# Why can't I just have the channels I want?



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Why do these bloodsucking cable and sat providers bundle these channels into so called "value" paks or whatever they call them. If you want like two channels out of 20 in a bundle you have to take them all. What kind of warped, grave robbing psychopath came up with this crap? In order to get the 10 or 12 channels that I really want I have to pay $100 or more a month and take 60 channels I have no use for. The whole system is evil


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

I'm going to go out on a limb and say marketing 101. If they put each specialty channel out on the market by its' self they would have to charge $5.00 to $10.00 per channel per month, by bundling them with other channels they can sell them to you at $2.00 per month each. Now if they sell these bundles to 100,000 customers this generates approx. $200,000 per month to each specialty channel included in this bundle thus covering some of their operating costs. With the size of the big three across Canada it is not hard for them to sell that number of subscriptions. Some of those channels are included in your basic cable package at least thats the B. S. the local reps. told me. I have enough tenants that by the same package so it must work. Now if someone has a better theory and want to tell I'm as full of shit as a 4000 lb. canary thats fine.


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## urko99 (Mar 30, 2009)

GuitarsCanada said:


> Why do these bloodsucking cable and sat providers bundle these channels into so called "value" paks or whatever they call them. If you want like two channels out of 20 in a bundle you have to take them all. What kind of warped, grave robbing psychopath came up with this crap? In order to get the 10 or 12 channels that I really want I have to pay $100 or more a month and take 60 channels I have no use for. The whole system is evil


Regadless of the Marketing logic, It's an excellent Rant! LoL! I'm with you on this man!


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

My provider didn't have MTV when I first got it.

When they did introduce it into their "packages", rather than put it in with the MuchMusic"s", BET, etc.,
they put it in one of the news packages with BBC, FOX, etc.. They'll sell another package that way, I suppose.


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## TA462 (Oct 30, 2012)

Life was so much more simpler when I had a antenna and a rotor. I kind of miss the old days, lol.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I know I've said this before, but TV is done as far as I'm concerned.

If not for my wife and the one daughter who still lives with me, I would have pulled the plug years ago. The honest truth is that when I travel or if I'm home alone, the TVs never get powered up.

I can think of three or four shows I'm interested in watching and even they are available on youtube.

The reality TV and "dramas" I see in passing the idiot boxes almost seems to suck intelligence out as I walk by.

It's all yours folks.


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

More and more I am finding that there are less channels that I will actually watch, its funny but the I-pod gets more play the TV seems to be more background noise then actual watching and I have found that the guitar is being played a lot more as i GET MORE BORED with the crappy choices we have during the summer. I do enjoy the discovery channel and of course shark week has been amusing. I have a real hard time believing that anybody is really watching Honey Boo Boo or even Duck Dynasty.ship


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

Add me to this rant. I watch maybe 6 channels and the rest is just filler. What is even more annoying is that some channels are just different feeds of the same thing. Only 1 feed of NBC or FOX is required, I don't need it on 3 different places on the dial (Dial.....yeah, that's how they used to change channels!)


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Frig them. I cut it back to the absolute basic package and pay for my NFL package. I watch almost exclusively sports. So I lost my TSN 2 etc but oh well. The wife is bumming because she lost the channels with all the garbage on them like snake tamers and drunk hillbilly's blowing on duck calls. I told her to go watch her netflix, they are all on there


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

Yep we talked about this stuff this morning and we are seriously looking at going very basic and really how can the duck guys act so stupid I know they get paid but seriously its not like they haven't been away from their homes and you can't make a million dollars being stupid can you or else everyone would do it wouldn't they.ship


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

I would like channels to broadcast what their name implies, "The Learning Channel", "Discovery", and "History" immediately come to mind. How about we create a new specialty channel for the "Crap and Mindless Drivel" and put Honey Boo-Boo, and anything to do with parking, storage, dresses, ducks, ******** and Kardasians on it.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

allthumbs56 said:


> I would like channels to broadcast what their name implies, "The Learning Channel", "Discovery", and "History" immediately come to mind. How about we create a new specialty channel for the "Crap and Mindless Drivel" and put Honey Boo-Boo, and anything to do with parking, storage, dresses, ducks, ******** and Kardasians on it.


