Few people want to watch the other 99.5% of shows they can’t get either with TiVo or watching it directly off the feed. If I had $700, I’d get TiVo…
Actually, if there weren’t those 40 channels of infomercials, you’d be left with only the 160 channels of I Love Lucy.
But speaking of infomercials – It’s lost its soul. Remember 10 or so years back the guy doing the “hand hammered Chinese wok” which was just him, cooking something? Or the car polish that could repel spray-paint and pass the legendary “flaming lighter fluid on the hood” demonstration?
Now they’re slicky produced pieces involving “expert” testimonials and live “demonstrations” of the product by planted shills, er, I mean people off the street; site visits to “Famous” Health Clubs where folks who ALREADY have buff model/bodybuilder bodies thanks to conventional workouts pretend to be impressed by the Torso Turd<tm>; interviews with “world-famous researchers” in quack fringe theories (complete with Ph. D. from Degree Mill College); fond reminiscence of the music that brings memories… of 1985???:eek:??? and of course washed-out celebs…
I really do not mind infomercials. They are hilarious!! We watch them all the time.
O, and they are even better after about 10 bong rips 
Have you seen Ron Popeil’s Rotisserie Bong? You put four bowls in, and they rotate at just the right temperature and YOU get baked. You haven’t lived till you’ve seen an audience full of old people and housewives shouting, “Hit it, then Fergit it!” at the top of their lungs.
Then Ron Popeil giggles like a schoolgirl for the other 26 minutes of the infomercial.
-The Man Who
How do you watch that much TV? If I watch West Wing, Law & Order, and ER in the same week I start to feel like I am wasting my life in front of the boob tube.
For me the appeal of Tivo would be the ability to pause and rewind live sporting events, but since I only watch a few each year, I haven’t been able to justify the cost of equipment plus the monthly charge.
Though, we did almost get cable when we heard that AT&T was finally going to add Food Network to their lineup. But we didn’t.
I think this shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what cable television is and was supposed to be. You didn’t pay for cable because there were no commericals; you paid to get programming that was not available in your local area from your network affiliates and independent stations. It was also a means to get programming to areas where broadcast programming was poor or unavailable, just like CATV (Community Antenna Television). The fees supported the cable companies’ infrastructure and program delivery.
When my family first got cable in 1979 – and this holds true today – most of the channels were stations that were over-the-air broadcasters in their local areas. WGN in Chicago, WTBS in Atlanta, WNYW and WWOR in New York. All of them, as over-the-air channels, had commercials. So did new channels like ESPN and Nickelodeon, and they still do.
You were told that if, in addition to paying for cable delivery, you wanted to pay an extra premium for channels like HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and The Movie Channel, you could get unedited movies and original programming without commercials. And you did, and still do.