I visited a friend this past Sunday. I don't have cable television
but he does, so we talked for awhile and then he turned-on the set.
Flip. Flip. Flip. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. 70 channels and
nothing worth watching. Eventually we stopped on a John Travolta
movie, but not for long since we both had seen it multiple times, and
we both agreed it was crap. Flip. Flip. Flip.

I've come to the conclusion that cable tv, like insurance, is a giant
scam to get people to waste their hard-earned money to get almost
nothing in return.

Contrast that with over-the-air TV where I get around 25 channels and
hundreds of shows at no cost. Much better deal in my humble opinion,
and for those few shows I don't get to see (like Battlestar Galactica)
I can rent on DVD for cheap. I'm glad I don't waste over 700 dollars
a year on cable.

Put multiple people in the house, though, and the equation changes.  
If/when you have a wife and children, you will look back at what you
wrote and laugh.

Perhaps but I doubt it. My brother has both a wife and kid, and they
both say they'd cancel the cable if it wasn't for their daughter.

I
told them that we grew-up without cable television, and I'm sure the
daughter would survive just fine without it too. I also added that
they can get childrens programming 24 hours a day through Qubo, and it
costs nothing. There's also kiddie shows on PBS and the This movie
channel.

On Jun 3, 12:15 am, Cable Shill <cable_sh... at (no spam) comcast.net> wrote:

I'm so glad I don't have to put up with a customer as dense
as yourself, Enjoy OTA, it's made for you.



In what way do you consider my comment, "There was nothing to watch
across 70 channels of cable" a dense comment??? It really isn't.
It's a common observation made, not just by me, but also my friend,
his father, my brother, his wife, and so on.

I guess in your view insulting potential customers is "good service".
I'm glad I canceled my Comcast subscription back in 2002 if this is
the kind of service they provide.

On Jun 3, 11:18 am, "QN" <hidingfrom... at (no spam) example.com> wrote:

After the 6 month discount my cable TV cost will become uncomfortably large.
I have been trying to find shows to justify the expense, but it is hard.
I wish I could order a la carte channels.

Me too. There are some cities that require a la carte as part of
their franchise, and they charge a mere $1 or $2 per channel added.
For me that would be great because I could get SciFi, USA, and TNT for
a mere $6 a month.

On Jun 3, 12:17 pm, "Mason Barge" <masonba... at (no spam) comcast.net> wrote:
I bet at least 50% of my viewing is on cable. Some of my favorite series
are there. They broadcast the Stanley Cup, Atlanta Braves baseball.


I used to watch TCM a lot, but when Comcast moved it from channel 65
to channel 100-something, I lost my ability to view it and the whole
cable lineup became rather pointless. Yes I still watched BSG or Monk
on other channels, but it's now cheaper to simply rent those shows on
DVD.

Your head is too thick to consider all variables. You want only what
you want, want it cheap and damn the others. There's no way your $700
a year will render any profit for the cable company's efforts.

On Wed, 3 Jun 2009 11:18:26 -0700 (PDT), SFTV_troy

There are some cities that require a la carte as part of
their franchise, and they charge a mere $1 or $2 per channel added.
For me that would be great because I could get SciFi, USA, and TNT for
a mere $6 a month.

Well no.  You'd still need to pay for the service itself.  

On Jun 3, 2:12 pm, SFTV_troy <SFTV_t... at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote:

 (Although to be fair a lot of the increase came from
individual channels increasing subscriber fees from
~35 cents per home to 75 cents per home.  Greed, greed, greed.)

--- See.  That's what I keep telling everybody.  Forced
subsidization.. To think that a lot of people gripe about subsidizing
PBS through taxes and yet think nothing of the junk they're forced to
subsidize if they want cable at all.

SFTV_troy wrote:

I used to watch TCM a lot, but when Comcast moved it from channel 65
to channel 100-something, I lost my ability to view it...

