The price of TV

We live in an area that does not have cable. Microwave towers and such block all but 1 station on our antenna. This block occured when the country switched to digital.
We have "Direct TV" and the prices are skyrocketing. I just got my bill and like the frog in the pot of boiling water, I never felt the heat. It's now over $98.00 a month and we don't even have premium channels. I've watched the charges go up and it's almost a monthly thing. I keep saying to myself that I have to do something about this. What we pay for is HD and the HD DVR. We also have the extra charges for the upgrade to the 210 channels and the added cost for local programming.
We also have Netflix and I'm tremendiously happy with their service. We are retired and watch 1-2 movies a week in the afternoon and drop them in the mail before it goes out at 4:30. We rarely lack for a good movie.
Believe it or not, we're not big TV watchers but since I like to watch WPT, Speed channel, All car stuff, Pawn starts, Pickers, etc. and my wife likes the gardening shows and HGTV along with old movies. To keep us happy, we think we need the 210 channels. The DVR is our lifes blood. All of the stuff we like gets recorded so we can zip through all the BS and probably watch an average of 4 hours of programming in 2 hours or less. Once you have a DVR you'll never want to watch TV without one again.
Anyway, here's where I'm going with this.....I think I'm going to drop the local programming (I read all of the local and national news every day on the net anyway) and all we do at 5:30 is watch local headlines and skip to the weather. I also think I'm going to drop the HD stuffif if it's an extra. And the big question is I'm thinking about buying a Tivo.You can buy a Tivo HD receiver for $100.00 on EBay.
I'm sure that with the economic times, several of you have made some changes and learned to live with them. Like a wise man once said "good times make for bad habits."
Any suggestions?

thank goodness we live in a area where we pick up alot of hd channels with a antenna. we dropped cable last year to save money. i hooked up my pc to the tv so if there is any shows that i want to watch i just get them off the net. we went from over $100.00 a month down to $30 for the internet and netflix through our xbox. could not see paying $100 for stuff that i do not watch anyway.

Barb, I didn't think anywhere still had TV antennas...........they went away down here a while back, now you have to be hooked up to cable or no signal.

Like you guys we only use 1/10 of the channels they force us to buy. Ours runs around $ 98 a month too and we don't get any of the premium channels like HBO, etc. Mostly we watch stuff like the Speed Channel, History Channel, True TV, Discovery, The Game Channel (Dan and I love the models on Deal or No Deal :D) and sometimes the local channels for regular programming. That's about it.

A guy I worked with has one of those scrambler boxes on a dish and gets something like 700 channels, even ones from overseas. He swears by it, or at least will until they catch up with him. :eek:

Don

when they switched to hd the channels came back. i have 19 local channels now including a station called antenna tv that shows all the older shows. my kids get a kick out of all in the family and hazel. all you need is a hd ready tv and a antenna.

we use the antena too.and watch the old one a lot.i dont care to much about tv but theres one or more on here 24-7!i havent seen a good new movie in a long time.i guess there too many special effects and too much action for me to keep up with.

i agree geezer. when they made the special effects better they did away with a decent script. I rather watch the older movies.

Can we get an AMEN

20 years ago some of these comericials today would be "R" rated:mad:

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Originally Posted by cffisher

20 years ago some of these commercials today would be "R" rated:mad:

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...if not pushing the envelope towards X:eek:

i totally agree. even the G rated movies are not as G as they were when i was a kid. Now every movie i watch has in it somewhere a topless women or a groin joke. I am sick of it.

I concur - The commercials are really bad these days and it's often times during what would be considered "family time" broadcast. We turn the TV off or pop in a "Veggie Tails"when the grand kids are over as I don't want them to see (or have to "explain") a Victoria's Secret commercial or some woman having an orgasm because she found a new kind of mop..

OCT.....you got me going so here it is:

I have two TIVO units with the lifetime FREE subscription. If you dont have the lifetime subscription, you have to pay something like $13 a month.

HOWEVER, the %#*$&@))$ cable jerks screwed up the system (on purpose) when they went to the digital scheme......you cannot use many (most) of the TIVO features since their digital "converter box" and the TIVO both have tuners in them. Only the first tuner in line can work.....if the primary (first) tuner tunes to channel 11, the downstream feed only gets channel 11......and their digital box has to be first since the signal is encrypted upstream and TIVO cannot decode it.

There is a way to rig the TIVO so that it changes the channel in the digital cable scam box but I have not done it yet....it takes and IR Blaster to simulate the remote control signal.

