Can someone tell me which is the best among HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz/Encore?
It depends on the kind of stuff you want to see. Myself, if I had to choose one premium service would choose HBO even though it cost $1.00 more per month, Showtime or Starz/Encore. Cinemax just doesn’t have what I’m looking for. In the most recent thread on the subject here, most agreed on HBO (except for a few who didn’t care for The Sopranos), and Showtime (for Stargate SG-1 and The Outer Limits). Starz has exclusive rights to the output of some studios, so you’ll see some movies only there. If you want max channels for the money, Showtime is the winner with 10 channels, Starz come in next with 8, HBO with 7. You’ll need Dish 500 to get some of the channels in all three of them. You didn’t say what your base programming will be, but once again, if you have Dish 500, the AT150 plan includes several movie channels from Showtime and Encore which can only be received as part of AT150. The extra $10 / month might be better spent on AT150 if the other channels in AT150 interest you.
