What's on TV? Doug Walker & Son helps you get the picture
The world has witnessed stunning advances in communications technology over the last three decades. Doug Walker has seen it first hand. Doug, with his son Joey, operates Doug Walker & Son Antenna Sales & Service in Reedville.
“I started the business in 1970, and at the time, the only way to receive TV was with an antenna. There was no cable and no satellite,” Doug said.
Joey joined the business at an early age, helping his dad with installation jobs all over the Northern Neck during the summer and after school. As the years passed, technology advanced and the Walker's business grew.
In 1982 C-Band satellite came on the scene. C-band utilized large, bulky dishes and offered very few programming choices.
“There was CNN, MTV, one channel of HBO and not much else,” Joey said. “Besides, it was not very user friendly. You would just tune around and hope you found the program you were looking for.”
Today, things are very different. Walker & Son is a Dish Network dealer, providing state of the art digital television reception through small dishes, capable of receiving hundreds of channels of programming. But they also install antenna systems to pull in the local stations in the surrounding markets. Another thing that hasn't changed is their approach to customer service.
“If someone has a problem, they can call us at any time and we can talk them through it. Sometimes it's just a matter of the customer not understanding a function of how the system operates,” Doug said.
“What sets us apart is when the customer calls, they are going to talk to the person who installed their system. We will be familiar with their setup and will be better able to quickly deal with their problem,” Joey added.
The Walkers say there are several advantages of satellite TV over cable, but one important factor is reliability. With cable, whenever there is a power failure at the cable headquarters, your reception goes out.
“With satellite TV, as long as you have power you have a picture,” Joey said.
What are the factors you should consider when choosing a method of receiving TV? The Walkers say it all depends on who you are and what you want from your TV.
“Some people are news junkies, some people are into sports. Their needs are going to be different from a family with three kids,” Joey said.
Walker & Son do more than just install dishes and antennas. They can help you wire your home for the communications future. This, they say, is especially important in new construction.
“If your builder just puts in wiring for cable, that's not going to be much help if you decide to go with satellite. We can pre-wire it the right way, so that you preserve all your options and are covered for the future.
As communication continues to evolve, so does Walker & Son. They have recently become authorized dealers for XM satellite radio. Many people know that with satellite radio, you can drive across the country and listen to the same station the whole way. But Joey says it's even more versatile than that.
“The radio module is detachable. You can take it into your home, attach it to your home stereo system, and have satellite radio at home. The same module snaps into your car, and also attaches to a boom box so you can take it to the beach and other remote locations.”
Regardless of how much communications evolves in the future, you can be sure that Walker & Son will be in the forefront of developing it for consumers in the Northern Neck, and providing the same friendly, reliable customer service they've offered since the days of rooftop antennas.
