We've probably heard the endless debates about which is better and I think it depends on what you like. Canadian satellites drawback and many on this forum bring it up is the gazillion CTV CBC and Global channels you get; the so called timeshifting channels. However I look at it from the point of view of a sports fan. With the US satellite providers you can't get those NBA games that you get with the four Sportsnet channels unless you have NBA league pass $189US. Also just this weekend I was able to watch the Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh game (which was more entertaining than the Bills game) with the Western US feed. An American subbing to DTV or Dishnet living out of market would not of been able to watch that game unless they have NFL Sunday ticket and only DTV has ST. This advantage provides a kind of poor mans NFL sunday ticket. One final example is English Premier soccer, Sportsnet airs three games on Saturdays while Fox Soccer Channel airs the first game and the third game only. The middle game is only availible on PPV which costs $15 extra. When Manchester United played Chelsea about four weeks ago the game was on the Score, those south of the border, you guessed it, had to pay $15 to watch it.

I know everything in life is subjective and some people will think I'm full of it, while others will slightly agree. A lot of people have been doggin Canadian sat providers maybe there some good things about them.

Tpop, from a value for the buck perspective, I think Canadian television is superior.

See this thread (http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23325) which I've restuck where we discussed at length the pros and cons of American vs. Canadian satellite.

If money was no object and I could only pick one, I would probably spend twice the money and go U.S. but as seen in the thread listed above, for $60 to $70 CDN a month you get a great lineup and can hook up many receivers with CDN satellite.

Oh yeah and I like the CBC!

I agree with a lot of what Hugh says. I think Canadian satellite TV has come a long way in the last 5-10 years. The only thing I find aggravating about Canadian satellite TV is the sim-subbing.

tpop, simple question, have you ever had US satellite? Also, since you're bringing up sports. Boxing fan? Like paying $50 plus two taxes when it's free if you have HBO? Racing fan? Like to pay to see racing on PPV when it's free if you have HDNET?

List can go on. US providers offer free PVR's plus a large selection of mainstream channels for around $30usd (no tax in most states).

You will always find something that's on one service and not the other, which is why some folks have both.

Not to mention tones os movie channels, specialty channels and european XXX channel;)

Things haven't really changed over the years. To get a good choice of news/entertainment/movies/sports; 1 needs a US + a Canadian service - regardless of where one lives.

Tpop, you make some very good points about Canadian Satellite. And American Satellite has things like HBO which we can't get here. They both have their advantages. It's a good thing we a choi....oh

Okay, I'm curious since everyone goes on about HBO.

What is on HBO that everybody watches that isn't on here?

Soprano's, Rome, Sex in the City and many other big HBO shows all seem to run same day/time in Canada.

As a former US resident and previous paid subscriber of HBO while in the US....

Generally speaking the HBO selection of movies is better than The Movie Network's (TMN) and there are special events - boxing etc.. plus certain HBO series just don't make it up here.

Real Time with Bill Maher
The Comeback

I haven't seen those up here yet. (Maybe I'm not looking in the right place)

And HBO documentaries.. by the time they get to the Movie Network.. IF they get to TMN, they're so old.. that who cares...

Sometimes they even end up on the CBC Documentary channel before the Movie Network.

As with programming a radio station.. programming a movie network is almost half perception. The thinking being.. if the perception becomes that most of the time I tune in.. there "nothing on" or "nothing on I want to watch" -> then it is percieved to be of lesser quality.. even tho the shows may be the same in some places.. scheduling, what follows what.. it's all key.

Tonight on HBO :
8pm
HBOE
Robert Klein : The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Ave.
HBOE2
Howard Cosell : Telling It Like It Is
HBOSIGE
Troy
HBOFAM
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
HBOCOM
Dr. Suess Cat In Hat
HBOZON
2 Days in the Valley

Other things on tonight's schedule include The Firm, Peggy Sue Got Married, 50 First Dates, The Day After Tomorrow, Flight of the Phoenix, Home Alone 3, Collateral as well as two stand up comedy specials (Rita Rudner & Caroline Rhea) and a couple of episodes of Curb your Enthusiasm.

Of the feature film material.. I recognize every single one of those titles.

///

On TMN -

Legend of Ron Burgundy
Mondays in the Sun
Scorched
A Silent Love
The Machurian Candidate.

For only 2 of those five films do I even recognize the names.

Other things on TMN tonight include:
Green Butchers, *Hotel Rwanda, White Skin, The Third Wheel, *Spanglish, The Yes Men and Legend of Suriyothai.

I've put asterisks beside things I recognize.

Probably the best way to sum up - HBO is better cause they don't have to play crappy Canadian movies.

Probably the best way to sum up - HBO is better cause they don't have to play crappy Canadian movies.

