and the Dolphins...

Yes...I live in Florida. I get the Jacksonville, Tampa or Miami poo poo platter on Sundays without the ticket. Plus, you can usually get Sunday ticket for free for the first year or two.

brucat5 wrote:Yes...I live in Florida. I get the Jacksonville, Tampa or Miami poo poo platter on Sundays without the ticket. Plus, you can usually get Sunday ticket for free for the first year or two.

Yep, me too. I live in the NYC area, and I'm a Bears fan. And it's always frustrating when I know there's a Bears-Packers game on, and instead of seeing that, I'm watching the Jets-Dolphins, or Giants-Redskins , or whatever other NYC-snoozer game is on, and knowing that if I lived almost anywhere else in the country, I'd be able to watch the game I actually care about...

Grizlaw wrote:

brucat5 wrote:Yes...I live in Florida. I get the Jacksonville, Tampa or Miami poo poo platter on Sundays without the ticket. Plus, you can usually get Sunday ticket for free for the first year or two.

Yep, me too. I live in the NYC area, and I'm a Bears fan. And it's always frustrating when I know there's a Bears-Packers game on, and instead of seeing that, I'm watching the Jets-Dolphins, or Giants-Redskins , or whatever other NYC-snoozer game is on, and knowing that if I lived almost anywhere else in the country, I'd be able to watch the game I actually care about...

That reminds me of growing up in Montana and being forced to watch the Broncos regional coverage (because they were in our time zone, apparently, albeit two states away) instead of watching the prime AFC matchup of the week. I've never forgiven the Broncos for that.

Bay Area Cat wrote:

Grizlaw wrote:

brucat5 wrote:Yes...I live in Florida. I get the Jacksonville, Tampa or Miami poo poo platter on Sundays without the ticket. Plus, you can usually get Sunday ticket for free for the first year or two.

Yep, me too. I live in the NYC area, and I'm a Bears fan. And it's always frustrating when I know there's a Bears-Packers game on, and instead of seeing that, I'm watching the Jets-Dolphins, or Giants-Redskins , or whatever other NYC-snoozer game is on, and knowing that if I lived almost anywhere else in the country, I'd be able to watch the game I actually care about...

That reminds me of growing up in Montana and being forced to watch the Broncos regional coverage (because they were in our time zone, apparently, albeit two states away) instead of watching the prime AFC matchup of the week. I've never forgiven the Broncos for that.

The Broncos have nothing to do with it. It is the network that has the rights to the game. Typically it will follow what will result in the highest overall ratings for the network. So regional telecasts normally prevail and how NBC's flex scheduling came to be. The almighty dollar trumps all.

tdub wrote:

Bay Area Cat wrote:

Grizlaw wrote:

brucat5 wrote:Yes...I live in Florida. I get the Jacksonville, Tampa or Miami poo poo platter on Sundays without the ticket. Plus, you can usually get Sunday ticket for free for the first year or two.

Yep, me too. I live in the NYC area, and I'm a Bears fan. And it's always frustrating when I know there's a Bears-Packers game on, and instead of seeing that, I'm watching the Jets-Dolphins, or Giants-Redskins , or whatever other NYC-snoozer game is on, and knowing that if I lived almost anywhere else in the country, I'd be able to watch the game I actually care about...

That reminds me of growing up in Montana and being forced to watch the Broncos regional coverage (because they were in our time zone, apparently, albeit two states away) instead of watching the prime AFC matchup of the week. I've never forgiven the Broncos for that.

The Broncos have nothing to do with it. It is the network that has the rights to the game. Typically it will follow what will result in the highest overall ratings for the network. So regional telecasts normally prevail and how NBC's flex scheduling came to be. The almighty dollar trumps all.

Yeah, I know it wasn't the Broncos that willed that to happen. That doesn't mean I can't hold it against the Broncos. We are talking about sports here ... not reality.

Grizlaw wrote:

brucat5 wrote:Yes...I live in Florida. I get the Jacksonville, Tampa or Miami poo poo platter on Sundays without the ticket. Plus, you can usually get Sunday ticket for free for the first year or two.

Yep, me too. I live in the NYC area, and I'm a Bears fan. And it's always frustrating when I know there's a Bears-Packers game on, and instead of seeing that, I'm watching the Jets-Dolphins, or Giants-Redskins , or whatever other NYC-snoozer game is on, and knowing that if I lived almost anywhere else in the country, I'd be able to watch the game I actually care about...

Yep, just one of the reasons I have the NFL package.

I use this site to determine what games are broadcast on which networks (local, national etc) for NFL games. But, its also useful for all other major sports: http://506sports.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;