A question about satellite tv receivers and pricing and having multiple receivers?

dish network and directTV give you four receivers, and if you have more tv's than that, you have to pay more. my question is, are they charging you more because they actually need to, or because you need to rent the receiver? i heard that you rent the receiver, but if you buy your own, you won't have to pay that extra fee, is this true? also, are the receivers cheap if you buy them. i know i didn't explain my question that well, but i really don't understand it that much myself. thanks for any answers though.

what a inane question, why don't you ask them why they charge for what. The extra receiver fee is more of a service duplication fee than a rental fee for additional receivers. Otherwise, you would have to buy separate packages for each receiver and pay full freight for each. Instead, in their infinite benevolence, DirecTV allows you to duplicate your service across multiple receivers on the same account in the same location for $5 per receiver/month.

Receivers aren't cheap to buy, one of the main complaints from those who'd rather lease than buy and choose not to go with DirecTV. You could find some for less, but there could be a catch, like a multiyear agreement. ok, here goes. i've had direct in the past and don't care to use them again, just my opinion.

if you're not so sure using direct or dish, you may want to check into getting a fta (free to air) reciever. you will need to purchase the reciever, dish and hook ups. but the channels that you get are free to view as long as it isn't motified to get illegal channels. i'm just now starting to research the fta, so i really don't have much info on it. i am currently looking on ebay for a good price.