Cable TV

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
<rant>

Why do I pay for cable tv? It is mostly commercials, I man damn they should be paying me!

</rant>



They make so much f'n money and I have to watch ads, what is that?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    Go outside and make some friends.



  • Reply 2 of 28
    Get rid of cable. I don't have it. Well I do, a cable modem, but just regular network TV service. The only TV I watch is the Simpsons. Other than that I watch movies and stuff on DVD. I don't like TV. My life is better without cable.
  • Reply 3 of 28
    cakecake Posts: 1,010member
    DirecTV 0wnz. (Especially with a hacked TiVo)
  • Reply 4 of 28
    I only watch the news in the morning so my house is cable free. My life has been much better off with out cable.



    Anyway... I enjoy the few TV ads I see, as long as they are not on too often.



    Some of the best commercials I have ever seen get ruined by too much air time.
  • Reply 5 of 28
    TV is for losers.... but then again, so is the internet.
  • Reply 6 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Akumulator

    TV is for losers.... but then again, so is the internet.



    So if I don't watch TV, but I do use the internet does that make me a half loser?
  • Reply 7 of 28
    defiantdefiant Posts: 4,876member
    What if I don't even have a TV?
  • Reply 8 of 28
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    The 18-24" satellite dish services are great for NTSC broadcasts, but with HDTV already here, it's moot. DirecTV, Dish, etc. just can't pump enough bandwidth via satellite to broadcast local HDTV channels to all the markets. What's more, if you want local channels officially through them, they make you pay a monthly fee...for over-the-air broadcasts via an antenna. That should be FREE. Furthermore, unlike analog television, if you don't have a good signal, you don't just get snow...you get garbled junk or no picture.



    The best solution for HDTV for the time being is cable. With Comcast you can sign up for the standard cable package and get HDTV for $5 a month...including local channels, not just their crappy national channels.



    Anyone with HDTV should get an antenna though. Good VHF/UHF antennae only cost ~$40. There's a great UHF indoor antenna called the Silver Sensor which costs about $25. If you live in the center of a major city, the Silver Sensor may be all you need.



    For now I have "Digital" cable because Comcast hasn't rolled out their HD service in my area. I also have a ChannelMaster 4228 UHF antenna and ChannelMaster 7775 amplifier which I use for OTA HDTV.
  • Reply 9 of 28
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ast3r3x

    Why do I pay for cable tv?



    yeah, why do you?
  • Reply 10 of 28
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by giant

    yeah, why do you?



    Well, sometimes you do get audited on your cable tap and they will notice a receiver on the other end. They'll filter your line if you're unlucky.
  • Reply 11 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Eugene

    The 18-24" satellite dish services are great for NTSC broadcasts, but with HDTV already here, it's moot. DirecTV, Dish, etc. just can't pump enough bandwidth via satellite to broadcast local HDTV channels to all the markets.



    Is that due to some peculiarity of the HDTV process used, or to the satellite operator allocating bandwidth to favour the more channels rather than adequate quality for HDTV?

    Or does your description only apply to ?local HDTV? (which I assume HDTV content carried by local over-the-air stations, which satellite operator might not be all that enthousiastic about carrying)?



    To me television seems too vulgar a medium for high quality technical standards, not to mention high quality content, to prevail. Which is why I lost interest in HDTV in the early nineties.

    Although the HD digital technology as well as the HD-CIF specifications have potential.



    As for all kinds of subscription-TV/pay-TV (whether thorugh cable, over-the-air, or satellite), it's more often than not, just like those many crappy magazines financed by advertsising which you still have to pay for if you wish to acquire a copy.
  • Reply 12 of 28
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    It's not that I watch TV a lot, probably not more then 30 minutes a day. But I was watching tv when I made this post and it was a movie and it was so annoying to see the commercials.



    I think this thread should have been a "I'm sick of advertising thread"
  • Reply 13 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ast3r3x

    I think this thread should have been a "I'm sick of advertising thread"



    That probably would have been better, but a good ol' fashioned cable co. bashing is always welcome too.
  • Reply 14 of 28
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Immanuel Goldstein



    Or does your description only apply to ?local HDTV? (which I assume HDTV content carried by local over-the-air stations, which satellite operator might not be all that enthousiastic about carrying)?





    It's local affiliates. They would carry them if they could, because forcing someone to have an antenna installed on his roof is a tall order compared to just using the same cable that is already running through the house. TV watchers will choose the most viable accomodations, and I don't see how satellite can beat cable in the near term.
  • Reply 15 of 28
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    For dual-tuner picture-in-picture, you can't beat regular cable.
  • Reply 16 of 28
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    -
  • Reply 17 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Cake

    (Especially with a hacked TiVo)



    Hacked how? Bigger drive? Or something fancier?
  • Reply 18 of 28
    About four months ago I gave back my Comcast digital cable box I can't afford $80.00 a month for really only HBO, IFC and Sundance. For three months I had NO TV. It was great not to be pushed advertised bullshit on one end and given 100 other channels of garbage in between...



    But one day last month I connected the Comcast cable lying there on the floor into my antenna jack on the VCR and bingo...I have Turner Classic Movies, MTV, History Channel, ESPN, Comedy Channel, PBS stations and Local stations...for free...that'll do. I'll rent movies whenever I want and DVDs of 6 Feet Under and Carnival later.



  • Reply 19 of 28
    I gave up my cable a year ago. I don't really miss most of the garbage but I do miss the sports broadcasts. I have to go over to friends' houses sometimes on college football Saturdays. I can't watch college basketball as often. I can't keep my Mariners games on in the background either although I made an effort this year to try to exercise while they were playing and listen on the walkman. But overall I'm happy to save the $450 bucks a year.
  • Reply 20 of 28
    cakecake Posts: 1,010member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by kneelbeforezod

    Hacked how? Bigger drive? Or something fancier?



    Yes, bigger hard drives (I have about 300 hours) and a TurboNet card that allows me to see my TiVo on my network.



    It also allows me to practice my video extraction and editing skills which I can then burn onto a DVD - all using my little PowerBook.
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