Instead of receiving a signal though cable wires, you receive a much more powerful signal from a satellite that's orbiting the earth. This signal is picked up at your home by a pizza-sized dish that's attached to your house. The dish feeds the signal to a small receiver on your TV that decodes it. Everyone would agree that satellite TV's digital signal gives you a picture and sound that's far superior to cable.
Digital cable compares well in both picture and sound quality.
Digital cable also is superior if you want to use it to connect to the Internet. But, satellite-TV offers almost twice as much programming. But satellite movie channels are offered in multiplex format. You can also get nearly every professional sporting event in the US as well as programming from select countries around the world. Unlike with cable-TV, you must buy the satellite system equipment.