El Segundo (CA) - Following heated comments made by DirecTV's CEO, the satcaster is now suing Comcast for what it says is misrepresentation in an ad where Comcast claims it has superior picture quality.

It's become the new multi-faceted legal story, as the battle between satellite and cable rages through the HDTV transition period.  Time Warner recently launched a couple of attacks against DirecTV for its satellite vs. cable ads, and now DirecTV is on the offensive.

Comcast's most recent ad references a March 2007 survey from Frank N. Magid Associates, and says the results showed Comcast was preferred over DirecTV with regard to picture quality.

TV Predictions quotes Multichannel News as saying DirecTV's lawsuit alleges "the Magid survey upon which Comcast relies does not provide or sufficiently substantiate the propositions for which Comcast cites the survey. Comcast’s advertising and promotional claims, including the aforementioned, are literally false."

In the Time Warner battle, DirecTV was ordered to cease airing commercials that claimed the satellite picture quality was better than cable.  The judge said there was no evidence to prove that either one was technically superior to the other.

DirecTV first slammed the ad during an analyst conference call.  It is seeking monetary damages and an order for Comcast to make retracting statements.

way to go

May 18, 2007 16:38     

If you don't like something talk smack, Then sue. Why don't both of you guys just produce a better PRODUCT! Or provide all HD programming! That might be too much of a concept though.
Jill report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Get cheaper

May 18, 2007 17:53     

I don't really care for either one its just the price of comcast that is being ridiculous doing the monopoly thing like Microsoft used to setting a price at whatever they feel like. comcast BOOOO hope yall lose money
KJ report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

DirectTV sucks!!!

May 18, 2007 20:45     

I would prefer Dish Network any day over DirectTV I had a really bad encounter with DirectTV but that was a long time ago I really don't know how it is now but Dish Netwrok is becoming a popular choice. As far as time warner I don't know what the fuss is about but it seems pretty cheap instead of expensive i got their internet at 6MB-10MB speed for 34.99.
Rick report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

I like comcast.....

May 18, 2007 21:26     

I work for Comcast, so I get all the channels for free:) All I pay for is $10.50 for 2 HD DVR boxes.
pumper report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Actually Dish Network is better!

May 19, 2007 01:11     

I've been a Dish Network subscriber for several years and been happy with them. I also have a 37" HDTV LG tv that is capable of pulling free OTA HDTV content and let me tell you it's simply nice!! Wish everything works this well. Darkk
Darkk report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Closed Captions MESSY

May 19, 2007 08:55     

Closed Captions on comcast HD channels are terrible. I have to watch the local non-HD channels to get all the captions. Many times the wordings are missing on HD channels which is a shame for a better quality channels.
John report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

DirectTV is crazy

May 19, 2007 09:18     

First, cable has more bandwidth than sat. and all of Comcasts HDTV is sent with a much higher bitrate. Go to avsforum and check for yourself. DirectTV misleads people in their ads because all of thier channels are digitial, but they use that fact to word the commercials as if their HDTV picture quality was better. Infact their was a recent class action suit agaisnt DirectTV for not prodcasting HDTV at HDTV resolutions - never mind the low bitrates.

umeng2002 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

sat win vs cable in picture and sound

May 19, 2007 16:50     

I've had sat for 5 years now last year I tried comcast on the intro special and had both side by side for two months as it was free for those months i really hated the sound most channels lack true toslink surround and some of the cable channels were at least the same in picture quality but all the sat channels were perfect with true digital surround sound as for direct tv vs dish network they both use the same tech and signals from the parent networks and are for the most part exactly the same I recently switched my parents over to direct tv and saved them $70 a month including tv phone and internet vs what they were paying comcast for all those features forget all the grumbling about anything else thats $840 a year

tazman report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Can you say "HD Lite" (down-res'd HD on DirecTV)

May 19, 2007 20:26     

Can you say "HD Lite" (down-res'd HD on DirecTV)
Britton report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Problem is Cable or DSL is the only real solution.