The dude down at Rogers asked me if I watched "Honey Boo Boo" to which I replied "what the hell are you talking about?"


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## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

Telus "gave " me a trial of some channels,& then dont tell you that they have expired in the "trial" period. Took me forever to find how to take them off my lists.
Did have Hi-Fi channel for "Guitar Picks" though, great show.


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## 10409 (Dec 11, 2011)

just watch tv online (for free)
no downloading required, just watch it in your browser

www.vodly.to

you have to put up with a lot of NSFW popup ads, but there's no commercials so it kinda balances itself out. plus you watch what you want when you want for free.

many TV stations have websites where you can watch their shows online for free, too.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

At some point, the providers are going to figure out a way to achieve it and still make money off it. I suspect they are none too happy with the blowback they get like what initiated this thread, and anything that allowed them to make the desired money and avoid the grief would make them happy.

But they're not there yet.

I imagine part of it is the differential profitability of various channels. For instance, I'd be pretty happy with a package that gave me Comedy, Food, PBS, AUX, CPAC,  AMC, and a couple news channels. How profitable is AUX or CPAC, relative to the Food network? I have no idea. So what should Rogers charge me for that package?, or for each channel? I don't know, and probably neither do they.

Would a flat rate that charges per channel included work? I don't know. Would unlimited access and universal pay-per-view (i.e., if you fall asleep watching an infomercial or the weather network, you pay for the data transmission the same way you would for a ball game or Stanley Cup playoff game) work? I don't know.

Whatever they eventually settle on, there has to be something guaranteed in it for both the original providers who produce the programming, and the distributors. Until some workable solution for that is arrived at, don't expect things to change.


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## Beatles (Feb 7, 2006)

Rogers slowly sucked the life from my basic cable subscription I had for the past 9 years. Every other month it seems I would get a letter in mail saying I would no longer get certain channel unless I upgrade my cable subscription. So over the past six months, no more History Channel, HGTV, AMC, and a few others. Know what ? Fuck them. I cancelled my cable effective the end of August.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

allthumbs56 said:


> I would like channels to broadcast what their name implies, "The Learning Channel", "Discovery", and "History" immediately come to mind. How about we create a new specialty channel for the "Crap and Mindless Drivel" and put Honey Boo-Boo, and anything to do with parking, storage, dresses, ducks, ******** and Kardasians on it.


The learning channel is gone, my friend. TLC no longer stands for anything, and they put on a lot of garbage. 

I plan on having netflix and streaming from the net. I havent needed cable/sat in a long time. Could use more PBS specials though!


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## Brennan (Apr 9, 2008)

Budda said:


> I plan on having netflix and streaming from the net. I havent needed cable/sat in a long time. Could use more PBS specials though!


^ This.

I have a media server running XBMC streaming to my TV, and every show I watch is scheduled for auto-download to my archive in HD so they're there when I want them. Any movies i buy are ripped and stored on the server as well, so I don't have to deal with physical media at all. I watch what I want, when I want with the click of a button.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

There's a bunch of specialty channels that have progressively strayed from their original brand. A lot of the Food network doesn't really get to tell me much about food or how to make it (Bitchin' Kitchen aside; thanks for letting me remnd myself it's on tonight - Nads rocks!!). It'll tell me about waiters who steal, chefs who get "sent home", renovating restaurants, and a lot of stuff very tangentially related to the food industry, in addition to headache-inducing 600msec clips of people stuffing something into their face. Arts & Entertainment has very little of either these days, having become pretty much where police procedural shows go once they hit the 100 episode mark. Bravo & Showcase have both declined substantially and seem to run the same movies about as often as Peachtree runs Spawn, Rush Hour, and Blade movies. As Buddha notes, TLC's only 'L' is essentially a sort of Jerry Springer without the studio audience, where you can watch people who make bad life choices buy a dress or decide which pile of junk they want to be buried in; essentially "learning" out of spite by watching very bad examples. Even CNN seems to carry less and less news, focussing on one story for hours and days on end, and ignoring everything else happening in the world. History has precious little of it, unless you consider what someone did last week to be history. And I can't remember the last time I actually saw music on Muchmusic. Do they still play it?

