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AZinOH
join:2007-04-25
Swanton, OH

AZinOH

Member

[Rant] TV...We Just Couldn't Be Satisfied (long)

Back in the day, we had three…maybe four tv channels and no one ever thought that they would ever have to pay for the programming. We received those channels free over-the-air (OTA) via an antenna that was either on the roof or on a tower next to the house. The picture wasn’t always perfect but it was usually good enough. All the programming was paid for by the advertisers who were happy to spend tons of money selling their products. It didn’t matter if you didn’t like what was on TV at any given moment. You could always turn it OFF and it wasn’t costing you anything beyond the cost of the tv/antenna and a little electricity. We either watched whatever was on…or we didn’t.

But we couldn’t be satisfied with that.

In the 70s CATV came to our home. The picture was usually better but not always. We had a few more channels plus a monthly bill for the service. Even better (/sarcasm) we could pay a premium for a movie channel. It wasn’t very long before we became aware that some of the neighbors had CATV that they weren’t paying for. It was easier to steal it back then.

Were we satisfied? No…not yet.

Fast forward >> >> >> to 2013. Those who can still afford CATV are probably paying between $80-$150 a month for anything more than the most basic tier of channels. We have to live with DVRs now (yet another monthly fee) because the industry hates that we were ever allowed to record something to our own media and save it (goodbye VCR…it was nice while it lasted). The multitude of mostly useless channels has diluted the pool of advertising dollars to the point that CATV users have to pay for local channels that OTA users don’t. On top of that, the blackouts due to retransmission disputes seem to be never-ending. Those who go back to free OTA are rediscovering that the “vast wasteland” is now a mix of news and useless reality or talk shows - Judge Judy-Doctor Phil & their ilk - silly crime/medical dramas which have little in common with the real world – and virtually everything broadcast on FOX. I don’t even want to mention the soap operas…but I’m doing so because they should not be excluded from this rant. There isn’t even an afternoon movie anymore, let alone a special movie-of-the-week event.

Sports has become the double-edged sword of CATV, mainly because of ESPN. Sports will eventually disappear completely from OTA, which is why few sports-viewers will cut the cord. But the non sports-viewer is screwed too by being forced to pay for something he/she does not care about. Pretty tidy little arrangement, that.

So…CATV has become just a license to print money…and we’re still not satisfied. So this can only go in one direction. That’s right, you guessed it…..

THE INTERNET THE INTERNET THE INTERNET

Here’s a great idea!!! (/sarcasm)

Let’s drop CATV and connect all our TVs to the Internet. We’ll be able to stream our shows whenever we want to, right? We can find pirate sites showing sports, right? We can torrent movies and music that we don’t want to pay for to our hearts content, right? We can spend the money we save on more energy drinks, right?

But some time later….in the very near future….

No, I never put a password into the router. Why should I bother?

Hmmm…the tv is having trouble connecting to the wireless…again.

Hey, the Internet bill went up again. Now it costs almost as much as the tv and Internet did before.

Hey, why is my download speed going to crap every day around 4:00 pm?

I HATE this f***ing cable internet but I have to keep it because the DSL / Satellite is even worse!!!

I just don’t understand this router log. It shows 13 things connected to our network but we only have 8.

If I give up my Starbucks & 5 Hour Energy shots, I’ll be able to afford the increase to 50MB speed.

Damn!!! I exceeded the cap…again.

And it goes on...and on...and on...
Zach
Premium Member
join:2006-11-26
Llano, CA

2 edits

Zach

Premium Member

N/M
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

The primary reason I will never live anywhere more "rural" than a suburb is the broadband is complete crap in the boonies.

thankfully even here in rural South Jersey I can get full DOCSIS3 services.
BoulderHill1
join:2004-07-15
Montgomery, IL

BoulderHill1 to AZinOH

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I think you described the average american pretty good there.

Just can't be satisfied for long.

I see this same thing all the time.

