It's About Liberty: A Conservative Forum

Topics => Entertainment => Topic started by: Libertas on January 30, 2018, 06:38:31 AM

Title: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: Libertas on January 30, 2018, 06:38:31 AM
Unplugging from the matrix, I'll find another avenue for catching GOT, not paying for all that garbage only to cherry pick here and there for the rare gem in the field of manure!
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: IronDioPriest on January 30, 2018, 08:13:43 AM
I'm planning the same. I just wanna make sure I have access to the things we like to watch.
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: Libertas on January 30, 2018, 09:19:35 AM
I will have to look at internet options...may need a nephew to help make that happen...me being a fossil analog guy!  :o
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: patentlymn on January 30, 2018, 12:07:54 PM
For decades I watched almost no TV. Long ago I liked Rockford Files then Wiseguy, both well written. Some Law and Order was OK.  I used TV to watch movies, first VHS then DVDs.  Right now there are no movies I would see even if they were free at the theater.  The Founder was good and I liked Norman but Norman  is not for everyone.

My favorite TV shows in recent history are The Good Wife and The Americans.

In the past several years TV writing has gotten much better and movies now suck.  There are more outlets for TV and video is easier and cheaper to produce than it was in the film days. Many creative scripts get produced. I read that Breaking Bad was rejected by every studio/channel except AMC.

I have HS internet plus a Roku box. I can subscribe to Netflix, HBO, SHO, Amazon Prime for $10 to $15 per month each if I want.
Amazon Prime currently has The Good Wife, The Americans, Hand of God, Sneaky Peat, Man in the High Castle, The Wire, Mrs. Maisel, Mr. Robot, etc. $99 for one year of Amazon Prime as I recall.

HBO has Silicon Valley

SHO has Billions

Netflix has Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Dexter

IMO The Americans is the best series I have seen. The final season starts end of March.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zuOA1-Esoo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zuOA1-Esoo)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOu8jazlA9k (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOu8jazlA9k)
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: ToddF on January 30, 2018, 07:21:05 PM
Plus you don't have to subscribe to all at once.  You can binge on one, then switch to another.  Of course, that might not work for movies as they rotate their selection but if you only watch TV shows, that's the way to go.  Netflix DVD/Bluerays are still a good option, for the movies, and you could subscribe to all the streaming services and not get access to all the movies.
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: Pablo de Fleurs on January 30, 2018, 10:07:56 PM
Happy to hear you're moving in my direction. The last time I watched television regularly, M*A*S*H was not in syndication, but a regularly scheduled program. As I type this, The Music Channel (usually classical, or Jazz) is playing.

BUT - I may be purchasing my 1st Smart TV (we have a non-HD "fat" television now) - because our company is switching to digital/streaming presentations as opposed to live (college classroom) ones; we'll do 1 or 2 live & 1-2 streaming per month - which will be better viewed on a larger TV monitor rather than a traditional computer desktop.

And I'm betting John Wick III will be more appealing on the smart-tv as well!
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: Libertas on January 31, 2018, 07:05:18 AM
My brother has Amazon, will have to drop over there sometime and give it a gander.
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: AlanS on January 31, 2018, 02:26:21 PM
I've been married 27 yrs. We've never had cable or satellite. Only within the last couple years did we get Netflix.

Have a chit load of movies on VHS and DVD.
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: Libertas on January 31, 2018, 05:13:33 PM
I have a load...not sure if it's full chit.
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: rustybayonet on May 16, 2018, 07:49:45 PM
Think I've got chit squared, and have given many away.. Now thinking of "Sling, but daughter told me to get a 'smart TV' [tried to tell her smart TV and dumb watcher doesn't mix], then sign up for prime on Amazon - after that can get TV through them for real cheap, [ old fart doesn't remember - waiting to hear from her on cost]. 
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: Pandora on May 16, 2018, 08:53:48 PM
You don't necessarily need a SmartTV, you just need one that can hook up to a ROKU box.  Through that, you can get Netflix/Amazon/Sling/etc.etc.etc.
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: patentlymn on May 16, 2018, 10:48:26 PM
As I posted above, I like Amazon Prime. I order to watch the final season of The Americans I had to pay $20 extra, well worth it IMO.

I have been watching braodcast TV lately, inlcuding Quest network, with lots of reality TV and military history stuff.

Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: Weisshaupt on May 17, 2018, 11:58:50 AM
There are a number of options now that convert old tvs to smart TVs by plugging in a HDMI dongle. Or XBOX , or Playsation, or Roku , or simply using you PC to watch stuff.

I pay for Amazon Prime ($100 a year) , so that provides a number of options for free, and usually allows you to pay for anything else you just have to see.
I also get Hulu and Netflix - for around $10 a month.  A lot worth watching.. Old and new.
Netflix has has MST3k reboot, Stranger Things and Series of Unfortunate Events - all well worth the cost right there.
Hulu as a lot of older shows  and some newer anime.
If you do like Anime, Crunchyroll and Funimation offer a lot for - I think - $6 a month each.

Between those options, I have more to watch than I have time for.
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: IronDioPriest on May 17, 2018, 12:10:15 PM
The big thing that has kept me from pulling the trigger on getting rid of cable is a lack of easily discernible ways for me to watch UFC. Given that they offer PPVs, plus free fight cards that are on Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Big Fox, FX, and even FXX - there has been no way to cut the cable and make sure that I can watch all fights live. They have a streaming app called FightPass, but it's $15/month, doesn't include any PPVs, and none of the Fox cards are available live - only after 30 days.

There is a new UFC deal announced that will get rid of Fox and replace it with ESPN, with 15 cards/year only available on a new ESPN+ streaming app for $5/month, plus PPVs, and ostensibly some TV offerings as well.

None of it seems cut-and-dried as far as making it easy for me to get rid of cable. I HAVE to have the ability to watch all the fights, because I moonlight as an MMA journalist with an article every week or so. I can't wait 30 days to watch fights.
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: ToddF on May 17, 2018, 08:37:47 PM
Weaning myself from sports has been the biggest liberating factor, with regards to cutting the cable.  Even if the Big 10 Network offered their big games (they do offer the stuff no one cares about on their streaming service) on streaming, I no longer care, because they took so long to get there that I stopped giving a flying fluke.
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: Libertas on May 17, 2018, 10:35:40 PM
I am a lot more disengaged too since cutting the cord, it's rather nice!
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: rustybayonet on May 19, 2018, 09:42:04 AM
What makes me hold on to things.  Wife and I hardly watch TV - she reads all the time, or is during household things.  I became caught up in my 'projects' and hardly watch.  You would think I learned something after holding on to a cabin up north [while living in Florida].  The excuse was I would have it to go deer hunting etc., but still paying taxes, insurance, up keep, new roof, new furnace, buying for re-staining the outside split logs, keeping enough propane to run the furnace set very low during Michigan winters - and then only using it 1 night in ten [10 YEARS]  ::gaah:: ... but now we keep paying for cable, to watch the crappie news though out the country and world ::thinking:: - maybe going back  60-70 years with only radio is sounding much better every day.
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: Libertas on May 19, 2018, 11:58:27 AM
Yeah...I hear ya Rusty...human nature to hold onto things...I suspect it is easier to remove things piecemeal over time than all at once...
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: AlanS on May 20, 2018, 03:22:57 PM

I have been watching braodcast TV lately, inlcuding Quest network, with lots of reality TV and military history stuff.
_

Can't get Quest (even though it sounds great), but we can catch Grit TV. Nothing but old westerns. ::whoohoo::
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: patentlymn on May 20, 2018, 04:00:47 PM

I notice more broadcast TV stations added as time goes on. Quest seems to have lots of history channel stuff. I don't think Quest was there a year ago.
I use a 2 foot long yagi(?) antenna that I use indoors.  All my stations are in the same location and 5 miles away.  It costs maybe $25. If they were farther away I would use a larger outdoor antenna.


Channel Master STEALTHtenna 50 CM3010HD Antenna
by Channel Master
Link: http://a.co/4JQg4ni (http://a.co/4JQg4ni)
http://www.questtv.com/find-quest (http://www.questtv.com/find-quest)
Title: Re: Pulling the plug on Big TV
Post by: Libertas on May 21, 2018, 06:04:35 PM

I have been watching braodcast TV lately, inlcuding Quest network, with lots of reality TV and military history stuff.
_

Can't get Quest (even though it sounds great), but we can catch Grit TV. Nothing but old westerns. ::whoohoo::

I get both on Sling.

(https://images2.imgbox.com/ac/cf/2tPg3KdT_o.gif)