You want TV for business? Satellite’s still the best choice.

Does it seem like the whole world’s gone gaga over streaming? I get it. It’s easy and convenient and it brings a lot of entertainment options into the home. But what about your business? Whether you have a business that runs on TV (like a bar or restaurant) or just a TV to keep people happy in a waiting room, should you be thinking about streaming? Does it make sense to stay with satellite TV?

Satellite TV is really the only choice

Let’s talk a bit about streaming. Streaming works in your home. You probably don’t have too much trouble doing three screens at once with your home internet. However, as you know, business internet tends to be more expensive for lower speed. You might be paying $200 a month for 25 megabit service at work, even if you’re bundling 100 megabit service for $30 a month at home.

Workplace internet costs more partially because most workplaces are pretty big. It takes more fiber to serve 50 businesses in a strip mall than it does to serve 50 apartments. That costs money. Business internet does tend to be more robust, though. If you’re paying for 25 megabit you’re probably getting that speed 24/7.

So, any business with multiple TVs certainly shouldn’t use streaming. You’ll clog up the internet service you have quickly and there won’t be any capacity left for your people who need to check emails and use the internet.

It’s also probably going to get you a lawsuit

You can’t use Netflix, Hulu, or even a live TV streaming service like DIRECTV NOW or Sling at work, because the copyright laws won’t let you. When you use a service like Netflix, you’re granted a limited license to show that programming at home. You promise that you won’t profit from it, and that you won’t show it in public. If you break those rules, Netflix would have to pay royalties to the people who made the programs. They’re not prepared to do that. Those royalties would cost you an arm and a leg, too.

I’m not saying that a SWAT team is going to bust down your door if you bring your streaming box in from home once. However, make a habit of it and sooner or later someone will find out. I’ve seen it over and over again, and it’s just not worth it.

Satellite TV is what business TV is all about

Satellite TV is designed to do what businesses need. It’s a “broadcast” service, meaning that it doesn’t matter how many TVs you have it still works the same. (Streaming is a “multicast” service meaning each stream takes up its own bandwidth.) Satellite TV is more reliable than internet and it delivers live TV more easily. Not only that, satellite TV packages for business are designed to be as close to home packages as possible. Some sports packages like NFL Sunday Ticket do make you pay royalties based on the size of the bar but most satellite packages are priced almost identically to their equivalent home packages. It’s a great value.

Satellite TV is the backbone of hotel TV. Yes, still.

I don’t know if you’ve been in a hotel lately but the big draw with TVs now is that you can put in your streaming passwords into the TV and watch your own content. This is something you’re seeing more and more. However, it’s an add-on to traditional TV, not a replacement. Hotel owners tell us over and over again that they need live TV in the room. People want news, sports and weather. They want premium entertainment. They even want local channels.

DIRECTV has been part of the hotel TV landscape for decades and their most modern systems are ready to distribute HD and 4K plus work with those streaming devices. Hotel owners really can have their cake and eat it too.

Don’t go halfway, get the real story

If you’re ready to get TV in your business, don’t bother trying to pirate it from home or trying to use streaming. You want to start out by working with the experts. A call to AT&T isn’t going to help… they want to sell satellite TV to homes. You want to call a commercial satellite dealer like Signal Connect, the commercial arm of Solid Signal. All you have to do is call 888-233-7563 or fill out the form below and you’ll be on your way to a great TV solution that’s going to be reliable, legal, and totally satisfying.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.