Comcast or DirecTV

I've been dreading the following decision: Since my promotional rate with Comcast has ended, and we really can't be paying $180 a month for cable and internet, I have to choose between ditching Comcast or scaling back our cable package.

DirecTV is currently offering an excellent deal: Five months of their premium package for 60 bucks a month...including NFL Sunday Ticket (so I can finally watch those totally sweet Tampa Bay and Oakland games...ugh). Of course, at the end of 5 months the rate skyrockets so I'd be back at square one.

Now, I love DirecTV, they have the best sports packages around, but there aren't enough 'drops' at my house for DirecTV and Comcast Hi-Speed internet to coexist. We are talking cats/dogs, Israel/Arab World, Beta/VHS levels of contentiousness. That means I'd either have to switch back to DSL with the increasingly facist Qwest or try Clearwire...but Clearwire reps have not been too hip on providing details on the level of service I'd receive at my address. A stable internet connection is sorely needed at my house, and Comcast has been rock steady over the last 12 months.

Outside some initial setup issues, Comcast has been nothing but stellar. I think we've had one or two outages...if that....in the last year. I know a cable/internet provider is doing their job when I don't even think twice about connectivity or service. Qwest was not even in the parking lot of the ball park when it came to connectivity issues, and again, they were horrific to work with on everything from billing to getting the right equipment out to us.

We have also grown quite fond of OnDemand and their HD programming, which is always expanding...but again, I can't justify close to 200 bones for cable/internet...I have kids that need stuff like clothes and food, and $200 is just too much to pay.

So, I am asking all four of my readers, 'What would you do?'...scale back on the service you have been happy with for a year, or switch providers to take advantage of a 5 month special offer that includes the ability to watch every Clevland Browns game when I really could not care less about the Browns...especially after they traded their best player, Braylon Edwards, to the J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets!!!