One of my favorite shows, that is not superhero related, not a Law and Order clone, and not even a reality tv show, is Expedition Unknown. Fun show where Josh Gates (the host) travels the world looking into mysteries from various cultures going back centuries, if not longer. He also experiences the local cultures and customs, including food and isn't afraid to make jokes about himself. Great show if you like history and archeology.
[QUOTE=MajorHoy;4015997]When you say "all for free", does that mean they're part of the package you get with your monthly ($'s) cable/satellite bill, or do you mean TOTALLY FREE and you're not paying ANYTHING to ANY COMPANY to receive them?
Earlier, when I said [indent][/indent]I meant that the only thing necessary was the electricity to run the TV. Now, we have cable, but we essentially need it to get any decent reception on the TV for even the basic channels where we live.[/QUOTE]
All for free.
Antenna outside, hooked up to a digital tuner with a DVR, hooked up to the tv.
All OTA (over the air). Stations still broadcast OTA, you just need a modern tv or a digital tuner to receive them now as the channels are digital.
Our TV is digital and could receive the channels fine without the tuner, we just use it for the DVR.
We're actually fortunate, because we live just outside a big city, where most of our channels are based.
Another key difference to OTA TV now compared to back before digital, is that almost every channel has sub-channels for more fringe comtent.
For example, in our area we get 7 stations and AntennaTV, Cozi, Me-TV, Movies!, Grit, PBS Create and Bounce are all sub-channels of those stations.
[URL="https://www.tablotv.com/tools/"]This[/URL] is a good resource to see what channels you can get in your area (if you are in the US or Canada).
In contrast, I put my hometown in and it shows only one station with two sub-channels.
But I'd wager that there's at least one more likely because we picked up another in the pre-digital days that wasn't too terribly far away.
[QUOTE=Jackalope89;4016076]One of my favorite shows, that is not superhero related, not a Law and Order clone, and not even a reality tv show, is Expedition Unknown. Fun show where Josh Gates (the host) travels the world looking into mysteries from various cultures going back centuries, if not longer. He also experiences the local cultures and customs, including food and isn't afraid to make jokes about himself. Great show if you like history and archeology.[/QUOTE]
I like Mysteries at the Museum. It's sorta like a modern day Ripley's Believe it or Not!, but more focused on history.
[QUOTE=LifeIsILL;4016057]I don't understand why Netflix is exalted as some god-level television.
When Agents of Shield has proved again and again it's better than all the Netflix shows. It doesn't have excessive and boring exposition, it just gets right down to the story, and when it does give you character exposition, it's done extremely well.[/QUOTE]
Just speaking for myself, the concept of the show never grabbed my attention. I've heard great things about it post-TWS but the premise isn't something I'm interested in
Its a fad that will die out sooner or later(or at least some hope it will).
Look at zombie shows, the walking dead is starting to lose steam and crash
The new fad will probably be something like GOT/western genre
[QUOTE=LifeIsILL;4016057]I don't understand why Netflix is exalted as some god-level television.
[/QUOTE]
If you are someone who watches a lot of movies and shows-the cost of Netflix tends to be better than renting or even buying all those shows and movies.
Also Netflix becomes a place of convenience with some shows and movies as not everything is available everywhere.
[QUOTE=MajorHoy;4015485]While I can sympathize, you folks are complaining about [B]HAVING CHOICES[/B]. If those choices weren't available, would you complain about that, too?[SIZE=1]
(Then again, I remember back in the day when we still got TV channels for FREE without any cable/satellite/streaming hookups and charges, back in the days of rabbit ear antennas . . . and network TV stations that would regularly sign off in the evening, even out of places like New York City.) [/SIZE]
It depends on what TV service(s) you currently get / what services you're willing to pay for.[/QUOTE]
The problem with all these services popping up is that none of them have the level of service and quantity of content of a Netflix and Hulu and want to have the same asking price. Do you honestly think that CBS All Access and DC Universe are worth their asking price for what they provide and limited availability? I do not.
