Why does Comcast not want me to record the PBS News Hour?

[DadWagonDriver]

I don’t believe there is such an option for NFL or NCAA football. In fact, you still have to subscribe to DirecTV to get the NFL Sunday Ticket. The NFL does not have a similar service to the MLB, as far as I can tell. They do offer streaming replays of games, but you can’t watch live.

[John_Mace]

@InternetLegend

This week, my Comcast DVR (yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m a sucker who pays too much for TV and should be doing some damn thing over the internet instead; let’s call that a given) did the same thing! It’s been refusing to record the news, even though I’ve had a series recording set up forever. It looks like there’s a series recording; it asks me if I want to record the series with the settings I’ve chosen; then it shows up as if I’ve just set it to record the one episode.

Weird.

Yep, and now my DVR is ignoring my series recording for the Local Nightly News, too. It’s a conspiracy to keep me uninformed!! :eek:

I have posted from time to time on a Comcast forum, but haven’t in years. Maybe it’s time to revisit…

[ZipperJJ]

@Amateur_Barbarian

And I like MLB - which MLB.tv delivers, both realtime, delayed and archived, without commercials, for $25 a month.

Except you can’t get games for the team that plays in the market in which you live. I’d pony up $25/mo to watch the Indians but I couldn’t actually watch the Indians unless I moved out of state.

[John_Mace]

AVS forums, Local HD Reception and Info, SF Area.

Just posted a query.

[Amateur_Barbarian]

@ZipperJJ

Except you can’t get games for the team that plays in the market in which you live. I’d pony up $25/mo to watch the Indians but I couldn’t actually watch the Indians unless I moved out of state.

Yeah, it is more complex overall than just being able to flip channels on cable. As I said, cable may be the best/only option for some. But there’s an increasing awareness that you don’t need a premium cable tier to watch general things like news, broadcast programming and a select number of shows. There was even an article about it in the Sunday NYT, which shows you how mainstream the thinking is getting.

[ZipperJJ]

@Amateur_Barbarian

Yeah, it is more complex overall than just being able to flip channels on cable. As I said, cable may be the best/only option for some. But there’s an increasing awareness that you don’t need a premium cable tier to watch general things like news, broadcast programming and a select number of shows. There was even an article about it in the Sunday NYT, which shows you how mainstream the thinking is getting.

I don’t have cable FWIW. I happen to follow the team with the best radio team so I don’t miss not seeing games on TV. And our NFL team is still on broadcast television, so I’m good.

I’d guess sports is the #1 reason people stay with cable - for people who like sports. Also at the top of the list is one of several “appointment television” shows (Mad Men, Game of Thrones, et al) and easy, quick, background-noise access to news.

But my point is that “you can get your games on MLB.tv” is not a valid answer because most of us can’t.

[Amateur_Barbarian]

@ZipperJJ

Also at the top of the list is one of several “appointment television” shows (Mad Men, Game of Thrones, et al) and easy, quick, background-noise access to news.

You can get almost every show on television within hours of initial broadcast, in HD, with zero commercials, for less than $2 an episode. If you only watch one of two of these shows at any time, it’s far cheaper to pay for them a la carte than picking them out of the bucket o’ bits. For me, the total lack of commercial annoyance and delays would be worth a premium anyway. (The amount of power cable boxes waste, especially DVR models, is not a trivial factor - 30-60 watts, 24/7/365. There is no standby mode and you can’t unplug them.)

Streaming news is available from dozens of online and stream-sources, for free.

But my point is that “you can get your games on MLB.tv” is not a valid answer because most of us can’t.

I didn’t respond well last time - you have a point there. I’ve never had trouble finding a combination of local broadcast, cable, special-access and streaming to bring me all the baseball I could want, but if you’re a multi-sports fan and want all the major feeds, cable is probably a better option.