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Thoughts on Cable TV in the Home
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Posted by: Pin Boy

THIS THREAD WAS STARTED FROM KHASHYAR'S POST ABOUT MOVING INTO A NEW APARTMENT AND UPGRADING FROM DSL TO HIGH SPEED CABLE.

http://russianmeetingplace.com/foru...66905#post66905

cable tv is a good topic...when i moved into my new home 2 and 1/2 years ago, i decided not to get cable tv, partly as a cost saving decision and also as a social experiment. i have a couple of portable tvs with antennas that get a clear signal of the 4 major networks plus PBS and the WB. what i do miss is sports on ESPN, TBS, and TNT. i did have cable for 4 months last fall. the cable co. was running a special and i love collge football so i had cable for the fall. then i canceled when the promotional period was over.

i don't miss tv because i know how seductive it can be. like many other people i would guess, it's easy to watch a movie you have seen dozens of times but you can't resist. if jaws is showing on a saturday afternoon, i'm watching it!

i spend more time on the computer looking for news and information and it suits me just fine. can even watch video segments of news stories so that's good enough for me. and i've been burning a good number of cd's lately too. i also find that i don't snack at all when i'm on the computer which i would tend to do when watching tv.

when the cable company calls offering promotions, i joke that since i stopped having cable in my home i'm healthier, more active, have more social contacts. why would i want such an isolating and detrimental instrument in my home?

what do others think about this topic?

pin boy

PS of course i realize television is hopeful for learning a second language and it may be a good reason to have cable TV if your new spouse is learning english or if you subscribe to a russian language channel.

Posted by: shaun1000

Pinboy

I don`t have a TV at all. I moved in to my house in November to much work to do to watch TV. I do spend more time of the internet and learning Russian.

I know I will struggle without a TV when the World cup starts. Plus I do miss match of the day on Saturday nights.

Apart from that I don`t miss it.

Posted by: jpierce55

I bought one of the digital satellites when they first came out and it burnt up a few years later when I was in college. When I had it I watched it alot. Something about the return to education got me into playing Forgotten Realms RPG's (mainly pc) and reading the FR books as well.

Now I pretty much read 1 hour a night, check out this and one other forum, occasionally play pc games. I do still watch the news mainly for the weather, but it is never right. If I want to see a movie I buy the DVD, no shows cable or other really interest me.

Posted by: Texas Proud

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaun1000

Pinboy

I don`t have a TV at all. I moved in to my house in November to much work to do to watch TV. I do spend more time of the internet and learning Russian.

I know I will struggle without a TV when the World cup starts. Plus I do miss match of the day on Saturday nights.

Apart from that I don`t miss it.

Just my OPINION.. there wasn't much on TV in the UK anyhow unless you had cable... I was surprised how much I did not watch when I was there... but did enjoy the cricket, 'football' etc...

And for YOU there is that pesky TV tax!!! WHAT A COUNRY!!! Tax TV sets each year...

Posted by: shaun1000

And for YOU there is that pesky TV tax!!! WHAT A COUNRY!!! Tax TV sets each year...[/QUOTE]

We pay a licence fee for the BBC so basically we don`t have to watch the adverts. Some of the commercial stations adverts are better than their soap opera`s

Thats one of the main reason why a do not want a TV. I get radio for free, so I listening to the football most nights.

Posted by: Texas Proud

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaun1000

And for YOU there is that pesky TV tax!!! WHAT A COUNRY!!! Tax TV sets each year...

We pay a licence fee for the BBC so basically we don`t have to watch the adverts. Some of the commercial stations adverts are better than their soap opera`s

Thats one of the main reason why a do not want a TV. I get radio for free, so I listening to the football most nights.[/QUOTE]

Shaun,

I am pulling your chain on the above... I enjoyed my time in the UK, and if it was not so expensive I might even enjoy living there part time..

But, a 'license' fee is a tax.... any money that goes to the government is a tax.. now, they can use if for something good or something bad, but it is a "tax".

Posted by: firemansam

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaun1000

And for YOU there is that pesky TV tax!!! WHAT A COUNRY!!! Tax TV sets each year...

Sorry Shaun but that is a Tax. I get to watch the same shown on my pay TV for free. If I didn't want to watch them, then I wouldn't see them.
As I understand it, and I could be wrong, you have to pay a yearly fee for the BBC?

That my friend is the governments way of taxing you to "support" the local TV channels.

Before you fire up the flame thrower, I am not educated in this. I may be wrong and am more than willing to hear if I am.

This is just my opinions as the facts have shown themselves to me over the years... lol! (The "young Ones" mentioned the TV tax.. hahahaha!! very funny!!)
Sam

Posted by: Chrismc

Quote:

Originally Posted by firemansam

Yep FS......you only pay a TV fee for the BBC, if they had adverts like all the other channels there would be no fee, so as it is supposedly publicly owned and the fees go to run the BBC then it is in effect a TV tax.

Posted by: Jill

We don't have cable TV--just an antenna that gets us exactly three channels in English (and about five in Spanish

). I don't really miss cable--most of my news and entertainment comes from the Internet these days, anyway. When we want to watch something on the weekends, we usually watch movies on DVD. That's enough for us.

Posted by: cedarwind

I have cable but the only reason is that it only cost me $20.oo a month more as I have my High speed Internet from the same company.

But during most of the year it is a waste as I rarely watch it. I spend all my time writing letter to women in Russia or running my EBay business and that can be more interesting than TV.

When I have kids I most likely will get rid of it as there are better things for them to do than watch TV in my opinion.

Posted by: vic2012

Yes the BBC costs �100 a year (about $3.50 per week). But it's great when you watch films or documentaries without the constant breaks.

But in three years time, the analogue TV signals that we have had in the UK, for the last 70 years, will cease. Now most of the country receives digital signals. And, if you buy a converter box (about �40). You can still watch TV on your old telly and get about 40 programmes.

Quote:

Just my OPINION.. there wasn't much on TV in the UK anyhow unless you had cable... I was surprised how much I did not watch when I was there... but did enjoy the cricket, 'football' etc...

But, on second thoughts, there's still not much to watch.