General Discussion

politicat

(9,810 posts)

35. Ditched the box in 2002.

Tue Apr 9, 2013, 07:37 PM

Apr 2013

We have a very few programs that have ever caught our attention, and all are usually available within 24 hours of broadcast via iTunes. Dr. Who is the only one where timeliness really matters to us now, but we've also been trained by decades of PBS delays to just avoid spoilers.

Cable is a dying model. If they'd let us go a la carte, we'd consider having a box in the house, but I don't want to spend $100 a month for 20 channels I consider a violation by the FCC of the First Amendment, 70 channels I could not possibly care less about, 90 channels that have perhaps an hour of programming a week I might find interesting while recovering from flu, and two I'm willing to pay to watch, and all of them on a schedule inconvenient with mine.

I have no need in my life for endless repetition of Law & Order and long-form advertising (aka cooking, home improvement and fashion programming).

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Broadcasters Worry About 'Zero TV' Homes [View all] Purveyor Apr 2013 OP

They would have to create a Democratic Underground channel LiberalEsto Apr 2013 #1

Well, let's see . . . HughBeaumont Apr 2013 #2

+1 the race to the bottom for programming is turning people off n/t Kurska Apr 2013 #5

200 channels and nothing on but infomercials....screw the cable companies. nt msanthrope Apr 2013 #11

Oh man, if the The Learning Channel broadcast BBC documentaries all day, I'd be a couch potato. Marr Apr 2013 #17

Remember when The Learning Channel customerserviceguy Apr 2013 #38

Oh, god, I know. Honey Boo Boo. Marr Apr 2013 #43

I'm embarrassed when I see a Discovery "documentary" up next to a BBC documentary DisgustipatedinCA Apr 2013 #40

lol, yeah. Watching US documentaries, I can almost feel the producers editing the copy Marr Apr 2013 #42

The subthread wouldn't be complete without this guy. DisgustipatedinCA Apr 2013 #45

Could not have expressed it better aint_no_life_nowhere Apr 2013 #30

Turn that crap off tabasco Apr 2013 #41

TV - advertising delivery medium KT2000 Apr 2013 #3

I wouldn't have TV if not for the fact I live in dorms. Kurska Apr 2013 #4

"Reality" shows and all of those commercials turned me right off...n/t monmouth3 Apr 2013 #6

We ditched our TV service Le Taz Hot Apr 2013 #7

I've thought of doing that as well Floyd_Gondolli Apr 2013 #20

Wellllllll, Le Taz Hot Apr 2013 #34

You can count me as one. Don't miss the damn thing a bit. we can do it Apr 2013 #8

I cut the cord last year. I stream from Amazon or Netflix...and between the two, I have plenty msanthrope Apr 2013 #9

Same here and I use Roku to stream and they just keep adding more and more channels. Hooked Purveyor Apr 2013 #14

If they offered a la carte programming, this would be much less of an issue Orrex Apr 2013 #10

There should be a central bundle of major channels Skidmore Apr 2013 #15

Cut the cable: Starve the Beast (R) Berlum Apr 2013 #12

I HATE that picture!!! Just unscrew the damn thing--you might need that coax cable for something!! MADem Apr 2013 #26

That's me!!! MadrasT Apr 2013 #13

I'm a zero tv household RainDog Apr 2013 #16

It's a bleak world out there for the TV industry RockaFowler Apr 2013 #18

Playboy and Pan Am both failed because they were too "racy" for the networks. MADem Apr 2013 #28

We're a zero TV home. Not even internet or phone TV. hunter Apr 2013 #19

Do you even need cable if you don't can't care about sports? pstokely Apr 2013 #21

I may cut the cable if I can get streaming BBC programs somewhere on the net! LongTomH Apr 2013 #22

There are several options on Roku to pickup the BBC. You need broadband internet access though. eom Purveyor Apr 2013 #24

Buy a witopia.net vpn account, and tunnel to the UK bobduca Apr 2013 #44

I have not watched regularly scheduled programming for 10 years. Initech Apr 2013 #23

Over the air digital and Netflix. Fuck cable and sat tv. Ripoffs! n/t L0oniX Apr 2013 #25

They're about to lose me too. ananda Apr 2013 #27

15 years without TV or me. Two or three times a year I might look at something on idwiyo Apr 2013 #29

A la carte programming is the future. TroglodyteScholar Apr 2013 #31

The shear volume of media available over the internet Exultant Democracy Apr 2013 #32

What is cool about networks is that they broadcast football. Skink Apr 2013 #33

Ditched the box in 2002. politicat Apr 2013 #35

There's really good stuff on TV, if you know where to look. Warren DeMontague Apr 2013 #36

12 years we've been a zero tv home - I doubt if we will ever own another tv byeya Apr 2013 #37

I forced my broadband carrier to cut mine to TWC and SCAN. And don't watch it anymore, either. freshwest Apr 2013 #39