Direct TV vs Cable TV

[onimity]

I think i might need to google both of these forms of TV as i don't know the Australian equivalent.

When i was last in Canada a friend had wireless tv or something??

Is direct TV where you can put the show on hold??

I'm a wee bit lost so hopefully one of the Aussie or Kiwi girls can help me out.

C

Hey C,

I think I can help you out...a little, though with the caveat that I've not ever been to Australia (yet!), so I can't say exactly what you have, though I've heard that your standard broadcasts have a) better content, b) interactive apps with digital content, etc.

In the US we have a few clear-to-air standard broadcast channels, analog & digital, then premium (pay) TV over cable and satellite. DirectTV is a satellite service, where you have a little dish outside your house. With satellite service you get a lot of downstream content (lots of channels) but limited upstream ability, so if you've used any interactive TV content, that sort of thing is limited in satellite, including high-speed internet. Cable, though, requires cabling, so it is great if you are in a city, but even in low-density cities and towns it is not financially advantageous to cable companies to run the extra cable, so satellite is the only option beyond the basic channels.

With cable, you get a lot of channels and (for more $$$) access to high-speed internet over the same cable. In the future cable will also carry interactive TV applications so you can, say, order pizza (or bikes ) through your TV.

DirectTV is different from DVR (digital video recorder), which is where you can put a show on hold (or record it and watch it later without advertisements) DVR is generally a premium service that you can get with either cable or satellite or even without either (with TiVo, etc.).

Wireless TV is different too... in some countries there is broadcast wireless for handhelds, though what I've seen in Canada has basically been content delivered to the handheld from a DVR Set-top box or similar, or using cellular networks. We have similar things in the US; with my cell service I can also subscribe to a bunch of channels that I can watch live from my phone.

(I really don't watch TV, truth be told...)

Hope that helps...

Anne