Hey Cable TV Networks (Lost, commercials, film, television)

[LauraC]

Because your shows are only 13 weeks long, it's 39 weeks between seasons. How about leaving the entire last complete season On Demand or available on the Internet at least until the DVD comes out?

Does anyone else agree?

[bUU]

I'm not sure that many consumers, thinking only as a consumer, would be opposed to a consumer-biased precept. I think you're seeking agreement in the wrong venue, since it is the producers (who set the parameters of when broadcasters can offer free VOD), broadcasters (who set the parameters of when distributors can offer free VOD), and distributors that need to be convinced that doing so makes them more money than not doing so.

[ShellNic]

So...to whomever makes the decision...can we agree that it would be nice to have previous seasons available? I agree with the OP...

[bUU]

I think it would be nice to have every episode of every television series ever (dramas and comedies - I couldn't care less about reality programs) available on demand for free, from every cable company and IPTV service in the country, as well as stream-able online - completely without commercials, with the highest resolution practicable and the greatest bandwidth available.

[LauraC]

I ordered Season 4 of Justified on DVD. I have Seasons 1 - 3. I've watched them twice since Season 4 ended. I really don't think I should have to wait so long for the DVD set of Season 4 to be available. I mean, c'mon, if I recorded the show on my own I'd have it already. Do they really want me to do that? The extras are recorded while the filming is being done. Why does it take so long for the DVD set to become available after a 13 week season ends?

This never bothered me when I was watching ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox shows because the break between seasons was much shorter when a 20 something weeks show ran from Oct/Nov. - April.

The problem is now I only watch cable TV dramas so I have this problem with everything I watch. They are all 13 week seasons. They either need to do re-runs (maybe on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays) in primetime during the long off-seasons of these shows, put the entire last season "On Demand" until the DVD set is released, show the last season on their own websites during the off-season or get the DVDs out a heck of a lot quicker.

[Willsson]

Originally Posted by bUU

I think it would be nice to have every episode of every television series ever (dramas and comedies - I couldn't care less about reality programs) available on demand for free, from every cable company and IPTV service in the country, as well as stream-able online - completely without commercials, with the highest resolution practicable and the greatest bandwidth available.

The programming you seek - every episode of every series - can be found, although not as easily as your post might prefer.

I have found current series which I had never watched and decided to take an interest. I have been able to find older seasons on Hulu (not plus), or with Amazon Prime, I've recently watched some Brit series through AcornTV - alas with subscription.

As a for instance - I once caught a season premiere of Sons of Anarchy and within minutes lost interest. A few years later I found reason to take interest so found all previous seasons - with the exception of the immediately previous season - and watched them all. Then found that immediately previous season elsewhere. Still waiting for the new season to premiere on US TV, which I'll probably miss and then have to search for it.

Same with XIII, Continuum, Arrow, and Longmire (maybe others) although only one season into their respective runs. Same with Foyle's War on ITV. There's a discussion thread about it here, it was on AcornTV so I watched. Turned out I had seen the last season. I'm a sucker for WWII stories and liked it so much I watched all the seasons. Then I found the most recent season that has been shown in Great Britain but not in the US and watched it.

There are US laws or regulations (or something like that) that prohibit some playback, there are some companies that aren't smart enough to realize the market such as yourself/myself, and other posters on this forum who seek alternate time frames for playback of their programming. Then there are sources that are popping up with that content you seek.

Also, there's a PC app called Plex. You can install it on your PC and if you find a video - TV, YouTube, live action - you can 'Plex It' so you can watch it on your TV. Plex creates a queue for a DLNA device such as Roku, Xbox, others. Then you find the programming on your TV and watch.

Things are beginning to change, keep your voice out there, good luck, happy viewing...