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Well it is the time of year when both cable and satellite TV companies are raising rates.Comcast got the ball rolling in November of 2008, with notice that they would be increasing costs to their customers. Dish Network followed up with their own announcement that took effect in early February of 2009, also raising prices on customers.

DirecTV is the latest major player to announce a rate increase. The DirecTV price increase will take effect in early March, and will raise the prices of most packages between $3 and $5 dollars each. DirecTV is citing higher programming costs as the reason for the price hike. Direct TV prices have been raised for the past three years.

All in all, the increase won’t break any budgets. When you look at it logically, they are basically raising the price of service about a dime a day, well worth it for most satellite TV subscribers who watch between one and four hours of television each day. Still, it seems as if consumers are getting nickel and dimed to death, even with the economy going into the tank.

On the other hand, compare DIRECTV vs Dish Network and that will give you a good feel on what satellite television can offer. One example is the price charged for DVR service every month. The Direct TV DVR is about per month, while Comcast charges upwards of for their DVR service. Charges like this really can increase your bill.

DirecTV had another great quarter to finish out 2008. They added over 300,000 customers in the last quarter of 2008, while Comcast lost 500,000. That in itself show that DirecTV feels comfortable raising rates, even though consumers are losing their jobs. Dish Network will certainly have a hard time keeping up with Direct TV in 2009, as they have lost a key reseller, with AT&T switching over and offering Direct TV service this year.