Yes, DirectTV has new dishes that greatly reduce downtime due to snow/rain. I used to lose signal quite a bit, got the new dish, and have been out of service only a couple of times since the beginning of the year. The biggest problem with snow is when it accumulates and ices over, than I gotta hang on the gutter to knock off the ice.
Also, DTV has a few pluses over TW. Yes, you do pay $10/month for HD on DTV, but you receive many more channels than TW. Thing is, you do pay for HD on TW, they just don't line item it. Overall, I pay $10/month less with DTV then a comparable package with TW, and have 2 additional boxes in the house.
Now when it comes to broadband internet, DTV does not have a viable option. I have broadband and telephone from TW, and pay $3 more a month than Verizon phone and dial-up internet access. I do still pay less for DTV and the TW internet/phone option than if I went full bore with TW for everything.