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This has been a very interesting and informative thread.
I agree
Quote:
Originally Posted by pvs
I really wish the cable companies would see the writing on the wall, and allow us to select only the channels we're interested in, and then let the market decide on which channels survive ... or not. Having an individualized menu selection, instead of "packages" COULD make their business more profitable again, no?
Some cable companies are trying out something similar, which is offering packages with only the more prominent cable channels. For example: Instead of having CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News, the package would only include CNN. How successful will that be? One could only guess right now.
Individual channel selection only works in theory. The reason why is because paying per channel will always be more expensive. Would you pay $5 per month for each channel? That would get pretty expensive if you only watched ten channels. And if you think cable companies wouldn't charge that much, just look how much they charge subscribers each month to rent the converters.
Of course, this monthly billing and paying for television nonsense can all be resolved by making a one-time investment in a good television antenna and watching dozens of quality channels for free
Of course, this monthly billing and paying for television nonsense can all be resolved by making a one-time investment in a good television antenna and watching dozens of quality channels for free
I haven't owned a TV in over ten years and currently watch everything I want online for free. I was paying $75/month for cable ten years ago. Not including new TV purchases or upgraded cable packages, I've saved $9,000 in 10 years JUST on cable with 10 year old pricing!
So.....all of you guys that have gone to antenna only TV....what are you using to record TV shows? VCR's?
I have a brand new roof top antenna....all top of the line...... rotor, amplifier/signal booster....since a wind sheer threw a tree limb into my old one and insurance replaced all of it.
Anyway, I have Dish TV, which I decided to get when things went digital and I retired. {more time to watch TV}. Up until then, I had three TV's, all with VCR's recording programs while I was at work {I worked PM turn}. Worked perfectly....I always had something to watch, whenever I felt like watching it.
I decided to drop the extra Dish box in the bedroom since I never watched it.
When I tried to hook up the converter box and the VCR to the TV.....the VCR would not work. None of my friends can figure out how to get it to work. Now, what are the chances that the VCR broke during the year that I was not using it? We can't even get the set up screen on the VCR. Are we doing something wrong or is the VCR broken? Are the VCR's that you can buy now any good? I understand they no longer have tuners.
There are a couple of shows I would like to record that are only on my antenna. Yea, I could just go into the bedroom and watch them on the TV....but.....I CAN'T STAND to watch TV if I can't FF through the commercials.
I haven't had time to read this whole thread, but I made my first HDTV connection [on the roof] in December 1999. WCBS-DT channel 56! My friends and I were jumping around, whooping it up like a bunch of little kids.
The first HD-capable [JVC LCOS] front projector was beyond jaw-dropping.
Don't get me started on Digital Video engineering..... it's a thing of extreme elegance . . . and [free] HDTV over-the-air is practically a gift from god!
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H0tmess, your worst problem may be all around you: many apartment buildings are constructed with large amounts of metal in the walls and are notoriously difficult for DTV reception. Think Faraday cage.
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Anyway, here are some tests on indoor antennas: Product Review: Three For DTV
But I really think ya need to sneak a piece of sumdat there coax through a window frame outside.
Of course, this monthly billing and paying for television nonsense can all be resolved by making a one-time investment in a good television antenna and watching dozens of quality channels for free
The key word there is "quality." If the broadcast networks were offering quality programming (which they used to do, once upon a time), cable would be taking a huge hit. I think my cable bill is ridiculous, but if all I had available was network television, I'd throw the TV away.
CBS New York Plus to be launched by year's end, will present News, Weather, Traffic, Sports and Entertainment in a wheel format, and it is ONLY available to viewers with a TV Antenna on Channel 2.2
BY Richard Huff
DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR
Tuesday, October 18 2011, 4:00 AM
WCBS/CH. 2 is working on final details for a digital channel to launch before the year's end that will rival WNBC/Ch. 4's Nonstop and the local cable news channels.
CBS New York Plus will combine the news- and information-gathering power of CBS' locally owned operations such as Ch. 2, NewsRadio 880 AM, 1010 WINS and sports radio WFAN 660 AM.
CBS TV Stations president Peter Dunn, also general manager of Ch. 2, says the new channel will be programmed in a "wheel" format with hourly updates. "We have all of this content," says Dunn. "It really is a reflection of our CBS local media."
Word of the new channel first surfaced over the summer in Broadcasting & Cable magazine. The concept was pitched as a way to leverage the multimedia reach of CBS properties and give advertisers a way to buy all of them. Similar channels are to be rolled out eventually in other markets where CBS owns stations.
"This helps us to compete in a new business area," Dunn says.
It gives viewers yet another option locally for news and information. It also can provide another outlet for Ch. 2 during times of big breaking news.
CBS New York Plus to be launched by year's end, will present News, Weather, Traffic, Sports and Entertainment in a wheel format, and it is ONLY available to viewers with a TV Antenna on Channel 2.2
BY Richard Huff
DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR
Tuesday, October 18 2011, 4:00 AM
WCBS/CH. 2 is working on final details for a digital channel to launch before the year's end that will rival WNBC/Ch. 4's Nonstop and the local cable news channels.
CBS New York Plus will combine the news- and information-gathering power of CBS' locally owned operations such as Ch. 2, NewsRadio 880 AM, 1010 WINS and sports radio WFAN 660 AM.
CBS TV Stations president Peter Dunn, also general manager of Ch. 2, says the new channel will be programmed in a "wheel" format with hourly updates. "We have all of this content," says Dunn. "It really is a reflection of our CBS local media."
Word of the new channel first surfaced over the summer in Broadcasting & Cable magazine. The concept was pitched as a way to leverage the multimedia reach of CBS properties and give advertisers a way to buy all of them. Similar channels are to be rolled out eventually in other markets where CBS owns stations.
"This helps us to compete in a new business area," Dunn says.
It gives viewers yet another option locally for news and information. It also can provide another outlet for Ch. 2 during times of big breaking news.
Thanks for posting this. I've noticed the channel, but didn't know what was coming. Channel 7 had a 24 hour weather channel for a while and I hated it when they took it off. I love being able to tune in any time for a forecast. I saw some good, old movies on Antennae TV last weekend too. I'm glad it all keeps getting better.
I'm bummed that I can't get Create here. We get it in PA without a problem, but here the signal is always too weak.
It saves you money...except you need a digital box to go along with that antenna(and you better hope the box actually works). And if you live in a basement apartment like yours truly it makes it even more difficult.
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