The irony is that I'm glad I get the Christian TV channel so I can watch West Wing reruns. Who'd have thunk it? Although I find it funny how they bleep out the "damn", "hell", and any other words deemed to be blasphemous or insensitive.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Brennan said:


> I have a media server running XBMC streaming to my TV, and every show I watch is scheduled for auto-download to my archive in HD so they're there when I want them. Any movies i buy are ripped and stored on the server as well, so I don't have to deal with physical media at all. I watch what I want, when I want with the click of a button.


And that's one of the reasons why you can't simply pay for the channels you want. So many folks use some form of recording, that the notion of a customer being held captive by a commercial from a sponsor who then pays the network for the opportunity to hold you captive...is a relic of the past.

And that's why I say that custom packages will arrive as soon as the cable providers can figure out how to monetize it. For now, the only cards they have in their hand are untailored packages and big sticker prices.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

My provider changed hands a while ago.

Less than a year into the new ownership, they decided to change the packages.
I had "Pick 5", which was my choice of five of the bundles they offered.
They notified us of the changes, but didn't say that they cut off what you had existing.
I thought that they'd just bill me accordingly, no, I had to redo all the packages.
So, when I flicked on the tube one day, I didn't have any of my old programs.

I called and asked what was going on, and was told that it was "too good" of a deal. 
I was just getting into some seasons of programs with the "On Demand" feature, which I did enjoy.
I didn't renew any of my old packages, frick 'em.

I watch more stuff on YT and the like, than on TV now anyway.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

GuitarsCanada said:


> The dude down at Rogers asked me if I watched "Honey Boo Boo" to which I replied "what the hell are you talking about?"


Oh, I have (*shudder*) seen Honey Boo-boo.

My wife and have sat there going, "Who could live like this?", "How could they do THAT?", "How could a mother.........?", "How could they let the world see them like this?", "Who would bother to watch a train-wreck like this?"

30 minute later we've answered our own question ................... and no doubt they actually live in a mansion and drive some pretty nice cars to the bank - thanks to, well .......... me, I suppose. :sSig_ImSorry:


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

mhammer said:


> And that's one of the reasons why you can't simply pay for the channels you want. So many folks use some form of recording, that the notion of a customer being held captive by a commercial from a sponsor who then pays the network for the opportunity to hold you captive...is a relic of the past.
> 
> And that's why I say that custom packages will arrive as soon as the cable providers can figure out how to monetize it. For now, the only cards they have in their hand are untailored packages and big sticker prices.


I'd pay to have them put all of the ones I like to watch together and let me surf through just those - regardless of what I pay for. How about putting the English ones all together - as much as I support other cultures it does me no service to skip through scattered French, Punjab, Mandarin, etc. to find the ones I can understand.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Brennan said:


> ^ This.
> 
> I have a media server running XBMC streaming to my TV, and every show I watch is scheduled for auto-download to my archive in HD so they're there when I want them. Any movies i buy are ripped and stored on the server as well, so I don't have to deal with physical media at all. I watch what I want, when I want with the click of a button.


My place 2 housings ago had XMBC and a computer guru - everything, ever, in HD. It was awesome!


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

tv isnt quite over yet, but it's terminally ill. the majority of those who "must have" cable tv are people who are not internet savvy. but young folks are out there who have never known a time when there was no internet, and people didnt often own computers. those kids, most of them already get most of their content online, and they're not even the ones footing the bill right now. when they grow up and move out, and they hit a lean time (like almost everyone does in the beginning) what do you think they'll choose? internet or television? television is going down like the o'doyles.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I went a full year without any sort of TV and didn't miss it at all a few years back, but right now I have a package through Bell. 

I'm actually looking at reducing the # of channels I get, and really, I only keep the TV service for live sports. All the shows I watch are downloaded and streamed from my NAS through my PS3 to my TV. If it weren't for hockey, football, tennis, F1, darts or any of the other sports I watch, I'd just cut the cord and walk away. 

