Is pay TV dead?

Hi Harold;

This is what I watch and read; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

A US or Canadian "News Hour" contains 22 minutes of titillation and 38 minutes of commercials. Not for me.

C-Band was also a form of PayTV. Before Norman made a new receiver you had to buy one from General Dynamics.
Norm is also the guy who acid etched the chip under a micrograph on a DTV card and built a clone using an ATMEL.

http://www.hackerscatalog.com/Products/DSS_FAQ%27s/DSSFAQ3.html

FTA is Free Here is your channel list that you can receive in CR;

http://www.lyngsat.com/freetv/Costa-Rica.html
 
I switched from cable around 6 years ago, as I couldn't see the point of paying money each month for mostly crap that I didn't want. Unfortunately, terrestrial analogue where I live was unwatchable, even with a massive antenna array and head amp on a pole on the roof, so I was stuck with cable until digital terrestrial came along, although when I switched to that I still suffered from a poor signal with loads of drop-outs on digital.

Two years ago I switched from terrestrial digital to Freesat digital, a free-to-air, no subscription, no strings attached satellite service that carries around 120 channels, including all the reasonable UK public service channels and the high definition channels. It's excellent quality, especially in high def, and it means I can record direct to hard disk pretty much anything I want. The Freesat box I have even enables me to copy recorded programmes on to a USB stick and watch them when away on a PC or laptop if I want.

I think the only reason to continue to pay for TV and radio is if you're a sports fan, as virtually all the big-bucks sport stuff is still only on pay TV services here. As I'm quite content to listen to the cricket on the radio if need be, it doesn't really bother me.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that the pay-to-view business crashes in the next few years, as free-to-air starts to take over again.

Jeremy
 
Jeremy Harris said:
I think the only reason to continue to pay for TV and radio is if you're a sports fan, as virtually all the big-bucks sport stuff is still only on pay TV services here. As I'm quite content to listen to the cricket on the radio if need be, it doesn't really bother me.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that the pay-to-view business crashes in the next few years, as free-to-air starts to take over again.

Jeremy

If you are a "sports fan" go out and enjoy sports, true sport, amateur sport, local sport, kids sport, college sport! Not bullshit big business, masquerading as SPORT!
As to listening to cricket on the radio, I've been trying to understand the game by watching it while surrounded by people who were translating for me. I haven't got it figured out yet. I still go "what was that?" So far, I think you have to grow up with the game, to know all that goes on?
 
after reading this post,i feel so underground :oops: .mad wifi and cloak networks are my vice.havent paid for phone internet cable for 12 years :D .i just think if its in the air and im being bombarded with signals,might as well find a way to use them.i guess im just a bad human :) .
 
Gordo said:
As to listening to cricket on the radio, I've been trying to understand the game by watching it while surrounded by people who were translating for me. I haven't got it figured out yet. I still go "what was that?" So far, I think you have to grow up with the game, to know all that goes on?

Probably true. The rules are easy enough, I think it's probably learning the language that describes the game that's the struggle - it's a bit arcane, to say the least.

Mind you, I struggle to understand what the hell's going on with American football.................

Jeremy
 
Lessssss, being you are from Canada, I will let that statement slide.

I like to look at pictures. :roll: :roll: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Jeremy Harris said:
I think the only reason to continue to pay for TV and radio is if you're a sports fan, as virtually all the big-bucks sport stuff is still only on pay TV services here. As I'm quite content to listen to the cricket on the radio if need be, it doesn't really bother me.

The motherland needs to take a leaf out of the convict colony here :mrgreen: We get all major sporting events on free to air, heck we even get that silly Grid Iron game on one of the FTA sports channels along with the basketball in the USA...but I am with you J.H i can't undertand what the hell is going on with that Grid Iron, the lil dance they do after they get a touch after 37 restarts and player swaps is somewhat amusing the rest though is great to watch when i can't sleep nods me off quick smart :mrgreen:

KiM
 
beast775 said:
after reading this post,i feel so underground :oops: .mad wifi and cloak networks are my vice.havent paid for phone internet cable for 12 years :D .i just think if its in the air and im being bombarded with signals,might as well find a way to use them.i guess im just a bad human :) .
lol, I did that for a while...I just always get pissed off when something is taking too long, plus I hammer the shit out of my connection most of the time, so it's worth it to me to actually pay for it. Once I get myself situated in my new place though, I'll be setting up a separate unsecure network for whoever wants to use it. ...heavily segregated from the rest of my network and with lower QoS priority than my wired and secure wireless, of course. ;) Hurray for business class internet...essentially no TOS. :mrgreen:
 
I love the part at 1:00 in the second video, where O'Reilly says "Bias, by Fox News, Senator? Really?"