In any event the cable #$*)@)*% people eliminated the dual screen mode from TIVO's features. OF course, the @#$)@*%)* cable jerks sell their version of TIVO at some highway robbery price....with a crummy remote and fewer features. CABLE SUCKS.

Do you want my opinion of cable? I have two TIVO boxes that are useless in our area.

mike in tucson

Glenn, my wife wants to know what brand of mop that was.....thanks

mike

mike i would like to know too:D

I just use 'over the air' Antenne TV. box was $10 after the govt rebate thing. Cable is not an option yet as it's unavailable here still. and altho DirecTV works ( and used to have it ). it can be very sketchy in the rain due to the trees next to my house..

I'v thought about FTA satellite. but once you drop a few hundred on the setup. Then you gotta find a single satallite you will be happy with otherwise drop a couple hundred more on a rotater. Then calculate azmuth ect, which isn't hard ( did it with the direct equip ). but english channels are dropping from the FTA list

Well Mike - that was figuratively speakin' not literally:LOL:**):LOL:

glenn i put my shoes on so i could rush to the store to get one. guess i will just have to settle with my hubby for the evening. :D

You know I'm blushin' right Barb??

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Originally Posted by cffisher

Can we get an AMEN

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AaaaaMEN !

We watch TCM, TVland and RFDTV except for the local news channels. RFDTV has even started rerunnin old Roy Rogers "Happy Trails Theater" shows with George "Gabby" Hayes, Pat Brady, Dale, Trigger and members of the Sons of the Pioneers.

I do like the Encore Western (Audy Murphy, Roy Rogers and up through the John Wayne 1960's stuff) and my wife likes all the Hallmark movies (mostly girlie stuff and sappy love stories!) and reruns of Murder She Wrote and Matlock..

I must admit - I've gotten hooked on "Blue Bloods" - I really like Tom Selleck (NRA Board member!) and the new "Hawaii Five O" - but neither are (in my opinion) appropriate for under 13 as they both show some gore and violence..

I also like the History Channel as there is some great WWII documentary stuff there.

I have a bundled package for phone, Internet and TV with DVR (with HBO, Blazer Basketball in HD, Encore, etc. as a promo) for 89.99 a month plus tax of course. With a pay for view once in a while we usually pay about $100 a month..

When Joanie and I do go to a movie, it's $31.00 with a drink to share and a medium popcorn so the Comcast package isn't too bad..

Do you realize that, if the cable "basic" plus a few channels cost $90 a month that you are paying $3 a DAY for that junk? The cable services are always whining that they need to raise rates.....whoooo, if I could only be as profitable. I realize that it costs them to buy the feeds from the channels, hang the cable on the pole or bury it, hire a bunch of gum chewing "service" ladies to snub you when you go to pick up a converter box, etc...but if you multiply the number of households subscribing to cable by $100, you get a fairly large number..... for that money, I can almost go to the local bar and watch there....naw, I used to do that.

mike

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Originally Posted by glennsexton

You know I'm blushin' right Barb??

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:D so is he when i read him the thread :D

Hey, is this thread "pushing the envelope towards X:eek:?":D


Probably shouldn't admit this, but our satelite system allows up to 5 receivers on a contract to allow you to have TVs in 5 different rooms. We have found that the system does not know where the additional receivers are, so we have spread the cost among several family members living in different homes. You just have to remember that only the primary member can use pay-per-view and has to be the one to contact the provider if there is a problem with the system.
I know, this isn't ethical, but when you have to subscribe to 200 channels to get a dozen that are actually something you can watch, it seems justified (at least to me.)

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Originally Posted by RestoRod

....We have found that the system does not know where the additional receivers are, so we have spread the cost among several family members living in different homes.

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I would never have thought of that! Got to have the dish feed at each house, but it can't tell if the receivers are together or seperated by miles. That's one to remember!!

Very interesting thread chaps & Barb,and I hate ads to but would like to see the mop one. It sounds like your TV is as Crappy as ours over here and what I would really like to know is ...... Modern Family really America's top TV show as they keep tell us over here ??????? An what is Glee all about?????? We have a Tivo system here and have it record what programmes we want to watch and give the rest the big turn-off. As for ads,thank-you to whoever invented the mute button.

My wife is the TV addict in this house. Guess where she is right now? Yep- watching the tube.
We have satellite & every HD & pay programming they offer. We have TV's & DVR's in nearly every room in the house. I hate it when the bill comes. It's a whopping $163.00 per month!
I probably watch 5 hours a week!
I got pissed off last week & called. I complained about all the discount & free perks to new customers while they bend me over after being with them for 8 years.
I threatened to switch providers & they reduced my package from $163.00 per month to $118.00 per month. Quite a difference!

good job steve.