Most of the time when the TV is on and tuned-in to a channel, it's just for background noise while I'm doing other stuff.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I think we just get used to this crap. If its not there we don't seem to miss it much


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

GuitarsCanada said:


> Why do these bloodsucking cable and sat providers bundle these channels into so called "value" paks or whatever they call them.
> 
> _*The whole system is evil*_


Yes, yes it is. It's also marketed to make the suppliers and the providers more money.


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## TA462 (Oct 30, 2012)

I basically only watch sports on TV. The reality shows out now are just stupid, I can't believe people actually watch them and then worship the characters on them. Come on, Honey Boo Boo??? Duck Dynasty??? Big Brother??? What ever happened to sitcoms that were actually funny? I do enjoy Criminal Minds, its a good drama show.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Brennan said:


> ^ This.
> 
> I have a media server running XBMC streaming to my TV, and every show I watch is scheduled for auto-download to my archive in HD so they're there when I want them. Any movies i buy are ripped and stored on the server as well, so I don't have to deal with physical media at all. I watch what I want, when I want with the click of a button.


Apparently, one can get Apple TV running via XBMC on those little Raspberry Pi boards. Given that the Pi is under 50 bucks, and XBMC is free, that seems like an appealing option.


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## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

> tv isnt quite over yet, but it's terminally ill. the majority of those who "must have" cable tv are people who are not internet savvy.


You're probably right.
Just how computer savvy do you need to be? This sounds like a great solution to my existing quandry (see my thread about Bell/Rogers). 
Can XMBC be streamed via WiFi?


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## Brennan (Apr 9, 2008)

dtsaudio said:


> You're probably right.
> Just how computer savvy do you need to be? This sounds like a great solution to my existing quandry (see my thread about Bell/Rogers).
> Can XMBC be streamed via WiFi?


Honestly, there are a huge number of plug and play set top boxes available today that support streaming media (either through Apple TV/Netflix/other streaming services, or local streaming via XBMC, WMC etc...) that don't require you to be computer savvy at all. Buy the box, plug it in and subscribe to whichever service you prefer (or find some of the free ones). A lot of them do support WiFi, but I'd strongly suggest a hard connection as HD feeds do need a lot of uninterrupted bandwidth. The more well known ones off the top of my head: AppleTV, Boxee, Popcorn Hour, Roku, and of course any of the current gaming consoles. For the average TV viewer, unless your primary concern is sports, any one of these will probably be all you ever need.

Moving up to an actual media server does give you a lot more options, control and flexibility, but obviously it also requires a lot more knowledge of computers and networking.


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## Fader (Mar 10, 2009)

I picked up one of these.
http://www.wintroniccomputers.com/1...-players/jynxbox-media/jynxbox-android-hd-box
It comes with preprogrammed with XBMC.
Tons of step by step U-tube tutorials out there to help straighten out any problems configuring it.
Works great on WiFi.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I don't know why I pay high prices for sat because I basically watch nothing but sports and all the clap trap that the wife watches is on Netflix for $7 clams a month


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

So, that thing works Fader?
Is there other charges once you get it going?
Is it supposed to be free air, there's no pirating going on?

I'm interested.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Budda said:


> The learning channel is gone, my friend. TLC no longer stands for anything, and they put on a lot of garbage.
> 
> I plan on having netflix and streaming from the net. I havent needed cable/sat in a long time. Could use more PBS specials though!


I thought TLC stands for toddlers, lunatics and cakes.


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## Fader (Mar 10, 2009)

sulphur said:


> So, that thing works Fader?
> Is there other charges once you get it going?
> Is it supposed to be free air, there's no pirating going on?
> 
> I'm interested.


I use the 1Channel plug-in. No charges, totally free.
Here's the forum if you want to learn more. 1Channel was hacked a while back but it's patched up now.
http://www.xbmchub.com/forums/1channel-plugin/
Lots of movies and TV series to stream.


There are plug-ins where you have to pay, but I never use them.

Download XBMC (X-Box Media Center) for your PC and try it.
http://xbmc.org/download/


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

If we could choose whatever channels we wanted as singles ,Half of the channels in these bundles wouldn't survive on there own.


