OTA making a healthy comeback....

[Findm-Keepm]

http://electronicdesign.com/blog/it-...24fea80e3da6c1

[DaveWM]

If only the commercials were:
cut back to a reasonable number and length
edited for content

And the show content was not sped up (really disconcerting to watch).

then TV would be a viable again.

As is I have stopped watching most of it.

[Electronic M]

I need to properly investigate how much of what I and the folks watch can be gotten off streaming services...If it is enough, then once the per-digital adapter box fee TWC/Spectrum (or are they calling them selves scrotum? ) plans on charging on the "free" the boxes (which they forced on us BY ENCRYPTING EVERYTHING once analog ended) kicks in, then I may end up suggesting cord cutting.

Aside from CartoonNetwork's Toonami line up, Fox news, and some stuff on History, Discovery, and TCM I really don't watch/have time for cable.

[Findm-Keepm]

I cut the cord in 2015, and haven't looked back. So much on Netflix, SlingTV, OTA and free channels on the Roku, that I've never needed anything cable offers. HBO, SHowtime, and other channels can be subscribed to ala carte, so no cable company needed.

PBS and the local news were the two most viewed in our household, so the cut was relatively painless - I got Sling TV for SEC football and Disney for the daughter.

Crackle and other free-movie (okay, 3 minutes of commercials every 15 minutes) are okay, but Netflix and OTA....

[MadMan]

To be honest, yeah, advertisements have killed tv. Ads in general are out of control. I remember when I was a kid... there were no taxis with billboards on them, there weren't this many ad posters everywhere... and a 30 minute tv show had one commerical in the middle, that's it. Now, a tv show has 4 commercials in the middle, not to mention before and after!

I think probably the tv networks just got too big, giant corporate towers crumbling under their own weights.

[Titan1a]

Have cable: don't watch. I use Roku or OTA.

[Jeffhs]

I have cable (Spectrum, Starter TV level) but I don't watch it much, preferring to use Roku. OTA is out of the question for me since I cannot get two important network affiliates (CBS and FOX) using an antenna, although every other OTA TV station comes in well. The "TV" selection on my TV's input menu allows me to watch most cable channels, and the Spectrum app enables the Roku to receive my area's local channels. That's the only reason I still have cable; the Roku will not receive local TV without it, or at least the customer must have cable on his or her account--the cable does not have to be physically connected to the TV (a quirk in the company's billing system, no doubt).

BTW, Spectrum is the former Time Warner Cable. The company just installed the new app on my Roku today (I lost my Internet connection briefly this afternoon, probably because of the upgrade to the new app).

Another thing I like about Spectrum cable is the company does not seem to want to eliminate analog TV channels, at least not any time soon, as Time Warner was so intent on doing had they not merged with Charter. I don't know if this will have an effect on how many cable boxes Spectrum will be using with new cable installations, since the Roku players can be used as cable boxes. Of course, a Spectrum-issued HD cable box will still be necessary to receive movie channels, pay-per-view and video on demand, although the Roku can itself be used to receive the latter. The HD cable boxes are probably also set up so that viewers absolutely cannot receive free HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, PPV, et al., but that is material for another thread.

One thing that crossed my mind while I was writing this is the question of whether Spectrum, which of course is affiliated with Charter Cable, will be any worse, from a quality standpoint, than Time Warner was. The question occurred to me when I recalled that VK member Sandy G. in Rogersville, Tennessee, who has Charter cable service, was having quite a bit of trouble with video quality and signal dropouts. Since Spectrum arrived in my area near Cleveland, however, I have had absolutely no problems with any of my services (phone, Internet or cable), although, as I said earlier in this post, I did lose my Internet connection very briefly. When my Internet went down I immediately checked the telephone on my desk, and found I still had a dial tone; I did not check the TV. The temporary loss of the online connection may well have been caused, at least in part, by the switch to the upgraded cable app, although this is only a guess on my part.

