Over the last ten years or so, about 30 million people have abandoned cable television services and made the switch to the over-the-air cable satellite TV service providers. There are obviously some very good reasons why so many people have made this change, much to the chagrin of the executives at the cable service companies who have watched this exodus.

In addition to those who switched from cable to satellite, there are millions more who were never able to have cable access to programming because they lived in rural areas. But, with the addition of a satellite dish antenna and a dish receiver, those in rural areas now can also enjoy the same entertainment programming as people who live in metropolitan areas.

One of the biggest reasons why people are walking away from their cable providers and embracing the cable satellite TV providers comes down to money. No matter what part of the country you live in you will find that it costs less to get your entertainment needs met if you use a satellite dish antenna, versus the old fashioned and out of date cable providers that still need to have their network hard-wired.

In order to have cable TV satellite service in your home, you need to have a complete satellite TV system. The first component is the satellite dish antenna that is positioned outside of the premises. You will often see the mini dish antenna units on rooftops, the sides of buildings, on fences or mounted to a pole, in order to provide the proper positioning. The satellite dish antenna must have a clean and unobstructed view of a certain area of the southern sky and they must be precisely positioned by trained technicians.

The second component to a cable satellite TV system is the receiver with takes the signal from the dish antenna and sends it to the television. The receivers have programming that affects the programming guides, providing detailed information about each show you wish to watch.

One of the most interesting innovations that was recently introduced and has quickly become very popular in the DVR, or digital video recorder, that is integrated into some models of cable TV satellite receivers. These DVR receivers allow you to pause live broadcasts and also to record your favorite programs without the need to fuss with video tapes. Some of these devices are dual receivers, which allow you to watch one show while recording a second, or record two shows at the same time.

Cable satellite TV services continue to be popular not only because they provide better value at a lower cost, but also because of the innovative features that they offer, such as DVR services and dish on demand programming. While traditional cable providers now match many of the features of the TV satellite dish services, it seems that these companies tend to be first to bring new innovations and then the cable companies follow a bit later.