After we had our flatscreen TV delivered, DirecTV came the next day to upgrade the old satellite dish and digital video recorder to high-definition. It took the installer a couple of hours to mount the new dish in a different location (it was heavier and needed more support) and only another hour to hook up the DVR and TV.The installer noted the household demographic and asked a couple of times if we wanted to add Mandarin channels. [NFL and MLB (baseball) are more in my sweet spot, but if I bought more channels I’d feel obligated to spend even more time in front of the can’t-call-it-tube-anymore.] No thanks.
Chafing under the cable monopoly, we switched to satellite when it became available five years ago and have been happy with the decision. The signal comes through clearly, and service interruptions are extremely rare. Also, unlike Comcast, DirecTV’s price hikes have been modest. HD service is a few dollars more, but when I called them today with a question, they knocked off $5 per month for six months. A small amount, a lagniappe, that sweetened the phone call.
Perhaps DirecTV wouldn’t have been as attentive without competition; AT&T, Comcast, and Dish are all vying for our eyeballs. And perhaps that’s a lesson we can apply to other industries.
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