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Lost in TV Land

By Bert Ehrmann

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Fort Wayne Reader

2018-10-05

It’s getting harder and harder to watch what I want on TV. There was a time and place when everything aired on either the networks or cable outlets, but that time has passed since now there are streaming services too. For a while it was easy to keep track of the streaming shows since there were just a handful to choose from, but lately it seems as if there are nearly as many streaming services as there are cable channels with more launching each year.

Right now I get a basic package from a satellite TV provider, subscribe to HBO and get a few hi-def movie channels too. I also subscribe to Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Nowadays in addition to the streamers above, there’s Crackle, FX+ and CBS All Access to name a few. And later this year/in 2019 both Disney and DC Entertainment are set to launch their own services and will begin streaming shows like Star Wars and Teen Titans. Even Apple and Walmart are looking into getting into the streaming game too.

All of which is great, but because everything is fragmenting so badly it’s getting really hard to see everything I want to see without subscribing to a multitude of different services. This summer I seriously considered “cutting the cord” and switching to all-streaming.

With my satellite TV package, out of the hundreds of channels I get I watch less than 20 of them, and many of those not regularly. There are quite a few channels I only watch with one or two series a year.

Looking at what I’ve DVRd in the past, and what I have set to DVR in the future, I only tend to watch BBC America, AMC, PBS, HBO, those hi-def movie channels and IFC regularly.

There are other channels like FX where I watch things like The Simpsons on occasion and Comedy Central where I watch King of the Hill. But as for original programming on those platforms, I can’t think of anything I watch regularly there.

Looking at all the channels I don’t watch, what I was surprised to find that they all seem to be airing the same stuff. There were lots of episodes of Big Bang Theory and the various procedural criminal dramas like Law & Order and NCIS… series in syndication all over the dial, which really doesn’t make sense to me. If I own a channel and my competitor is already airing Law & Order, why would I want to air that same show too?

I came to the realization that if most of the Earth’s biomass are made up of plants, then most of the TV biomass are made up of shows like Two and a Half Men and CSI along with infomercials.

I was surprised about that too, just how many channels I get that either are selling things or are airing a constant stream of infomercials. That’s a bit disappointing since there are plenty of channels I don’t get that air dramas and comedies I’d get if I subscribed to a pricier TV package, but I do get plenty of channels trying to sell me things.
And don’t get me started on TV commercials that seem to take away more and more programming each year.

Unfortunately, “cutting the cord” for me wouldn’t be that easy.

Where I live I don’t get the best internet connection — I know, SHOCK! And the internet connection I do get has a data cap. Which to me would mean that in order to cut my TV cord I’d need to get upgrade my internet cord to do so. I’d also need to subscribe to HULU and even start buying shows via places like iTunes that sell packages of the latest TV seasons too.

So, I could cut the cord, but in the end I feel like if I wouldn’t be paying the same for what I already get, I might actually be paying more when factoring in things like a higher internet charges and buying TV shows.
For now, I think I’ll stick with what I have. While I’d love to see things like Star Trek: Discovery on CBS All Access and Star Wars on Disney, I really don’t want to start paying $10 a month here and there to watch them either.