Pros and Cons of Dish Network Vs. Direct TV

Dish Network offers several packages based on the programming options. Its smallest package is known as Dish America, which offers over 60 popular channels, including basic channels such as ESPN, TNT and ABC. Its biggest package is America's Everything, which includes premium movie channels. DirecTV has packages that follow the same basic tiers but offers more channels with its largest package, DirecTV Premier. Dish Network has six different packages, offering more flexibility than DirecTV which only offers four.

When comparing the cost of similar packages from Dish Network and DirecTV, on average it costs about $10 more a month for DirecTV as of 2011. The least expensive package from Dish Network costs $24.99 a month while its counterpart from DirecTV costs $29.99 a month. The most expensive package from Dish Network costs $99.99 a month; DirecTV's offering costs $114.99 a month. HD programming can be added to either service for an additional $10 a month.

As of 2011, DirecTV offers over 285 channels with its largest package, including 78 HD channels, while Dish Network offers over 260 channels in its largest package with 68 HD channels. Though both providers make local channels available for free and movie channels for an extra cost, their extra channels are somewhat different. DirectTV has more channels tailored to sports fans, such as UFC and NFL Sunday Ticket, while Dish Network offers more premium channels, such as Epix 3, Veria and adult programming.

Both Dish Network and DirecTV offer Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) to record shows for watching at a later date. This option is comparatively priced: DirecTV offers it for an additional $7 a month and Dish Network for an additional $6 a month. Dish Network's DVR can handle up to 400 hours of standard definition programming or 100 hours of HD programming. DirecTV's DVR has less space, with 200 hours of standard definition programming and 50 hours of HD programming.