When I was growing up in LA (Lower Alabama of course), we got three TV channels if we were lucky and if the weather was right. I remember when I went to one of our "Wealthier" neighbor's house where they had a very tall tower antenna and could get 12 channels. (ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and a slew of UHF channels most of which showed the exact same stuff.) So when I left home and got my own place, I immediately signed up for cable and was a very happy camper.
Not too long ago, circumstances forced my family to give up Cable. Needless to say, I went through some serious cold turkey and vowed that we would one day have 126 channels that we never watched once again. I even purchased one of those Digital Antennas in the vain hope that I could at least ease the pain. (Didn't work but it was worth a try.)
Now, many many moons later, I find myself with absolutely no desire to ever shell out $49.99 a month. The couple of times I have "enjoyed" cable while on trips, I was annoyed by the far too numerous commercials in between the brief periods of programming. I was frustrated by 100+ channels of crap that I had no real interest in. These brief Cable exposures have only reenforced my lack of desire to return to the cable fold.
Apparently I am not alone. The above article indicates that my feelings are shared by an astounding number of people nationwide. Young and old are coming to the glaring realization that they no longer have to depend on the whims and ads of Broadcast television. People are starting to Grok that there are better ways to get your Honey Boo Boo (Although God only knows why) fix.
We have multiple sources of entertainment. Only two of them actually cost us a penny. We have subscriptions to HULU+ and Amazon Prime ($7.99 each I think) that allow us to watch literally unlimited numbers of free Television Shows and Movies. Prime also allows you to rent movies and shows for a low cost if you are so inclined, but has over a 1000 movies and shows you can watch for free. HULU+ allows you to watch next day episodes of your favorite shows for that monthly low fee. (As a side note Prime also includes Free Shipping and Handling on anything purchased from Amazon.com)
We also have a ROKU that streams an insane amount of free and low cost videos from the internet directly to our television set. It also allows us to visit various websites like Facebook and play HD video games. Cost? We bought the ROKU box for $99.00 bucks. It gives us access to hundreds of different "Channels" ranging from cooking to Anime to Sci-Fi. Most of it is absolutely free and a chunk of it is commercial free.
With the advent of so many devices that can stream videos ( I even read that there is an adapter now that allows Smart Phones to receive Broadcast television.), there are far to many ways for people to get their video fixes. Both Cable and Broadcast are going to have to work very hard and be very creative to keep their previously fanatical followers. One thing is for sure, the days of "We can charge you anything we want and there is nothing you can do about it so Nyah!" are going the way of the Carrier Pigeon. These former Pirates need to adapt or die a slow and embarrassing death. Till either happens, I will enjoy my ROKU.
Brew long and prosper
No comments:
Post a Comment