Satellite TV and March Madness
(and Cricket Fever)
By: Rich Rojas
Editor's Note:
This article was originally written for American college basketball
fans who avidly follow the NCAA college basketball tournament. However,
we feel that the benefits of satellite televsision need to be brought
to sports fans around the globe. The recent Cricket World
Cup 2007 is a prime example of the need for comprehensive
coverage of premier sporting events. For many cricket fans, complete
match coverage of the Cricket World Cup 2007 was not available via
standard broadcast and cable TV. Perhaps more ironically, cricket fans
in the US were almost completely shutout from viewing any of the
matches including the final match between Sri Lanka and Australia.
There are cricket packages available from certain satellite TV
providers and are well worth the investment for the avid cricket fan.
Please read the original article below for additional details about the
features and benefits of satellite TV.
The time of
year when we
anxiously follow our favorite college basketball teams as they battle
it out in the regional tournaments and if we’re lucky, through their
brackets in the NCAA Tournament is fondly referred to as “March
Madness”. This really is a college hoopster’s nirvana. It borders on an
almost religious devotion. There are the brackets to be filled out for
the numerous betting pools, checking point spreads, vying for bragging
rights, and of course, being glued to the TV screen to watch as much
college basketball as is humanly possible. If you want to maximize the
number of college basketball games available for your viewing pleasure,
then you’ll definitely want to consider what satellite TV has to offer.
If
you have cable TV then you are limited to what the standard cable
channels offer in March Madness coverage. You favorite team may be
playing, but it may not be televised because its game wasn’t deemed
popular enough to broadcast. You can break out of these unfair
restrictions by signing up for a college basketball programming package
from either DirecTV or the DISH Network.
First off,
let’s consider what the general advantages of satellite TV over cable
TV are. The most obvious advantage is more channels, which can be
expanded even further with the purchase of a special programming
package such as any one of the many sports packages. The total cost of
ownership is typically lower with satellite TV since there is usually
no charge for the equipment or installation and you can receive
installation in up to 4 rooms for free with the DISH Network. Satellite
TV is 100% digital, which provides a higher quality of picture over the
analog signal delivered predominantly over cable systems. And perhaps
most importantly, overall customer satisfaction is higher with
satellite TV compared to cable.
Another great
feature of satellite TV is the availability of free upgrades to a
Digital Video Recorder (DVR). This way you can record the games you
can’t watch. Now there’s really no excuse to miss an important college
basketball game during March Madness!
When you
consider all of the advantages of satellite TV, especially when it
comes to following sports, March Madness and satellite TV go
hand-in-hand just like slam dunks, three pointers, heartbreak as well
as elation, and of course, the shear thrill of this very highly charged
time of year.