I for one never fell into this circle.

I have always been OTA exclusively.

Back in the analog days it was less than it is now, and I live smack in the middle of the chicago market.

In analog days CBS 2 just didn't exist for me, NBC 5 was hit or miss depending on weather cycles.

I have installed a very large outside antenna on top of a 40 foot tower in the mid 70's. Smae antenna is stil being used today.

Now with todays DTV broadcasts I get over 60 channels OTA.

CBS is now one of the best for signal strength.

Most of the 60 channels are BS but I just program the ones I like into the favorites on the TV.

Plenty for me to watch. Since I am not a sports guy I'm not missing anything there.

In more recent times I have added the ROKU and do some netflix, crackle, and other streaming options.

I still get discs from netflix for movie content with BLURAY option. So even the 18 some bucks I spend for the netflix subscription is well worth every penny. I can get up to 8 blurays amonth for that price. Can't even buy one for almost double that.

I am and always have been satisfied with my TV
Happydude32
Premium Member
join:2005-07-16

Happydude32

Premium Member

As someone who is not only extremely addicted to TV, but technology as a whole, I really don’t agree with much of what you posted. Most people can afford to subscribe to pay TV and the vast majority do. In the US there are approx. 100 million pay TV subscribers. DirecTV, Dish Network, Comcast and Time Warner alone have nearly 70 Million combined subscribers. According to Neilson Media Research there is something like 115 million TV households. 100 of 115 million is just shy of 87%. So while members of this site are often vocal, they are just that, the extreme vocal minority that are keen on the idea of so called ‘cord cutting’.

Over the air TV sucks. ‘I love how people say I paid for hundreds of channels I never watched with cable and now I get 50 channels over the air for free with an antenna.’ There’s two things that account for this. 1) People who can get channels from multiple markets 2) Digital subchannels. For multiple markets, does it really matter if you get a CBS affiliate from two different markets? All the key content will be the same. And digital subchannels, are just bandwidth wasters. Taking away bits from that ‘pristine’ main channel causing compression for content that has very little interest to anyone. I know there is a cult following on this site but generally people don’t care about the TV shows from 100 years ago that Antenna TV and Me TV show. Also if you take out Spanish, Shopping and Religious OTA channels, how many do you really have?

I personally can’t stand over the air TV and would rather have the spectrum be reused for cellular purposes. The Censorship Nazis at the FCC have too much control over content. Other than sports there is nothing of interest on the networks. I haven’t watched anything on ABC since the NYPD Blue days, in the past 6-7 years my NBC viewing has been limited to Invasion and Chuck. FOX has me for Animation Domination on Sunday nights and that new show The Following looks good. I watch and have traditionally watched quite a bit on CBS, but the only shows I really care about are Criminal Minds, Blue Bloods, Big Bang Theory and 2 Broke Girls. PBS is pure trash, CW is for 12 year old girls, ION shows the same four series over and over and after 5 or 6 years, I’m still trying to figure out what exactly the purpose of My Network TV actually is.

You really can’t compare the quality of network primetime programming to the series on cable and premium cable. American Horror Story on FX and Homeland on Showtime are perhaps the two best shows I have ever seen. Plus I live for sports. FOX has a lot of good stuff with NFL Football, Saturday Baseball and Saturday College Football, a few UFC fights a year and the first half of the NASCAR schedule. I hate NBCs sports coverage but if there’s a hockey game that I care about or if the Sunday Night Football game is compelling, I will tune it. CBS has me for the NFL and some of the SEC games. Other than that, I’ll watch the in-depth coverage on NFL Network, NHL Network, MLB Network and the various shows on ESPN and ESPN 2, CBS Sports Net, NBC Sports Net, Speed and Showtime.
NoHereNoMo
join:2012-12-06

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Of course, all of that "tons of money" spent on advertising was included in the price of all of the items being advertised, so whether you watched TV or not, everything you bought was paying for those TV programs and their commercials. TV--the ultimate form of socialist economy or what?
drslash (banned)
Goya Asma
join:2002-02-18
Marion, IA

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Sports and sports channels are almost solely responsible for skyrocketing cable and dish rates. All sports programming and sports channels should be in a tier of their own and who ever wants to watch it can pay for it.
BoulderHill1
join:2004-07-15
Montgomery, IL

BoulderHill1 to Happydude32

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to Happydude32
Wow. I guess it takes all types.

