Looking to choose a new TV provider? Whether you’re fed up with your current service or moving soon, there’s a lot of things to consider when choosing a new TV provider. From finding TV providers that will service your address, to looking up new customer promotions and picking channels; choosing a new TV provider isn’t as simple as it used to be. Luckily, we’ve done the research and gone over all the things you should consider while shopping for a new TV provider here.
Search for What TV Providers Service Your Address
Make your shopping easier by narrowing down your options first. Search for what TV providers will come out to your address and provide you service. Most TV providers do not have national coverage and many only service certain neighborhoods or cities due to infrastructure. Unfortunately, the further away you live from an urban area, the less options you’ll have.
Traditional TV or Streaming
If you have quality high speed internet available at home, traditional paid TV isn’t the only option for service anymore. If you and your family are more casual TV viewers or on a strict budget; TV streaming may be a better option for you.
You can stream TV for as little as $8 with some services and stream live channels as little as $25 with other streaming services. If streaming seems too complicated or you don’t have fast enough internet to support it, traditional TV will be the better option.
Write Down The Channels Your Family Wants
Before you pick up the phone and call any of the TV providers that will service your address; first write down all the channels you and your family would like to have. By completing this step first, it will help you determine which TV packages have the programming you need. Do you want a TV package that includes ESPN, Spanish TV but you also need the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon for the kids?
Writing everything down and prioritizing the most important channels will help you find the TV packages that would work at the most affordable prices.
Make An Entertainment Budget
No one wants to get stuck with a monthly bill that puts their family over budget every month. The average cost of paid TV per household costs $80 to $100. Will a monthly bill that looks like this be too high for your family? If so, this is where prioritizing your channels comes in handy. If not and you have the money in your entertainment budget to spend, why not splurge for that better DVR or 4K UHD programming?
Ask What New Customer Promotions are Available
All TV providers have promotions and deals available to new customers that switch to their service. Every TV provider is different, but you can expect to find deals like special promotional pricing for a certain amount of time, free installation, extra channels for a limited amount of time, free gift cards, upgraded equipment at no extra cost and more incentives to switch to their service.
So before you start crossing off TV providers and their plans that seem too costly for your budget, ask what they can offer you first! You might be pleasantly surprised by what the customer service representative on the other end of the phone has to offer you. However, while asking about all their special promotions and deals, ask how long they will last too.
Many are for only a limited time and not the entire length of service you have with them. Promotional pricing and free extra channels may only last for three, six or twelve months before you get charged full price.
Look Up Customer Reviews
Now that you’ve shopped around and have a list of potential TV providers, the next step is to look up their customer reviews. Not all reviews will be spectacular, in fact expect their reviews to be riddled with unhappy customers. This is common with TV and internet providers. What you want to look for is how each provider handled customer complaints. Is the provider responding in a polite way?
Was the customer’s issue ever resolved? If you read enough reviews, you’ll find out information that you wouldn’t know otherwise like hidden fees, surprise rate increases and channel disputes.
Final Thoughts
When choosing a TV provider, whether you decide on a standard cable package or one or more streaming services is mostly determined by you and your family viewing preferences, budget, and your location. No matter which TV provider you choose, you will not be with them forever. If you find something better, you can still change your TV provider or plan after some time.
We hope that this article guides you in choosing the right TV provider for you and for your family. If you have any questions, tips, or guides to add more to this article, please leave them in the comments area below.
Also read: Top 7 Video Streaming Apps