[QUOTE=Immortal Weapon;4016352]The problem with all these services popping up is that none of them have the level of service and quantity of content of a Netflix and Hulu and want to have the same asking price. Do you honestly think that CBS All Access and DC Universe are worth their asking price for what they provide and limited availability? I do not.[/QUOTE]I don't subscribe to any of them, so I really can't say anything about what they offer or how much they cost.
But people just have to decide what they can afford and what works best for them in terms of what they offer.
[QUOTE=Lee Stone;4014817]I think the fragmentation is a fad.
And once everyone has their own personal dedicated service, and people can't afford them, all the companies will proclaim that digital streaming is dead and that there's no future in it because they're not pulling Netflix or Hulu numbers.
Everyone's just jumping on the bandwagon right now and wanting a piece of the pie.
Hopefully the offshoots will fail quickly, so the companies will relate the failure with them splintering from a more widespread sevice. The longer it takes to fail, the most likely they'll blame either the content or the audience.[/QUOTE]
I sort of agree, with one difference. I do think the fragmentation will make investors less excited as the numbers thin, but that will probably lead to consolidation. We'll look up and be back to three providers again. They just won't be broadcast or cable.
[QUOTE=LifeIsILL;4016057]I don't understand why Netflix is exalted as some god-level television.
When Agents of Shield has proved again and again it's better than all the Netflix shows. It doesn't have excessive and boring exposition, it just gets right down to the story, and when it does give you character exposition, it's done extremely well.[/QUOTE]
Netflix puts out quality, and has a lot of diverse material.
I was never interested in that SHIELD show at all, saw an episode once and that was enough.
If I had to only go with one service I'd go with HBO/HBOGo. Netflix is number 2 for me though.
I have dropped and stopped watching anything CB related, well except Riverdale if that counts (in fact Riverdale and Supernatural are the only shows I watch period now). All got so boring and tedious, same crap over and over just packaged differently same reason I have given up on CBMs after how awful Avengers IW and Ant-man were I just can't get excited for anything now Aquaman is soon and I can't muster up a single buzz, I will see it but the excitement isn't there. I barely read comic books anymore, barely on here anymore. Guess you can say the comic book fatigue has well and truly hit me.
Every show on TV a superhero show?
Yasss, bring it on! This gives me hope I'll finally get a Lillith series or Gnaark miniseries!
But seriously, I watch most of them but worry about too much saturation and then the whole thing collapsing. The average viewer is going to o.d. and not want to watch any of them.
(But yes, I really would watch a Lillith series haha).
[QUOTE=MajorHoy;4015485]While I can sympathize, you folks are complaining about [B]HAVING CHOICES[/B].[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=MajorHoy;4016369]I don't subscribe to any of them, so I really can't say anything about what they offer or how much they cost.
[B]But people just have to decide what they can afford and what works best for them in terms of what they offer.[/B][/QUOTE]
That's the issue many of us are having with "choices."
Netflix and Hulu are what, less than twenty bucks a month for both services. And those two alone give you a pretty wide chunk of what all the various networks put out. You get movies, new shows, old shows, and original content (which is often quite good). It is infinitely more cost effective than any cable deal, without really sacrificing much as far as shows go.
But now the amount of content is dropping, as networks pull their stuff from those services and attempt to launch their own. So now my $20 doesn't stretch as far, and if I want the stuff that's been pulled (or soon will be) I have to buy multiple services. Now if I want to watch Star Trek I gotta get CBS All Access. If I want to watch the old JLU cartoon I gotta get DCU. If I want to watch MCU stuff I gotta get Disney+.
I dont typically support or believe in oligopolies, but the consumer isn't benefiting from this fragmentation at all. The cable structure doesn't benefit consumers and I'm in no rush to see streaming services follow suit.
[QUOTE=LifeIsILL;4016057]I don't understand why Netflix is exalted as some god-level television. .[/QUOTE]
They have the reputation they have because they make some damn good content. If it's not for you, cool. You do you. But Netflix is said to have "god-level" shows because they typically make smart content with high quality.