There is an unadvertized special on for a cable box
to replace the channels you used-to-get.

On Jun 4, 1:00 am, David Johnston <da... at (no spam) block.net> wrote:
On Wed, 3 Jun 2009 11:18:26 -0700 (PDT), SFTV_troy

There are some cities that require a la carte as part of
their franchise, and they charge a mere $1 or $2 per channel added.
For me that would be great because I could get SciFi, USA, and TNT for
a mere $6 a month.

Well no.  You'd still need to pay for the service itself.  



Okay add $5 for the hookup fee.

X-No-Archive: yes


Smarty Pants wrote:
"AuldPhart" <auldphart at (no spam) the.home

The only thing I watch on PBS are the British comedies on Sat.
evening.
Everything else is liberal left wing crap

What's the matter? You can't handle the truth?



No but a little balance would be nice. PBS, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC
are all leftist, pro-big-government channels. FOX is centrist. [...]

On Sat, 6 Jun 2009 09:55:37 -0700 (PDT), SFTV_troy <SFTV_troy at (no spam) yahoo.com
wrote:

X-No-Archive: yes


Smarty Pants wrote:
"AuldPhart" <auldphart at (no spam) the.home

The only thing I watch on PBS are the British comedies on Sat.
evening.
Everything else is liberal left wing crap

What's the matter? You can't handle the truth?



No but a little balance would be nice. PBS, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC
are all leftist, pro-big-government channels. FOX is centrist. [...]

Ok, we finally found the one person on the planet that thinks FOX is
"centrist".

Fortunately, he's harmless

On Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:36:08 -0400, daytripper <day_trippr at (no spam) NOSPAMyahoo.com
wrote:

On Sat, 6 Jun 2009 09:55:37 -0700 (PDT), SFTV_troy <SFTV_troy at (no spam) yahoo.com
wrote:

X-No-Archive: yes


Smarty Pants wrote:
"AuldPhart" <auldphart at (no spam) the.home

The only thing I watch on PBS are the British comedies on Sat.
evening.
Everything else is liberal left wing crap

What's the matter? You can't handle the truth?



No but a little balance would be nice. PBS, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC
are all leftist, pro-big-government channels. FOX is centrist. [...]

Ok, we finally found the one person on the planet that thinks FOX is
"centrist".

Fortunately, he's harmless ;-)

Actually a LOT of people think it's centrist. It's right of the left
leaning network news outlets and CNN.

On Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:41:22 -0400, EGK <me at (no spam) privacy.net> wrote:

On Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:36:08 -0400, daytripper <day_trippr at (no spam) NOSPAMyahoo.com
wrote:

On Sat, 6 Jun 2009 09:55:37 -0700 (PDT), SFTV_troy <SFTV_troy at (no spam) yahoo.com
wrote:

X-No-Archive: yes


Smarty Pants wrote:
"AuldPhart" <auldphart at (no spam) the.home

The only thing I watch on PBS are the British comedies on Sat.
evening.
Everything else is liberal left wing crap

What's the matter? You can't handle the truth?



No but a little balance would be nice. PBS, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC
are all leftist, pro-big-government channels. FOX is centrist. [...]

Ok, we finally found the one person on the planet that thinks FOX is
"centrist".

Fortunately, he's harmless ;-)

Actually a LOT of people think it's centrist. It's right of the left
leaning network news outlets and CNN.

Well, of course it's to the right. And other than that 21% of the population
that still admit to remaining Republican (or at least RINO) my bet is a LOT
MORE people think it's a lot further to the right.

In any case....do you really think Rupert Murdoch could be considered - by an
actual sane person - as being a "centrist"?

How about the network's "stars", like Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Laura
Ingraham, Karl Rove, and Glenn Beck - not to mention frequent contributors
like Oliver North and Ann Coulter, et al. Which one of those people is the
"centrist"?

The only thing more humorous is their slogan...

Where do you get your news.......MSNBC? I watch Olbermann