Satellite television is one of the most popular upgrades for boats. It’s easy to see why. Cell service can take you about 10 miles off shore, and after that you’re looking at choosing satellite internet. Not everyone thinks of that as a great value, since marine internet packages are a lot more expensive than the ones you get on land. With satellite TV you get hundreds of channels of live TV up to 100 miles off shore. Once you install the satellite antenna, the cost of the service is about what you would pay on land. To me that sounds like a great value.
But, not everyone wants satellite TV on their boat. You may not want it for when you set sail, but you might not want to miss your favorite programs while you’re in the marina. That’s when you might want to approach someone else in the marina and ask to share their satellite TV service.
How would you even do this?
If you’re right next to someone with a satellite TV system, you could, in theory, take the satellite receiver from their boat to yours. You could run a long coaxial cable from one boat to the other. At that point you’d have satellite TV. You could even invest in your own satellite TV receiver, activate it on their account, (assuming you’d pay them the small per-month extra receiver fee) and have a semi-permanent satellite connection.
You’d also get in trouble. Maybe not the first time, but eventually. It’s not technically against the law, but it’s against the rules that every customer agrees to when they start their service. These rules exist so that one person can’t provide service to every boat in the marina. If they did that, it wouldn’t just deprive the satellite company of money. It would mean that the satellite company would be in violation of their contracts with the individual content providers. Satellite TV companies pay each content provider like Disney or Warner Bros. Discovery for each subscriber with their services. That means they need an accurate count of subscribers. If one person shares satellite program with 50 other people, that count is off. If that happens enough time, there’s a really big problem.
How would they find out?
They’d find out because they have people everywhere. I don’t mean to make you paranoid, but both DIRECTV and DISH employ “fraud squads” that have nothing else to do but find people who are sharing satellite TV with neighbors. They might not find out immediately, but they’d find out. If the satellite receiver was internet-connected, they’d find out very quickly. If one person tried to have 25 receivers on their account, they’d get suspicious. Trust me, these folks are very good at what they do.
When they find out, and they will find out, there are options. They can just cut you off. They can sue you for lost revenue. They can impose fees. It isn’t pretty. It’s better not to share receivers at all.
Is there a better choice?
Of course there is. If you’re a marina owner, you can offer live TV to the boats you serve. You can also offer Wi-Fi and other services, and each of these can be a profit center for you. You just need to know how it’s done properly. Luckily, you have a friend in the business.
The folks at Signal Connect can help. We’re experts at marine satellite TV and we’re DIRECTV for Business AND DISH Premier dealers. No matter what kind of service you want to offer, we can make it happen the right way.
It all starts with a call to the experts. We have marine specialists in our Novi, Michigan offices ready to help. We’re here during East Coast business hours. When you’re ready to talk, call us at 888-233-7563. If it’s after hours or if you’d prefer to communicate over e-mail, no problem! Fill out the form below. We’ll get back to you quickly!
