[AT] A wasteland on TV

[Mike Sloane]

I guess my experience pretty much reflects the same as Phil's. We used 
to use a C band Big Ugly Dish, and I have to say that the new digital 
dish services are far superior in terms of picture quality and ease of 
use. But the content is everything Phil said. We get the sports package 
because Diane likes to watch baseball, but on an average evening, 9/10 
of the games are "blacked out in your area" for reasons that have never 
been explained to me. We do get the "local" (NY) TV channels nicely, 
which came in only very poorly with a regular antenna, and that is 
better than before. We are not served by cable out here, so it is little 
dish or nothing. Unfortunately, there are two things you have to be 
concerned about: heavy rain will wipe out the signal, and that happens 
about once a month for an hour or so. Second, for Dish Network, you need 
a clear "view" almost directly west and almost horizontal (in NJ), and I 
had to cut down a pine tree to attain that. I can't recall Cecil's  view 
to the west, so he may or may not have a problem. Direct TV is a more 
southernly view and at a higher angle.

Having said all that, I have to admit that I don't have a clue what is 
on daytime TV, since I have never been forced to watch it. Nor do I 
watch anything besides Jeopardy in the evening, and that is only because 
Diane likes to watch it at dinner time.

Mike

pga2 at hot1.net wrote:

> Cecil,
> We have Dish Network and enjoy it pretty much. I mostly watch the History Channel,
> but we do get RFDTV, which does "sometimes" show antique tractor shows and the like.
> If I could, I would pare a bunch of useless stuff off, like all the music only
> channels, Spanish language programming, the shopping channels (about 6) and some
> other stuff. Unfortunately, we have gone through three providers, beginning with
> Primestar which was the best, converting to Direct TV when they bought up Primestar
> and finally switching to Dish Network so I could get RFDTYV and a slightly lower
> price. The service has been good for all three, but since Primestar went away,
> content simply stinks, especially in the daytime hours. Good luck finding anything
> better.
> 
> Phil
> 
> 
>>	I've had quite a bit of time to spend inside the past 6 weeks
>>due to medical problems and have had a chance to take a look at daytime
>>TV to some extent. I have to admit I never realized what a total waste
>>it is and how shallow the programming has become. I can't believe that
>>with 80 channels available on our TV sets, how many are pure unadulterated
>>trash. I'm ashamed to admit we are paying $40 a month for this garbage
>>but don't know if there is anything that can be done about it. AOL Time
>>Warner is our provider and it didn't take long to figure out that they
>>are plugging in literally hundreds of cheap ads daily and flooding the
>>dial with them. As I was wondering about this the other day, I also
>>wondered if anyone on our List has written to the FCC to see if anything
>>can be done to limit ads and to try to get better programming? Sometimes
>>it doesn't take much to get something going. Movies are just repeated
>>over and over and over. I mean how many times can a person watch The
>>Quiet Man, or Last Train to Yuma, or Gunfight at the OK Corral and not
>>know every word that will be spoken?
>>
>>	I understand that satellite TV is not much better but does not
>>have all the ads. One of my friends says he gets several farm channels
>>and one of them even runs programs on antique tractor shows in the Midwest.
>>Do any of you get these on your TV sets and what do you think of using a
>>satellite as opposed to Cable TV?  I have to do something here to be able
>>to keep my sanity. I have Time Warner RoadRunner service on the computer
>>and can keep that whether I have Cable TV or not so I'm not worried about
>>losing this fast hookup.
>>
>>Ceil
>>--
>>The nicest thing about telling the truth is you never have to wonder
>>what you said.
>>
>>Cecil E Monson
>>Lucille Hand-Monson
>>Mountainville, New York   Just a little east of the North Pole
>>
>>Allis Chalmers tractors and equipment
>>
>>Free advice
>>
>>_______________________________________________
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>>http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>>
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
Mike Sloane
Allamuchy NJ
Email: (msloane at att.net)
Website: <http://www.geocities.com/mikesloane>
Blog: <www.mikesloane.blogspot.com
Tractor images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>
Work: none - retired

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
  -  George Santayana (1863-1952); US (Spanish-born) philosopher.