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Sub channels, have we learned to like them or not?

gregg75

gregg75

Back when sub channels were far and few (around 2010) I think many had a fear of the unknown. Have we learned to like and accept them? I have. Enough to cancel my DirecTV and go with a digital antenna. I'm more a fan of the older TV series vs. the new ones, and was basically watching more by antenna than satellite. And the fact that I have about 10 pretty decent subs to augment my viewing was a major reason I cancelled DirecTV. Plus $85 more dollars in my pocket each month.

I think sub channels have earned more respect since 2010 and are not as "icky" as some originally thought. Have sub channels become more acceptable and finally earned their place and viewer's respect?
 
Sub-channel programming is also my favorite with a few modern exceptions. I never expected to see old shows like Maverick, Mr. Ed and tons of 60's shows that I missed while serving overseas. However, I despise both the commercial load and commercial type on these channels. There are way too many commercials and, like music radio, they last too long at each iteration. They obviously also repeat way too much. It is commonplace on some of my local subs to have the exact commercial run 3 times during one half-hour show. And it usually seems as if it is of the two-minute variety. The commercial types are also irritating. They consist almost solely of ambulance chasing lawyers, senior-age medical appliances, insurance schemes and the infamous $20 products that are almost always scams. (An excellent example was the recent downgrading of MyPillow.)

It is very rare that I watch any of these shows in real time but rather record them and zip past the commercials. In that manner they are acceptable.
 
Todays sub channels reminds me a LOT of 1998/1999 when I first got Direct TV. Back in those days most cable channels were still true to themselves such as History Channel still showed history and it was always interesting to find new channels such as Boomerang or Game Show Network. New York's WABC and LA's KCBS in West Virginia ?? You bet !! Today all of that has changed. The sub-channels of today will probably follow the same path such as some young consultant somewhere will tell them that they need to reach a younger demo and then the changes such as perhaps reruns of Big Bang Theory on MeTV or "the best of Jerry Springer" on another. A marijuana channel will probably come about one of these days and perhaps a channel for conservatives with Trump in the White House . In short they will be the more/less the same as what one finds on Direct TV and cable today, Hey I like the classics too but one may be surprised at how many of those who are past 45 who don't. Where I work at one of our supervisors actually blocked the TV in our break room from picking up Antenna TV and MeTV since according to her watching "dead people" on TV is living in the past and unhealthy so today the only sub channels we can get are from PBS. Oh well !! I say enjoy them while you can because they like everything else in life they won't last forever.
 
I think subchannels are great, and a significant reason why cord cutting is even considered a possibility by many.
 
I like them and find myself watching more and more.

Partly I think this is because I'm in the over-50 demographic, and these channels are programming old shows I remember from the 60's - 80's. Whereas most of the cable nets have moved on to programming aimed at people under 40. Frankly there aren't a lot of shows on my cable listings that interest me these days.

Though I won't cut the cord because cable and satellite is still the only place to go for live sports.
 
With increasingly popular sub networks like Me-TV, Decades, Antenna TV, Cozi,
THIS TV, Heroes and Icons available in even remote locations like Prescott, AZ
What's not to like???????? Choice is good and when people can relate to those
programs, unlike "Modern Family," "Blackish," etc, etc, etc, viewers win..........
 
landtuna said:
Sub-channel programming is also my favorite with a few modern exceptions. I never expected to see old shows like Maverick, Mr. Ed and tons of 60's shows that I missed while serving overseas. However, I despise both the commercial load and commercial type on these channels. There are way too many commercials and, like music radio, they last too long at each iteration. They obviously also repeat way too much. It is commonplace on some of my local subs to have the exact commercial run 3 times during one half-hour show. And it usually seems as if it is of the two-minute variety. The commercial types are also irritating. They consist almost solely of ambulance chasing lawyers, senior-age medical appliances, insurance schemes and the infamous $20 products that are almost always scams. (An excellent example was the recent downgrading of MyPillow.)
Click to expand...

So it comes as a surprise to anyone that only bottom-feeders advertise on sub-channels? It must be dirt-cheap (at least, compared to the "main" channels) to advertise there.

