I'm not as happy as I used to be with the selection of channels I'm getting with my $57.80/month I pay to Comcast. I have no need for the digital package, even though I really miss Game Show Network and would like to watch NFL Network in the comfort of my home.
Last I saw I wasn't allowed to get a dish, so it's cable or nothing (rabbit ears don't work anymore).
Last month, we were stripped of Fox 29 without explanation. My guess is because Fox is threatening to charge cable systems for carrying their stations, instead of the long-running practice of offering free transmission of broadcast affiliates. It's something like what led Shen-Heights to not carry WBRE and WYOU because the station owners wanted transmission fees.
Here's what I would like offered to us on our cable menu...
1. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton stations: WNEP, WBRE, WYOU, WOLF, WSWB, WQMY, WVIA. I would also like to see WYLN Hazleton in there, too.
2. No New York stations... aside from 10 or so Yankees games, do we need WWOR? We used to get Fox5 and WPIX, but they also got dropped along the way.
3. More Philly/Harrisburg stations... at least one more, and make it a CBS. We have 2 NBC, 2 ABC, 2 CW, and 2 MyNetwork affiliates. Why not another CBS, like KYW CBS3 Philly or WHP CBS21 Harrisburg? And if the WYOU brass complains, drop WYOU, because they no longer have local news. Definitely keep WGAL, MyPHL17 and WPVI. WLYH doesn't offer me much anymore.
4. I don't need 4 shopping channels.
5. Keep the government channels & news networks... we all need a good laugh every now and then. Keep Comedy Central and TVLand... we all need a good laugh every now and then.
6. If you're gonna put something on channel 11 (where Fox29 was), put WFMZ there. They do mention Schuylkill County in a lot of their newscasts.
7. Just about everything else is okay, but let me pick and choose what I want. I'm hardly home, and I stick to the staples when I watch... the local channels, ESPN, CNN, and the Weather Channel.
For my $57.80/month ($4 of which goes to local government), let me choose 40 channels, broadcast or cable, and I'll shut up and enjoy. I'll take four ESPNs (1,2,U, and Classic), CSN Philly, FSN Pittsburgh, MASN & MASN2, NFL, Weather Channel, CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, Food Network, PCN, CSPAN 1 & 2, GSN, E!, CNBC, ABC Family, Nick, TV Land, Comedy Central, TVG, HRTV, and 14 locals... WNEP, WBRE, WOLF, WSWB, WQMY, WVIA, WGAL, WHP, KYW, WITF, WPVI, WFMZ, WYLN, and KDKA Pittsburgh.
Buckle up,
TS
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1 comment:
couldn't agree more!
Instead of this silliness where the cable operators and networks have a legal battle on which channels are on which tier... let’s reintroduce market forces into cable. LET THE CONSUMERS PICK THEIR OWN CHANNELS!!
TV A La Carte is a consumer-driven movement so we pick our own programming. Not Big Cable. And it doesn’t take much for us to have an alternative… around 1,000 folks in a concentrated area could be enough to have a small operator launch a scrappy, nimble, tech-savvy business. Join the movement!
http://www.tvalacarte.org/
Friends don't let friends get steamrolled by Big Cable!
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