May 19, 2007 23:54     

For Gamers SL internet latency is just to great. Its a hurdle they will never be able to surpass. No mater what new technology they adopt. Its just plain signal speed/ Distance problem. I am running Dish Network with a RADSL connection at 12 Megs 512 up. I work for a provider so I get RADSL real cheap.
Carter report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

DirectTV Charges for HDTV

May 20, 2007 08:17     

DirecTV also enjoys charging their customers as many fees as possible. After upgrading my hardware to HD, and "Leasing" a HD-DVR from DirecTV (cost $300, and they still "own" it). You have to pay $10 extra for HDTV / Month. Ok, so i sit down to watch an NFL Sunday ticket game, and the HDTV channels aren't working. Come to find out, on top of the $225 for the NFL Sunday ticket, and $10 for HDTV, and $300 for the reciever, they force customers to pay $99 EXTRA for "Super Fan" -- this gives you the HDTV NFL Channels. Super Rip Off. Whats really bad is, the Local Channels broadcast in HD for free. So, DirecTV "Downgrades" their $225 subscription customers to non-HD, then charges for them $99 more for something free. HDTV over DirecTV exceeds reasonable costs.

Sasparilla Mayonase report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

6 of one half a dozen of the other

May 21, 2007 06:47     

Question: What happens to Sat Tv when it rains heavily out? What happens to Cable TV when it rains heavily out? If you are in a region with heavy rain then cable is the answer. Cable is also not available in all areas so Sat Tv may be your only answer. Both should technically offer great picture and sound, but Sat is a bit more sensative. Also a side note: guess what medium cable providers get all thier programming from? Satellites! yay! I say IPTV 4 t3h winz!!!!

Smylee report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

another win for free television

May 22, 2007 23:28     

another blow to pay television, i'm not going to pay for television until it's commercial free
BJ report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

100% digital, No analog. dtv is better.

May 30, 2007 21:41     

Dtv has 100% digital picture and sound, all cable company's picture depends on where you live, the quality of the cable going to your your house from the ground or telephone poles. D.t.v uses solid copper conductor cable, all connections are higher quality the cable on that part. For a better signal strength. Cable companys are a joke, I grew up and got directv
alex blaze report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Dopey

May 30, 2007 23:04     

Get a clue. There is analog cable and digital cable. If you actually buy digital cable, find out what resolution they distribute HD channels in your area. Chances are cable is a better resolution for HD than Direct TV. DTV is 480p or 480i. Cable generally is 720p. Cable wipes Direct TV's ass on picture quality.
cris cruz report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

DIRECT TV IS LOVED IN MY HOME

Jun 20, 2007 01:17     

I DON'T KNOW WHY PEOPLE ARE LYING ON DIRECT TV SAYING THAT THEY CHARGE FOR HGTV BUT THATS NOT TRUE I'VE HAD CABLE AND I HATED IT. WITH DIRECT TV U GET MORE CHANNELS FOR YOUR MONEY WITH CABLE THEY WANNA CHARGE U EXTRA FOR CHANNELS THAT DIRECT TV ALREADY HAS IN MOST PACKAGES AND THEY ARE SO NICE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS GREAT I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE I LOVE DIRECT TV CAUSE I DO AND IF YOU HAVE A HD TV YOU WILL TO IN A MINUTE.

MRS. FRAZ report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Comcast Misleads customer

Dec 06, 2007 20:07     

Comcast has mislead me many times in order to keep me as a customer,from saying I would get mre in a comcast package then I did(channel line up) asked me to give them a chance to match dich networks price(they deny that)to problems with on demand they said it was my cable box,or the comcast tech. didnt have it hooked up right, Ive been through 5 cable boxs and still have the same problems with on demand, 7 different techs. say the problems are different things(bad recievers,coax cable,loose cable, and they always told me it was an isolated problem. WEll come to find out this isnt isolated, the thumb area of Michigan has outdated and in some cases damaged fiberoptics.I then did a search the problems with on demand are nation wide. Every rep ya talk to ya get a different story. People just put up with them for the internet service. Im ready to go back to dial up and get a antena

Brian Keegan report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Directv Monopoly and wrong time zone

Dec 09, 2007 14:07     

Directv In the past few years Directv is becoming a monopoly in sports broadcasting in competition with other TV broadcasting companies and the service to the public is suffering because of the Directv monopoly. What I’m talking about is NFL Sunday Ticket and MLB Extra Innings this is a pure description of monopoly. Directv is the only broadcaster and there is no competition to improve the public service and price. If you have heard a time that a program in going to show on Directv on any channel but local stations and if you are anywhere but the east coast the time is wrong because Directv only uses the eastern satellite. I didn’t realize this until I called a friend about a program I was watching for him to turn it on but he had cable and it was 3 hr. to soon. I contacted Directv about this and they said it was to keep my price down but my price is not low?

Larry report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0