Direct Satellite TV and the "Yellow Dot" Syndrome

I have been experiencing some glitches on Astro, our local direct tv network, these past few days. It must have been the weather. I call this syndrome the "yellow dot" because of the yellow dot (either square dot or round dot) that appears when reception is bad.

Even though direct TV has enhanced the tv-watching experience, these spells of interruptions can be rather frustrating especially when you are watching something nice or an exciting end to a (Hong Kong) drama series.

Just like our Internet service prodivder, Streamyx, Astro also gets the brunt of subscribers' wrath when things go (even slightly) wrong. However, apple-to-apple, I think Astro's packages are priced higher than what's offered in the West.

Take this Direct Satellite TV company in the US for instance. Their basic package goes for only $29.99, hardly a dollar a day, and they have much more channels too. And all digital channels at that.

A visiting colleague from the States is very happy with what he is paying for for his direct TV in Texas though he is not much into tv but the movies and different programs on tv do make his family happy. They have DirecTV access to Sports Programming, Movies, and local channels, Plus DirecTV DVR and the best in high definition programming. No wonder they are happy.