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## Brennan (Apr 9, 2008)

Fader said:


> I use the 1Channel plug-in. No charges, totally free.
> Here's the forum if you want to learn more. 1Channel was hacked a while back but it's patched up now.
> http://www.xbmchub.com/forums/1channel-plugin/
> Lots of movies and TV series to stream.
> ...


Without wanting to start a debate on piracy, since Sulfur asked it's worth mentioning that streaming from free services like 1Channel _is_ in fact considered pirating. If that's a problem for you, there are still other services supported by these devices like AppleTV and Netflix (and several others) which are reasonably priced and perfectly legal.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

copperhead said:


> If we could choose whatever channels we wanted as singles ,Half of the channels in these bundles wouldn't survive on there own.



I believe the CRTC actually plays a role in some of the bundled packages. I could be wrong, but I seem to recall reading the some of the included channels in any given bundle are mandated by the CRTC. The reason is exactly as you noted above, some channels would die on their own. As part of Cancon, some channels must be included.

I could be dead wrong or over-simplifying. Foggy memory so please correct/confirm if you can.


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## Fader (Mar 10, 2009)

Brennan said:


> Without wanting to start a debate on piracy, since Sulfur asked it's worth mentioning that streaming from free services like 1Channel _is_ in fact considered pirating. If that's a problem for you, there are still other services supported by these devices like AppleTV and Netflix (and several others) which are reasonably priced and perfectly legal.


Thanks Brennan. I should have mentioned that.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

GuitarsCanada said:


> Why do these bloodsucking cable and sat providers bundle these channels into so called "value" paks or whatever they call them. If you want like two channels out of 20 in a bundle you have to take them all. What kind of warped, grave robbing psychopath came up with this crap? In order to get the 10 or 12 channels that I really want I have to pay $100 or more a month and take 60 channels I have no use for. The whole system is evil


It's here a la carte tv canada - Google Search
but not for most of us, yet!


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

loudtubeamps said:


> It's here a la carte tv canada - Google Search
> but not for most of us, yet!


I will take a look into that. The other thing I want more choice on is internet. Cogeco blows.


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## Guest (Aug 10, 2013)

I dumped cogeco internet a few years back for the same 
reason. Check out Teksavvy, they should be in your area.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

laristotle said:


> I dumped cogeco internet a few years back for the same
> reason. Check out Teksavvy, they should be in your area.


I have checked them a few times. Not available here, at least not as of a few months ago


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## Beatles (Feb 7, 2006)

My son just brought home a cheap $5 Phillips non amplified OTA antenna he picked up at Tiger Direct to try out. Hooked it up and did a channel scan and ended up getting 8 digital channels. Good enough for me. Now that I know I can receive decent signals, I'll more than likely go out and pick up an amplified antenna. I have a smart tv, subscribe to Netflix, and a Boxee. More than enough content.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I got a flyer in the mail today from Shaw Satellite? I had not idea that Shaw had a satellite service, never knew we even got Shaw in this area period.


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## -ST- (Feb 2, 2008)

Hi GuitarsCanada,

I'm in a funny part of urban BC where Telus could not do their Optic TV in their initial roll-out. When they wound down the service I was using, they put in satellite. I was pleasantly surprised at how reliable it's been. I have only lost reception once in three years (heavy snow on the dish). 

Telus bundles bunches of channels like Shaw and the bundling seems a little unwieldy to me but I got used to it. 

I've been thinking of dumping TV altogether. I doubt that my life has been significantly enhanced by anything I've seen in the medium.


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## Swee_tone (Mar 23, 2009)

Agreeing with this thread and the comments in it...

I've been thinking about this for the past few days, ever since I got a letter from Shaw...

They said they couldn't continue the service I was getting because "it wasn't sustainable". I was paying too little, but "please check out our great new package offers." Wow! We had negotiated this price 4 months ago!
I phoned them up and yes, they were increasing my costs no matter how much I complained, the lady even hung up on me as I was talking! Ouch! I wasn't being rude, honestly , but I was trying to show I wasn't pleased.