There is a guy I do work for up in the next town . he has a home there that he brings his "BOX" from Chicago so he can watch his local chanels 160 miles away. Not to sure how that works but it dosen't cost him for TV here.

Like Oct'81 we live away from town so cable is not an option, so we have Dish Network and Netflix. Talking to friends last night they have a HD ready TV and they educated us that they get a bunch of over the air channels just with rabbit ears, but most interesting was that there are multiples of several channels! Like our local PBS is 19, but over the air they get 19-1, 2 and 3 each with a different program mix! I had no idea that many of the UHF channels broadcast multiple channels within their authorized band, but the cable/satelite providers give us one.

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Originally Posted by jyardgirl

good job steve.

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Thanks but I shouldn't have to threaten to get a discount. It baffles my mind how their marketing works. They could care less about loyalty & offer the world to new subscribers. I have a few friends who routinely switch back & forth between the 2 satellite providers & cable every year so they can take advantage of new subcsriber discounts.
It shouldn't be that way. There should be discounts & perks for loyal customers w/o having to ask for them.

A couple weeks ago I had forgotten to mail the check for our cable/internet/phone so went to their nearby office to pay and asked the girl (yeah, that young!!) behind the counter if there was any discounts I could take advantage of since I had reached Medicare/Social Security age. First of all, I had no idea what she said the first three times she mumbled at me through a very thick "minority" accent (no, I AM NOT racist/bigoted) and the last time all she said when I finally deciphered what it was "What do you want to drop". Their service is generally excellent but the price has sky rocketed. The phone is part of the bundle as is the very fast internet - but ~$190/month has gotten too pricy for me - and their counter help in my local office - really bad as this was not my first poor experience.

As far as watching the tube - I watch the History, Discovery, Military, Yankees and Speed plus, of course, the Weather Channel. The rest - crap. But they have you as these are spread through different 'tiers' which of course, mean more money. The family addict watches other channels which adds even more $$$. For every hour of a show, there is only 40-42 minutes of "content", the rest being commercials.

Here is last weeks NA$CAR commercial/content breakdown from Caws and Jaws:

"Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2011 Jeff Byrd 500

Total number of commercials: 105

Total number of companies or entities advertised: 73

Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 53

Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos or crawlers: 26 (companies: Pizza Hut; Pizza Hut ‘Order Your Favorites at Pizza Hut Now!’; Pizza Hut ‘Fan’s Favorite Driver’ (Jeff Gordon); McDonald’s; Coca-Cola; Budweiser; Chevy; Ford.com; Toyota; Toyota ‘Sponsafy Your Ride!’; ToyotaRacing.com; American Ethanol; UPS TheNewLogistics.com/racing ; Home Depot; AT&T; AT&T.com/rethinkpossible; AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year Award – text to 234567’; Sprint; Sprint.com; Sprint.com/evo; Sprint.com/nownetwork; Sprint.com/speed; ‘Cars 2’ movie; GoDaddy.com; Viagra; FoxSports.com/PizzaHut; NASCAR on Fox; upcoming Bristol race on Fox; upcoming Martinsville race on Fox; upcoming Texas race on Fox)

Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 4 min. 50 sec.

Also, there are the following race statistics during the broadcast, sponsored by companies:

NASCAR on Fox ‘Weather’
GoDaddy.com ‘Starting Line Up’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Race Analysis’
Toyota ‘In-Car’
Coca-Cola ‘In-Car’
Ford ‘In-Car’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Slo Mo’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Involved in Wreck’
UPS ‘Logistics of the Race’
Ford F-150 ‘Ecoboost Track Facts’
American Ethanol ‘In-Car’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Crank it Up’
GoDaddy.com ‘Aerial Coverage’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Driver Steering Wheel’
AT&T ‘Race Break’
AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year Award’
AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year Standings’
AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year Report’
Budweiser ‘In-Car’
Chevy ‘In-Car’
Home Depot ‘In-Car’
GoDaddy.com ‘Race Summary’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Decibel Levels’
GoDaddy.com ‘In-Car’

Start time to record race/commercial periods: 1:00 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 4:12 PM

Total minutes: 192

Minutes of race broadcast: 139
Minutes of commercials: 53

Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of ‘mystery cautions’ (debris not shown): 1
Number of male enhancement ads: 1 Many NASCAR fans find these types of commercials very offensive
Number of Daytona 500 Champions to lead the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance: 1 Trevor Bayne"

Enjoy - another commercial will begin momentarily!!!!!!!