It totally sounds like he's being sarcastic. :lol: :lol: :lol: The senator pauses for a second, with a look on his face kinda like:

MediumThumbnail.jpg
 
We built a fractal antenna that works really good. All you need is a piece of scrap wood, a coat hangar, a few screws, and an impedance matching (300 ohm to 75 ohm) coaxial connector from radio shack. Best thing is it is small enough to hide behind a picture frame or painting so you don't need to hide it up in the attic and run wires or signal boosters. You can find easy instructions here: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-fractal-antenna-for-HDTV-DTV-plus-/
 
AussieJester said:
morph999 said:
I'm very happy with my over-the-air tv now. I use a signal amplifier to get all the channels, though. Without it, I'd probably only get half of the available ones. I got two music channels now. Fox just added another channel this year, too so I'm very happy. I'm just as entertained as when I had satellite. Even satellite tv would bore me sometimes so I figured that I might as well not pay for it. I've taken up Yoga and am trying to get into doing Karate if I still can at age 34. I hope to be able to kick at head height by my 35th birthday. I think I will be able too. It's been a long time going because my muscles were practically dead and were very inflexible when I first started. I find much more enjoyment out of my day by incorporating about 2 hours of yoga, stretching, and weight lifting.


Morpheus Autobotious is BACK! you have the net again? Howz the weight loss going? ready for your first MMA event? beat anyone up when they pushed in front of you yet? details details details Morph!?! :mrgreen:

I no longer have satelite free to air in OZ is decent enough have around 20 channels (including music and radio channels) handful of those at HD rest are digital...I rarely watch anything but the newz, footbal and cricket though, i download a handful of tv episodes and a couple of movies a day (when avaialable) via bittorrent. More than enough for viewing when relaxing after a day in the workshop and ad free!

KiM

I'm playing poker again at my mom's house so I'll be on the internet a little more. I still don't have the internet at my house. I'm leaving to go back home here in a few seconds but will be playing poker tomorrow. I'm trying to earn enough money to buy a treadmill. I've got my eye on one of those Gold's Gym Treadmills for $380 but if you guys know a better workout machine then I'm all ears. I want to get a very good cardio workout. The exercise bike I have still works but doesn't get me breathing very hard. I'm looking at either an eliptical machine or a treadmill. Can you get a hard workout on an elliptical ? I've added lots of stretches to my routine including arm stretches and had a problem with inner leg so added a bunch to that. I've got so many old injuries that I'm having to strengthen those first before moving forward. I've made big gains in my hamstring so I can kick higher now. I can kick almost to the ribs now. As for side kicks, I can only kick to waist height so far. I've figured out how to make big advances. I was not doing my routines effectively and now I work on kicking high and then I stretch rather than just stretching alone. I'm also working on my trapezius muscle and chest and arms.

BTW, the machine needs to be $400 or less. I've also looked at some manual treadmills like they used on The Biggest Loser but I don't know what kind that one was or how much it is.
 
BTW, I get about 30 channels on over-the-air. I use a $12 radio shack antenna and a signal amplifier. Converter box is one of those Zenith Dtt900's (Insignia are the same thing just different name now).
 
Morph,

If you can trot on a treadmill, you can jump rope. A good leather rope is a bit cheaper than a treadmill and you can take it anywhere.

Again (from long ago), a total-gym can provide stretching and targeted muscle development. They were PT equipment long before the Chuck & Christie infomercials.


Q: You know the difference between a Soloflex and a Bowflex?

A: You can hang more laundry on a Bowflex. :p
 
Hear hear on the total gym. Ol chuck norris had the meanest high kick so you know he wouldn't put his name on something that wouldn't deliver. After months of exercising for a living my body balloons up when I go to just getting forty to fifty hours a day commuting on a bicycle still keeping my same eating habits. I'm dusting off my T-G for the hard part of bostons coldest months.
 
Those Total gyms look like they would hurt my muscles because of some of the awkward movements. I have some free weights for bicep curl and other stuff. I need cardio workout.
 
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