I phoned Telus and they offered me a free t.v. , $150 off my phone service right off the bat and a pvr rental for free. That's free rental! The thing is I have to enter a 3 year contract! Oh , I dont know....! Once they have you, it's a long ride....

If it wasn't for the kids and my wife, I'd get rid of the land line phone and cable t.v. entirely. Just a cell phone , t.v. antenna for the few local digital channels , and internet.

I imagine they are going to start charging for internet data usage soon, so they'll make their money back from all those leaving cable.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Beatles said:


> My son just brought home a cheap $5 Phillips non amplified OTA antenna he picked up at Tiger Direct to try out. Hooked it up and did a channel scan and ended up getting 8 digital channels. Good enough for me. Now that I know I can receive decent signals, I'll more than likely go out and pick up an amplified antenna. I have a smart tv, subscribe to Netflix, and a Boxee. More than enough content.


You're fortunate that you live in the "right" area. A great many folks would have much less choice of over-the-air HD reception, even with amplified antennae. I can get TVO, Global, English and French CBC, and I think one CTV affiliate, period. Pretty much what we got via the rabbit ears back in 1967...with the exception of Global and TVO.


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## Beatles (Feb 7, 2006)

mhammer said:


> You're fortunate that you live in the "right" area. A great many folks would have much less choice of over-the-air HD reception, even with amplified antennae. I can get TVO, Global, English and French CBC, and I think one CTV affiliate, period. Pretty much what we got via the rabbit ears back in 1967...with the exception of Global and TVO.


I think I'm just about on the fringe of what I can receive, so yes I am lucky. I did pick up an amplified antenna (indoor) and I get another 4 channels. I am quite surprised at the picture quality.... Much better than cable. Just wish I made the switch a long time ago.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I don't know if Eastlink is available in your area, but they just cut out the bundles...

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/08/15/channel-bundling-canada-eastlink_n_3757062.html


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## avalancheMM (Jan 21, 2009)

The poor old CRTC must be chewing their fingernails off trying to figure out how to force feed Canadian content to us via 'free internet streaming'. Ha! It seems to me that they have quite a bit to do with bundles, purely by way of ensuring Canadian content. Pretty soon all they will be able to force on you is the music on the radio, and I daresay they are losing control of that daily, as well. Some of the music that I pipe in to my business is streaming, although, because we advertise locally, we do stream the local stations 75% of the time. 
The bundles are ridiculous, how many of you can honestly say that the Parlimentary channel is money well spent? Or maybe, 'was' money well spent, I don't even know if it on air anymore. Wonder what that costs us? 
And although I know I'll take heat from fellow forumites for this, but, if all I want is Canadian content, I can tune into the CBC, which is another government cash cow that I wouldn't miss. It is shameful that they need twice the staff that the private guys need to do the same job. And although they have had some great programming, I don't think the majority of their schedule is anywhere close to great, or even mediocre.
Sorry, not trying to turn this into a CBC bashing thread, but they only reason they will survive this internet streaming trend is because the Canadian taxpayer will run to the cliff like lemmings to prop them up, good or not. 

Regards


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Ha! this is pretty good and too true.
Probably NSFW, there's a few cuss words...

[video=youtube;1xadoX2E7wY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1xadoX2E7wY[/video]

Oh, this was apparently banned on YT in Canada, I got it off a news feed.


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## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

sulphur said:


> Ha! this is pretty good and too true.
> Probably NSFW, there's a few cuss words...
> 
> [video=youtube;1xadoX2E7wY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1xadoX2E7wY[/video]
> ...


Bang on simple explanation of the confounding marketing bullshit fed to the Canadian public. And the public still doesn't seem to understand because we are all too affluent to care if we pay beyond premium rates for a big stinking pile of garbage.

I don't even know which channels I get beyond the few I have any interest at all in. And they keep changing frequencies and rearranging the packages. Each package seems to have 1 channel I would like and 10 I will never even know that I get and can't be bothered to take the trial and error time to find out if I do. Each package is $10, so I am actually really paying $10 per channel. There are only a few true HD channels and, other than pay-per-view, the rest are 720p which don't even fill my TV screen.