I will not go into billing issues caused by the merger of TWC and Charter except to say that our cable bills probably will increase by some amount, as is always the case every year, even with the same cable operator. Higher cable bills will almost certainly lead to more and more subcribers dropping the cable and going OTA, if at all possible. There are some areas of the US that do not get decent (or any) TV reception with an antenna, and so must rely on cable service to get even the basic service (local network TV, including FOX and PBS). These folks will still use Spectrum cable, but many viewers in large cities or their suburbs may decide to cut the cord entirely and use an OTA antenna. While OTA TV antennas served us well in the analog NTSC television era, DTV is creating more and more problems, even for viewers just a short distance from the TV towers; in fact, folks living close to local DTV stations often get worse reception than those some distance from the towers. This is simply a quirk of DTV, one most ordinary non-technical viewers no doubt find annoying.

[Kamakiri]

Ever since I cut cable back in August, I've been able to find just about everything I want to watch that I can't get, by hooking up a small PC in my TV stand and with a wireless keyboard pulling in live streams from the internet. I just use the VGA output on the set and go full screen. The quality's not usually there, but who cares...it's free.

I will say that the LPTV stations in my area (Grit TV, etc) have way too many re-runs. Laff TV seems to play nothing but Night Court and Roseanne in the evenings....which is okay but two episodes back to back every night gets to be a little much.

[centralradio]

Originally Posted by DaveWM

If only the commercials were:
cut back to a reasonable number and length
edited for content

And the show content was not sped up (really disconcerting to watch).

then TV would be a viable again.

As is I have stopped watching most of it.

Got a point there Dave.Dumped extended cable years ago. Nevermind the crap quality of some of todays programming.I watch most of my TV/movie content online for free. The last few days I've been watching Mary Tyler Moore show on Youtube and Dailymotion.Too bad that I'm in a dead spot for DTV reception as analog came in great before the BS switch over.

[bgadow]

I've never paid for TV; from my limited experiences watching cable/satellite at other people's houses or at hotels, I'm not missing much. With a good antenna we have plenty of choices, with more being added. I do agree that the commercials are on the heavy side, and I get pretty tired of "marathons" and the way good shows get played to death.

[OvenMaster]

All I have is OTA with a roof antenna. Total number of channels and subchannels: 30.

I've never had cable, and anything I really want to watch I can either borrow DVDs for free from the public library or look on the internet.

[davet753]

I'd cut the cord and tell Comcast where to go in a minute, were it not for internet service.

I can pick up dozens of stations off the air with an indoor antenna, and if I'd get off my duff and put up a decent outside antenna I'm sure there would be more. I really should, because I've got 4 ham radio antennas of various size in the air, so a small TV antenna would probably go unnoticed.

Of course, if I cancel my CATV, Comcast will charge me more for their internet service. I can replace CATV with OTA, but there's no alternative to their internet service in my area that's competitive.

[crt89]

My neighbors just built a probably $200k home and just put up a big antenna tower with a digital antenna. They asked us about cable when they were building, guess they decided they didn't need it for a vacation home.

[user181]

Originally Posted by davet753

Of course, if I cancel my CATV, Comcast will charge me more for their internet service. I can replace CATV with OTA, but there's no alternative to their internet service in my area that's competitive.

Well....what's the cost differential of Internet-only service vs. Internet+CATV?

Yes, the Internet service itself would cost more than it would in a bundle (that's how they entice you), but I'm sure you're still paying more per month for the bundle.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by MadMan

To be honest, yeah, advertisements have killed tv. Ads in general are out of control. I remember when I was a kid... there were no taxis with billboards on them, there weren't this many ad posters everywhere... and a 30 minute tv show had one commerical in the middle, that's it. Now, a tv show has 4 commercials in the middle, not to mention before and after!

I think probably the tv networks just got too big, giant corporate towers crumbling under their own weights.

No kidding, more channels means more advertising revenue for those suit dummies. Just like a certain infamous high-roller I'm thinking of, the more power they get, the more they want.

One reason I don't like using my mom's iPad is because it can't block ads, and some are heavy enough to freeze Safari, sometimes even crash it. Many of those ads are even offensive to me because of the extreme greed behind them. On my PC I don't have to put up with that, but some sites do ask me to whitelist their ads which isn't going to happen.