Thursday, January 21, 2010

Comcast, DirecTV Battle In Dance Of Death

The FCC -- you know, the place where all those Adam Lambert complaint letters were sent -- has done something it should have done a long time ago: closed a "terrestrial loophole" against Comcast Corp that had kept the Phillies, Flyers, and Sixers off DirecTV (well.. Dish Network too, for the six of you that actually subscribe to that service).

Finally, Philadelphia and South Jersey residents will have a real choice who their television provider will be. Up until now, if you were a sports fan, your hand was pretty much forced into going with Comcast's service. And along with that, you had to deal with shitty service, menus that look like they're from the 80s, and ridiculous price hikes. Analysts have estimated that this loophole has boosted Comcast's subscriber base by about 450,000 customers in the Philadelphia area. Not by coincidence, DirecTV has one of its lowest penetration rates in the Philadelphia area. Ben Stein and Shaq had better put their heads together and figure out a way to keep a bunch of sports fans from jumping ship.

Not only do you get the option of the NFL Sunday Ticket package, but those DirecTV commercials claiming they have better picture quality than Comcast are completely true. I've had both services, and DirecTV does indeed offer a much clearer and crisp high-def picture. And since sporting events translate to high definition in manner that is much more impressive than your typical movie or TV does, I give you TheWizWit stamp of approval to make the switch when your contract is up.

And Comcast? You can bite my nuts.


[UPDATE]
Comcast still can (and will) sue or file a grievance to keep this from happening. For the record, I do think it will only delay the inevitable judgment against Comcast Corp.

1 comment:

  1. I feel like they still might be able to block this from happening, but who knows. On top of that...what the hell is "penetration rate"? Sounds hot.

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