I'd love to get everyone to stick their heads out the window and shout "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it any more!!!!"


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## -ST- (Feb 2, 2008)

I'm a hair's breadth away from cancelling all my TV services. When I think about the value I'm getting from any of it, it comes out pretty low. When I take my monthly bill and multiply it by 12, it's just sickening. 

I wonder if I took that time that I have spent watching (or managing the dvr and the recordings) ... If I just let myself sleep that time away instead of dozing in front of the screen, well it's pretty tempting to contemplate. It's not that I'd rather be sleeping, or that I don't have anything else I could be doing. But thinking about it this way, it's pretty hard to justify feeding this particular indulgence.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

-ST- said:


> I'm a hair's breadth away from cancelling all my TV services. When I think about the value I'm getting from any of it, it comes out pretty low. When I take my monthly bill and multiply it by 12, it's just sickening.
> 
> I wonder if I took that time that I have spent watching (or managing the dvr and the recordings) ... If I just let myself sleep that time away instead of dozing in front of the screen, well it's pretty tempting to contemplate. It's not that I'd rather be sleeping, or that I don't have anything else I could be doing. But thinking about it this way, it's pretty hard to justify feeding this particular indulgence.


Simply by changing the DNS to a US DNS on my media center (Thats connected to my main tv) I can now get Hulu. I imagine this would work for US Netflix as well. Since I don't have Netflix I'm not sure. I've reduced my cable down to basic. As soon as I get a chance to test an antennae I'll most likely cancel cable tv altogether then next on my hit list is the land line. 
For TV as long as I get CBC for Saturday nigh NHL and CityTV for nightly news I'll be happy. I miss TSN/Sportsnet for all the rest of the hockey and HGTV and W for the home shows but the sacrifice is worth it. I'm just fed up with all the money I give to Rogers. I suppose they'll raise the cost of my Internet when I cancel the other 2 services but I guess thats when I'll source out a cheaper Internet provider. 
It seems to be a growing trend that more and more people are going without and seeking other alternatives. Even with the amount of sacrificing, its found there are just better things to do with our time then sit in front of a tv anyway.
In the past 6 months I've cut out many bad habits that had me infront of a tv. Such as eating at the table instead of infront of tv. 
Relaxing more by playing my acoustic. Really, I've got a $3,500 acoustic and it sits in my music room untouched most of the time. I have been planning more projects for the house. I will be visiting the gym more often. Thats just the start. I am slowly weening my self from tv and who knows maybe one day I'll be totally tv free.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

guitarman2 said:


> Simply by changing the DNS to a US DNS on my media center (Thats connected to my main tv) I can now get Hulu. I imagine this would work for US Netflix as well. Since I don't have Netflix I'm not sure. I've reduced my cable down to basic. As soon as I get a chance to test an antennae I'll most likely cancel cable tv altogether then next on my hit list is the land line.
> For TV as long as I get CBC for Saturday nigh NHL and CityTV for nightly news I'll be happy. I miss TSN/Sportsnet for all the rest of the hockey and HGTV and W for the home shows but the sacrifice is worth it. I'm just fed up with all the money I give to Rogers. I suppose they'll raise the cost of my Internet when I cancel the other 2 services but I guess thats when I'll source out a cheaper Internet provider.
> It seems to be a growing trend that more and more people are going without and seeking other alternatives. Even with the amount of sacrificing, its found there are just better things to do with our time then sit in front of a tv anyway.
> In the past 6 months I've cut out many bad habits that had me infront of a tv. Such as eating at the table instead of infront of tv.
> Relaxing more by playing my acoustic. Really, I've got a $3,500 acoustic and it sits in my music room untouched most of the time. I have been planning more projects for the house. I will be visiting the gym more often. Thats just the start. I am slowly weening my self from tv and who knows maybe one day I'll be totally tv free.


Yes, Netflix is good with that as well. We use a proxy to a US IP and get the US Netflix


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

sulphur said:


> Ha! this is pretty good and too true.
> Probably NSFW, there's a few cuss words...
> 
> [video=youtube;1xadoX2E7wY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1xadoX2E7wY[/video]
> ...


Thats fantastic


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