What I posted it really not for you to agree or disagree with.

It is my experience and personal preferences.

Are you trying to say that you don't agree that I have always been satisfied with the content and methods I use to obtain free TV and that I like programming on METV?

Seems kind of silly.

All I know is that when I sit and gather with friends and family I always end up listening to a conversation from them about how much they spend on TV services. They gripe and complain about $100 a month costs and then also tell me that there is nothing worth watching.

I'm just glad it is not my money.
NoHereNoMo
join:2012-12-06

NoHereNoMo

Member

said by BoulderHill1:

What I posted it really not for you to agree or disagree with.

I don't think you quite grasp this whole "public forum" thing.

(Steve Mehs, on the other hand, should change his posting tag to "Devil's Advocate" [I think he loves to argue debate just about anything. ]
NoHereNoMo

NoHereNoMo to BoulderHill1

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to BoulderHill1
said by BoulderHill1:

I think you described the average american human being pretty good there.

There... better.
Expand your moderator at work
NoHereNoMo

NoHereNoMo

Member

Re: [Rant] TV...We Just Couldn't Be Satisfied (long)

I think that must be like betting someone that your girlfriend is cheating on you... win the bet or lose the bet--either way, you lose.
BoulderHill1
join:2004-07-15
Montgomery, IL

BoulderHill1 to Anon

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Really now.

I think pay TV sucks A$$.

Why would I pay for content that sucks that I would never watch?

See, I can post idiotic statements too.

bassjunky
join:2005-05-12
Aubrey, TX

bassjunky to Anon

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to Anon
Nearly $450 per month for stupid TV? Good gawd.
Happydude32
Premium Member
join:2005-07-16

Happydude32

Premium Member

Well the Time Warner portion includes 50/5 Broadband and Digital Phone, so no, it isn’t just for TV. But those figures don’t include the season sports packages though. Usually I subscribe to MLB Extra Innings and NHL Center Ice every year, I do ESPN GamePlan once every few years and this year for the first time ever I subscribed to NFL Sunday Ticket. And if they weren’t on the west coast, I’d subscribe to NBA League Pass for the LA Clippers. But it’s kinda tough to watch an entire basketball game, when they start at 10 or 10:30 my time and then have to get up at 3:30 in the morning for work. And, if Time Warner didn’t come to an agreement with NFL Network this year, I was seriously considering do the trifecta and unthinkable (since I hate Dish and Charlie Ergan) and subscribing to Dish Network again, since DirecTV doesn’t carry the real Red Zone channel.

I suppose though it would be more widely accepted if I took that $450, went bar hopping every Friday and Saturday night, drank myself into near coma then when down to the local strip joint to buy me and the ‘bros’ a couple of lap dances only to piss it all out and feel like shit a few hours later. I know a guy whose wife and him spend $250/month voluntarily killing themselves by smoking cancer sticks. I addicted to electronic gadgets and toys. I buy new smartphones every few months, I enjoy watching sports and movies and good suspenseful TV and after 12-14 hour work days I really have no motivation to do much of anything else.

Want some other high cost things? I pay $200/month for my Verizon Wireless service. I have a tablet and an air card on Sprint, that’s another $90/month, and I have a few subscriptions to XM and Sirius.

J E F F4
Whatta Ya Think About Dat?
Premium Member
join:2004-04-01
Kitchener, ON

J E F F4 to AZinOH

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to AZinOH
I got my VIP cable for $18/month.....