Here in Nashville, we have "Newschannel5+" (usually called "the plus") at 5.2 which is a public-affairs channel. They host locally-produced talk shows, repeats of the last newscast, and occasionally, gavel-to-gavel coverage of trials that are of interest to local viewers. Several years ago, during a storm outbreak while the "main" channel was in March madness, they ran crawls across the bottom of the screen directing viewers to "the plus" for storm coverage. Only problem was, at the time, "the plus" was a cable-only channel, thus forcing me to switch to competing stations for storm coverage. After that, I wrote to them suggesting that if they are going to do that in the future, they should make "the plus" available as a subchannel. It was not long after that that they did, although I am not suggesting that my email to them had anything to do with that. This was during the digital transition, and they may have been planning on doing that, anyway.
 
Prescott Joe said:
With increasingly popular sub networks like Me-TV, Decades, Antenna TV, Cozi,
THIS TV, Heroes and Icons available in even remote locations like Prescott, AZ
Click to expand...
I like Antenna TV, but wish that they wouldn't "scrunch" the closing credits like a lot of cable channels do. It is frustrating to want to know the name of an actor who played a given character, or to know the year that a given episode was copyrighted, only to not be able to read it due to "scrunched" credits.
 
firepoint525 said:
I like Antenna TV, but wish that they wouldn't "scrunch" the closing credits like a lot of cable channels do. It is frustrating to want to know the name of an actor who played a given character, or to know the year that a given episode was copyrighted, only to not be able to read it due to "scrunched" credits.
Click to expand...

IMDB is a great online source for that sort of thing.
 
firepoint525 said:
I like Antenna TV, but wish that they wouldn't "scrunch" the closing credits like a lot of cable channels do. It is frustrating to want to know the name of an actor who played a given character, or to know the year that a given episode was copyrighted, only to not be able to read it due to "scrunched" credits.
Click to expand...

It allows them to air another 30-second ad. Doesn't bother me in any case.

My gripe with Antenna TV right now is that whomever set up this year's schedule seriously need his/her head examined. Airing an hour each of My Mother The Car and It's About Time on Saturdays is bad enough, but why in the world would any channel air even one minute of The Joey Bishop Show?!?!? Let's just say that Bishop was far better as a late-night talk show host (but still a distant second to Carson) than as an actor in a mediocre-at-best sitcom.
 
It's great if you're a baby boomer nostalgic for 60s and 70s shows. If you're looking for something that's actually new, something that would convince you to put up an antenna (if what's on the major networks isn't enough for that) if you're already watching whatever you want online, keep looking. I certainly wouldn't look to low-cost rerun farms to revitalize broadcast television.
 
I like these networks but they become stale very quickly. They air the same shows over and over. I remember when Antenna TV was airing Mr. Belvedere, they were running through the entire library in a week or two, so it was always the same episodes over and over. It also seems that they put the best shows on at very odd times. If you want to watch Taxi or Cheers on Me TV you'll have to watch at midnight on Sundays.
 
landtuna said:
There are a ton of world wide live sports shows available online and at no cost.
Click to expand...

But most of us prefer American pro and college sports than things like Zambian Premiere League cricket matches. ;) :D

Outside of football, most pro and college sports moved to cable years ago. Baseball and hockey have almost completely disappeared from OTA broadcasting. The NBA gets Sunday afternoons on ABC. College hoops get some weekend games on CBS and Fox. College football airs about a third of its games over the air, while the NFL only offers your regional CBS & Fox games, plus Sunday night and half the Thursday night games.

The bottom line is that sports fans still need cable or satellite in order to watch most events. In most cases, watching online also requires a cable or satellite subscription. I don't see this changing anytime soon.
 
KeithE4 said:
But most of us prefer American pro and college sports than things like Zambian Premiere League cricket matches. ;) :D
Click to expand...

As Mr. Tuna said, every sporting event is out there if you know where to look. Whether you want to accept the risks of doing so is up to you.
 
CTListener said:
As Mr. Tuna said, every sporting event is out there if you know where to look. Whether you want to accept the risks of doing so is up to you.
Click to expand...

Legally? Didn't think so.

I don't think it's very smart to advocate doing something that's clearly against the law on a message board that you don't own. Some boards will immediately ban people who do that.
 
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