Have cheapo channels taken over your TV schedules? Their are dozens and dozens of channels available free of charge through Freeview in the UK but they are mostly rubbish in my opinion.
We still have the old gang of the BBC and ITV, who offer decent telly and regular readers will know I love the new Horror Channel - most of the time - but these are the exceptions.
So are you plagued by zillions of trash channels readers?
I use Sky (the old non-plus variety). I once saw one channel that just showed non-stop random shots from motorway traffic cameras!
ReplyDeleteNever had Sky of any kind Kev. I suppose they were the first to compete with normal telly firms like the BBC and ITV. Just think, if Lew Grade had worked for them, half of us wouldn't have seen Thunderbirds!
DeleteYes we have loads and loads of bandwith-pollution (to stay polite) on cable tv here in flanders (it's divvied up by language region here in the kingdom of the belgians). And it's pretty expensive too, compared to the rates I see advertised on Dutch tv or along the motorway in the neighbouring countries, no doubt due to the high cost of labour in belgium and the cosy practice of just being a euro or two below the competition's rates to say they're cheaper.
ReplyDeleteWhat galls me the most is that they took the BBC (which is what I mostly watch) off the analogue cable, so I was forced to subscribe to them. I actually got onto my (flat) roof with a homebuilt gizmo and compass to see if I have a clear line of sight to the satellite that relays BBC signals, but there's too many trees in the way.
grrr -- Paul
When ypou say subscribe Paul do you mean pay for the BBC?
DeleteTodays TV media is commercial quantity over consumer quality. It does kinda reflect the way our fickle and frenzied society has 'evolved'. That said, there are also some very good channels to be found, including, as you say Woodsy, the very enjoyable Horror Channel and a few others.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think our society is 'evolving' into Tony?
DeleteIt may just be me Woodsy, lagging behind with the changing pace of things. Wonder if I'm right or wrong in thinking our society is becoming increasingly Orwellian? It seems odd, even to a head scratcher like me, that I live in a surveilled democracy. From what I've heard, we're no longer surveilled by those old fur hatted comrades, but by our own establishment. Everything from our emails to our consumer trends can be analyzed. Some bloke did tell me it's for our own good! Maybe, I don't know? At some point when I wasn't paying much attention, social values were replaced by superficial consumerism, where most things are now disposable, short lived and quickly replaced by a newer model, which can be replaced next year, by a newer model. Love it or hate it, I think trashy TV fits in well with the fickle, frenzied, society we've evolved into, or are still evolving into. Now, what channel were those tap dancing chickens on... :)
ReplyDeletevery well put that Tony. I feel the same. I wonder if its an inevitable side-effect of getting older? Like Hancock's half hour, where he was increasingly at odds with the modern world. I remember the space age giving our generation a single vision to rally behind. I wonder if today's generation has a cause?
DeleteThere's loads of trash TV on our cable (satellite actually). A lot of it's 'crap' just because I'm not interested... so sports, religion, shopping, country music and monster trucks, stuff in languages I don't speak. Some of it is just reruns of old TV shows... usually edited to fit in even MORE commercials. The horror channel is crap too, only showing the lames of old TV shows and highly edited movies. Nothing classic at all. Really, the only channels I watch are the old movie channel (Turner Classic Movies) and a couple of the news channels when the mood strikes. It's really a waste of money, power, and the airwaves.
ReplyDeleteI agree Knobgobbler. YV appears to be boiling down to the lowest common denominators: money, gambling, shopping, sport. The UK Horror Channel isn't too bad when you avoid the re-runs of Hercules and Highlander. they show old Hammers often enough to keep me interested. Are you in the US? I'm currently watching Empire of the Ants on the telly via a You Tube link! Like many peoples', my TV behavior is changing - I watch a lot of box sets on catch-up and loads of films on You Tube. I've stopped buying any DVD's ages ago but would never say no to an old big box or clamshell horror videotape!
ReplyDeleteYV? I meant TV! doh!
ReplyDelete