Here’s the conventional wisdom: teens don’t watch traditional TV. Fewer and fewer incoming freshmen count a television as one of their must-haves, instead preferring to stream. Making things even more complex, most don’t pay for their own streaming services. There’s some questionable legality there since many still count their parents’ house as their home address, but arguably don’t live there during the year.
All of this would lead you to think that colleges wouldn’t be interested in satellite TV. That’s where you’d be wrong.
The truth about college campuses
There are plenty of times when college campuses choose satellite TV. It’s still great for public areas. It’s a benefit for classrooms and offices, too. While it’s true that more campuses are opting not to have satellite TV in every dorm room, that’s really the only place you won’t find satellite TV on campuses.
Satellite TV beats traditional cable because the installation is so much simpler. Unlike cable TV, which requires a drop into every building, satellite TV can simply have a dish on every building, eliminating costly wiring between buildings. It’s an easier, faster install, and that means less interference with the goings on at school. In some cases, you can even use wireless repeaters or fiber optics to go from building to building if need be.
“Yeah, but someone told me satellite TV can’t use my existing wiring.”
Many colleges still have wiring in the wall from older antenna or cable installs. You might have been told that you can’t use it. While that’s true for home installs, it isn’t always true with commercial or institutional installations. When you’re working in that kind of environment, you’ll typically put all the satellite receivers in one room. That’s called a “headend.” When you do that, all the lines in the building run from that room. It also means that you can use that older wiring, as long as it’s in generally good shape. If it’s not, then it’s possible to only replace the wires that have broken rather than wiring the whole thing.
Satellite TV is a lot more economical than you’d think.
Often with large institutional installations, you end up paying a lot less. You pay for each channel you actually want to have, rather than paying a flat rate. While this can mean you have fewer channels overall, you can be smart and pick what you need. Then, it doesn’t matter how many TVs are connected. It’s still one low price. That makes it easier to be flexible and budget for what you need.
In a system like that, you can still have a few televisions that get all the channels. If the dean, for example, wants the full DIRECTV experience at their residence, that’s not a problem. It’s all about finding out what your campus needs and delivering it.
Only thing: don’t call DIRECTV corporate.
A lot of procurement managers make a big mistake when talking about satellite TV. Naturally, they call the same number they’d use for a home install. Let me tell you why that’s a bad idea.
When you call DIRECTV’s main number, you go to an overseas call centers. These call centers do not handle institutional customers. But, many of the operators don’t realize that they should just send you to someone who can help. They’ll hold you up with a lot of promises and needless questions, and eventually give you no help at all.
On the other hand, when you start with a DIRECTV business and institutional dealer, you’re getting to the right place right away. Dealers like Signal Connect can help you plan the installation you need. We’ll help you save money and plan ahead. We have two decades of experience helping institutional customers like yours. We’ve planned some of the largest satellite TV installations that have ever been done. And, we’re ready to plan yours.
Give the experts a call today! We’re here for you at 888-233-7563. Our techs are on the line during East Coast business hours. If it’s after hours, fill out the form below and we’ll get right back to you!
