Free TV
Sep 9, 2021 06:09:31 #
When I was a kid, we had free TV. Now, I pay Spectrum almost $200/month for cable, and if I wanted to watch streaming movies, I would have to pay about $500 more a month. Even broadcast TV stations now make you pay for their "special" channels. I've settled on YouTube, but I don't pay the $12/mo to avoid commercials. 
Steve Martin and Martin short have a new mystery/comedy series on Disney+ for $8/mo or $80/year. I tried Disney+ for the free trial, and there wasn't anything I wanted to watch. Cartoons don't thrill me anymore. I tried AppleTV, but everything I wanted to watch cost extra - over the regular monthly fee. I'm hoping that I don't have to start paying a monthly fee for YouTube.
I do pay for some TV - The Great Courses and AcornTV (England), $10/mo each.
If you haven't looked at The Great Courses, it's amazing. Unfortunately, they changed the name to "Wondrium." It used to be The Learning Company, then The Great Courses.
https://www.thegreatcourses.com/
Steve Martin and Martin short have a new mystery/comedy series on Disney+ for $8/mo or $80/year. I tried Disney+ for the free trial, and there wasn't anything I wanted to watch. Cartoons don't thrill me anymore. I tried AppleTV, but everything I wanted to watch cost extra - over the regular monthly fee. I'm hoping that I don't have to start paying a monthly fee for YouTube.
I do pay for some TV - The Great Courses and AcornTV (England), $10/mo each.
If you haven't looked at The Great Courses, it's amazing. Unfortunately, they changed the name to "Wondrium." It used to be The Learning Company, then The Great Courses.
https://www.thegreatcourses.com/
Sep 9, 2021 08:24:30 #
RiJoRi
Loc: Sandy Ridge, NC
Never was much of a TV watcher. So getting rid of it wasn't a problem. I find books to be much better - no commercials, read at my own pace, etc.
Sep 9, 2021 09:23:24 #
RiJoRi wrote:
Never was much of a TV watcher. So getting rid of it wasn't a problem. I find books to be much better - no commercials, read at my own pace, etc.
Ah, books. I remember seeing them in a museum in New Hampshire.
I read, too. I have a cabinet full of books that I'll donate when the library starts accepting them again. I have about half a dozen waiting patiently for me to read them. I've found that reading them one a at a time works best. It's easier to keep track of the plots. At one time, I was reading three books alternately - too much to remember.
Sep 9, 2021 13:07:20 #
jerryc41 wrote:
When I was a kid, we had free TV. Now, I pay Spec... (show quote)
Jerry - get a Roku or Chromecast, and check out Youtube TV. You can save a bundle.
Sep 9, 2021 15:56:55 #
DWU2 wrote:
Jerry - get a Roku or Chromecast, and check out Youtube TV. You can save a bundle.
I have Roku - very nice. I'll take a look at YouTube TV.
Sep 9, 2021 16:28:29 #
jerryc41 wrote:
I have Roku - very nice. I'll take a look at YouTube TV.
For $65/mo., you get virtually everything cable offers, including local channels and a lot of sports.
Sep 9, 2021 22:20:50 #
When TV was free there were only 3 or 4 broadcast channels available. And you can still get them in most places with an antenna for free.
Sep 9, 2021 22:55:16 #
Sep 10, 2021 07:21:15 #
Forty or fifty years ago they announced that technology would in the future allow us to be able to choose between hundreds of channels. My immediate thought then was that having hundreds of channels would dilute down the quality programming so much that it would be a challenge to find something good to watch. At that time I never dreamed that many of those channels would charge you money to watch them!
Sep 10, 2021 07:26:36 #
DWU2 wrote:
For $65/mo., you get virtually everything cable offers, including local channels and a lot of sports.
Sounds good.
Sep 10, 2021 07:32:10 #
JohnSwanda wrote:
When TV was free there were only 3 or 4 broadcast channels available. And you can still get them in most places with an antenna for free.
If only I lived in most places. When we moved here, we had to get a 20' antenna on top of a 20' tower on our roof. The guy climbed the tower carrying the antenna and then unfolded it. It had an amplifier and a rotator on the antenna, so we could change direction and point to it NYC or CT. I think we got three channels - sort of.
Sep 10, 2021 07:32:59 #
sb wrote:
Forty or fifty years ago they announced that technology would in the future allow us to be able to choose between hundreds of channels. My immediate thought then was that having hundreds of channels would dilute down the quality programming so much that it would be a challenge to find something good to watch. At that time I never dreamed that many of those channels would charge you money to watch them!
But all that "reality" TV!
Sep 10, 2021 07:55:23 #
I have an aerial on the roof, a roku streaming device and brit box. Aerial (free), roku (one time $80), Britbox ($80 a year) wifi connection ($90 a month). No cable TV just wifi. If there's nothing worth watching I read a book or work on a jig saw puzzle. Somedays the TV dosen't even get turned on.
Sep 10, 2021 10:40:21 #
jerryc41 wrote:
When I was a kid, we had free TV. Now, I pay Spec... (show quote)
I have Disney + & Apple TV +. Love it.
Disney + gives me all the Star Wars stuff including The Mandalorian, Loki, & new offshoot series + Nat Geo, Disney originals like Cruella, Jungle Cruise, Black Widow, and some series with John Stamos & more.
Apple TV + gives me a great show with Jason Sudekis called “Ted Lasso.” You would appreciate Ted Lasso as I believe you’re an Anglophile, if I remember correctly.
I don’t have cable TV, just phone & Internet which I need for Apple TV plus.
Sep 10, 2021 11:03:15 #
Indi wrote:
I have Disney + & Apple TV +. Love it. br Dis... (show quote)
Sounds good. I remember seeing Ted Lasso advertised, but I can't quite place it. Let me ask my friend Google. Got it!
There's a movie with Ryan Reynolds that looks good - "Free Guy." I'll wait till it comes on TV.
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