To watch satellite TV on PC is the latest craze that has hit home. America and the rest of the world have long been initiated to watch satellite TV as early as 1995. Research survey reveals that there are more than 50 million subscribers to satellite TV worldwide in 2003 and this figure is projected to hit more than 100 million homes within these few years. So people are not new to the idea of watching satellite TV. To watch satellite TV on PC is a real new experience for most and people are thrilled at the ease of doing so. Let's explore the different options you have to watch satellite TV.

Old users of satellite TV would be familiar with popular satellite TV providers like DirecTV, Dish Network, Sky Perfect TV and British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB). Satellite TV providers work on a monthly subscription model. It generally would cost you anything between $30 to less than $100 per month. In order to watch satellite TV, special equipment needs to be installed at your home such as the satellite dish, receiver, low-noise block converter (LNB), mount and other peripherals. Depending on the subscription plans offered, there are times when the satellite TV providers would throw in some freebies such as free equipment and installation, or bundled deals to entice you to sign up with their services. You would then have access to watch a few hundred worldwide channels.

There is another dubious alternative, ie using devices such as emulators, bootloaders or unloopers, smart cards and bootleg DirecTV cards to intercept and steal satellite TV signals from DirecTV and other satellite TV providers. While pirates are able to escape detection for a short while, but more often than not, the digital satellite systems developer are able to stop the interception with electronic counter measures. Once the satellite TV devices are jammed, especially for the smart cards, they become completely useless. Pirates would then hack and reprogram the cards. Smart cards are not exactly cheap to use especially when there is a periodic need to reprogram them. Reprogramming is not free.

This is a race where consumers who want to watch satellite TV are the real victims. The cost of setting up equipment like the dish, receiver, LNB and other peripherals to use in conjunction with these cards is yet another cost consumers have to bear. At least satellite TV providers do provide them free during some promotional offers.

There have been new entrants into the satellite TV market in the form of internet satellite TV software providers. Recognizing a growing market for satellite TV, software developers have ingeniously come up with proprietary software so that one can now watch satellite TV on PC. There is no equipment installation needed in order to watch satellite TV on PC. All one needs is a minimum 56K internet connection and once you have installed the satellite TV software you are ready to plug into programs from more than a few thousand worldwide stations. But a hint for you is to use broadband connection for improved transmission and viewing quality.

More people are turning to using internet satellite TV software to watch satellite TV on PC because of its ease of use and low cost. Rather than to pay a monthly subscription, people prefer to pay a one-time fee of lesser than $50 to purchase the proprietary software. Folks also like the idea of being able to access additional TV channels as more are added with time, without having to pay more like what they are used to at some satellite TV providers. If you find a channel or movie you like to watch, you do not have to top up or pay for the movie using the software. With all these perks, who else doesn't want to watch satellite TV on PC? Learn more about this proprietary software and how you can watch satellite TV on PC within a few minutes from now.

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