DirecTV is now so popular in town and we can see many ads in newspapers, websites and many other sources stating "Free Satellite TV", "Get a 4-room Satellite TV System Free!", "Satellite TV Dish and Receivers Absolutely Free!" Some of them also promise incentives such as DVD players, home theater system, digital camera, and free movie channels.

But is satellite TV really free? The answer to that question is yes ... and no.

Yes, the 'free' offers above are for real and there are millions in United States enjoying these kind of free deals. HOWEVER there are terms and conditions to be complied in order to get these free deals and free gifts. To get these free deals, you must be the first time customer for DirecTV. Plus, you must be willing to sign off a contract saying that you will be taking up their services for more than 12 (some stats 18) months. Cancellation fees are charged if you failed to do so.

So How it is affordable to provide free satellite TV? Simple, the offer actually says it all. They need you to commit to a year or more of contract so that they can earn back their money through subscription fees. The competition in the satellite market is very high. So in order to attract more customers, they are now sacrificing their upfront cost. Yes, the satellite systems are for free, the incentive gifts are for real - but they will earn back all these cost slowly thru your every month subscription fees.

One of the reasons why DirecTV is so successful is because it offers a wide range of programming selections to the users. DirecTV users can get up to 225 standard channels in normal programming packages. On top of that, users still can enjoy wider range of non-English programming choice such like Spanish and Chinese programming. The DirecTV Para Todos service features more than 45 Spanish-language channels, including sports, movies, news, music and educational networks; while Phoenix TV is offer where you can get 24-hour Mandarin programming.

DirecTV is NOT a bad deal to go for. We are just trying to explain that free DirecTV is not as 'free' as it looks like from outside as there is some hidden cost associated with it but we are not against them. In fact, DirecTV services are quite good and most other paid TV services (cables) cannot compare. Their customer support is well thought-of, the TV picture quality is good (100% digital) and they provide wide programming choices with low monthly subscription cost.