60-70% of the movies on HBO are so-called "fillers" - lowest quality crap that is worse than any Canadian movie I've seen. HBO is much worse than TMN/MC in terms of movies, but wins hands down in documentaries, sports and original programming.

Arthur : I won't argue your point - Peggy Sue Got Married for example - but generally speaking - compare any prime time line up head to head and HBO will win.

My first post here. Great forum you guus have! I've learned a lot searching the archives. Thanks!

Onto the topic at hand. What I loved about my DTV was HBO and MTV original programming. Both of which are hard to come by in Canada unless you wait 6 months to a year for someone here to pick it up. Stars and the other movie channels were also nice. All combined they offered a larger selection of movies than TMN.

What I like about the Canadian offering. I get my TSN and Sportsnet, which have a lot of hockey content (you'd be lucky to see hockey highlights on ESPN Sportscenter). I like my local channels for the news especially.

And it's true that you get multiple CBC's with CDN sat/cable, but you also get multiple NBC'c etc with US Satelite (at least I did when I had it).

In terms of US pricing vs. CDN pricing, I don't ever remember being impressed with the value proposition offered by the US Sat companies. IIRC, it was just as expensive for the same amount of channels when compared to CDN Satelite.

I have no comment on hardware as I have never compared CDN to US.

In the end both have their advanges. And if I could have both, I would.

Okay, I'm curious since everyone goes on about HBO.

What is on HBO that everybody watches that isn't on here?

Soprano's, Rome, Sex in the City and many other big HBO shows all seem to run same day/time in Canada.

Aside from the much better selection of first run films, Canadians are deprived of tons of comedy, drama and sports serials and special events.

Comedy examples would be 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', 'Bill Maher', 'Extras', 'Fat Actress', 'Ali G', and near weekly stand-up comedy performances. 'The Comeback was shown but lagged the USA by a few weeks.

Dramas we don't get till months or years later are 'The Wire', 'Family Bonds', 'Unscripted', and 'K-Street'.

Sports specials we pretty much never get, even on delay. Examples are Bob Costas, 'Inside the NFL', and great weekly and big event boxing.

I have to say if you ever live in USA or travel there, the difference is profound between real HBO and the watered down patchwork we get in Canada.

Neil, I'm your side but "Curb" is on TMN and so is Fat Actress (which is on Showtime in the USA).

Major shortimings, i agree, are live concerts (Rolling Stones), live or recorded stand-up comedy like George Carlin and Robin Williams. Other shows like Bill Maher (and Dennis Miller and Chris Rock before him).

Sports like you stated above, especially HBO Boxing which may or may not be on TSN (in SD) but could be on PPV.

HBO Documentaries which usually show up somewhere in Canada many months later.

Extras was a great new comedy series.

I think this is more of a programming than a DTH choice thread.

I for one am PO'd at Bell Globemedia. OLN has the rights to the NFR, which is being shown in the US on ESPN2HD. Why can't TSN show this late night, after curling in HD? I don't get it.

And PVR's basically eliminate the need for timeshifting, so that arguement is out the window.

Neil, I'm your side but "Curb" is on TMN and so is Fat Actress (which is on Showtime in the USA).

Unfortunately the anti-competitive network arrangement in Canada forbids anyone west of Ontario from watching that TMN.

Movie Central and TMN have worked out an arrangement where each of them gets one side of the country and they agree never to compete with each other. Because there's no competition, neither of them has much real pressure to try very hard or charge a lower price. The end result is they cut a lot of corners and don't bother expending the effort or money to put all the good programs on the air.

The rest of your points certainly confirm exactly what I'm saying - that Canadian viewers are significantly shortchanged compared to our American neighbors.
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Another thing with HBO, you can see clips for next week's episodes of Rome, Deadwood, Sopranos, etc. TMN is so cheap or ignorant to show that. It's good to be back(and getting hd to boot..i love it).

Yup, that's one thing I notice TMN never does.

American TV not only provides better better quality but it also gives you much more choice and content. There are many other premium movie chanels besides HBO. Cinemax, Showtime, The Movie Channel, Encore and Starz along with HBO give you about 40 premium movie chanels to chose from. Showtime as well as HBO have free boxing where on bell you have to pay an outrageous PPV fee. There are also many other excellent chanels that you can not get here. For example, the SciFi chanel just blows away Space and my wife loves the Lifetime Movie Chanel.
For us its all about choice, and american TV has that. The rules in Canada are so stupid. For people in the east, if you subscribe to TMN why can you not also add on MC and vice versa for people in the west? That seams to be a win-win situation for both the consumer and the providers.

What may be getting lost in this comparison thread is that most US satellite users in Canada used to get everything available on US atellite. That would certainly skew my opinion as I was one of those people. I can't give an opinion purely based on what would be available to me down south if price came into the picture.