• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Streaming sucks

13Gigatons

13Gigatons

Diamond Member
I cut the cord long ago but have a DVR to record OTA shows that I watch.

Anyways I forgot to program it and figured no big deal I'll just stream the show to catch up. Well it turns out I need a TV package (with cable or satellite) even though the show is on a FREE channel OTA.

My favorite part is that it's asks who is your TV provider....um you are, you pay millions of dollars to broadcast a signal.

I guess I will just have to pirate the show....if it's even possible to pirate a show that is on FREE TV. :colbert:
 
Holy fucking megafail.

Broadcasting a signal and running a server are two totally different things, there, chief.
 
13Gigatons said:
I cut the cord long ago but have a DVR to record OTA shows that I watch.

Anyways I forgot to program it and figured no big deal I'll just stream the show to catch up. Well it turns out I need a TV package (with cable or satellite) even though the show is on a FREE channel OTA.

My favorite part is that it's asks who is your TV provider....um you are, you pay millions of dollars to broadcast a signal.

I guess I will just have to pirate the show....if it's even possible to pirate a show that is on FREE TV. :colbert:
Click to expand...
Yeah. That's one of the ways they justify jacking up the per-subscriber fees that the local broadcasters charge cable/satellite companies.

Subscription TV services help distribute the signal to reach more people (resulting in higher ratings and ad revenues). If they're going to charge per-subscriber fees to allow retransmission, they had better nix the #@%#ing ads.
 
Did you try the network website? I think ABC and The CW have most of their stuff free-to-watch online.
 
Ken g6 said:
Did you try the network website? I think ABC and The CW have most of their stuff free-to-watch online.
Click to expand...

When we cut the cord, my wife will have to watch her soapie online the day after it airs.

I don't have it quite as easy since Sling's $20/mo doesn't offer FX/USA 🙁
 
13Gigatons said:
The ad money is suppose to pay for it and ads use up more of our limited bandwidth.

This is why I try to record everything plus better picture and better sound then the streaming crud.
Click to expand...

just read an article about one network trying to improve it's ratings, and it was mentioned that drastic changes likely wouldn't happen as carriage fees are such a large part of what they make.
 
13Gigatons said:
Anyways I forgot to program it and figured no big deal I'll just stream the show to catch up. Well it turns out I need a TV package (with cable or satellite) even though the show is on a FREE channel OTA.
Click to expand...

Really? What is the show in question?

-KeithP
 
RossMAN said:
When we cut the cord, my wife will have to watch her soapie online the day after it airs.

I don't have it quite as easy since Sling's $20/mo doesn't offer FX/USA 🙁
Click to expand...
I told you about the cord cutters secret in another thread. They will never admit it but they all do it.
Going outside and enjoying the fresh air isn't the secret.
 
13Gigatons said:
Anyways I forgot to program it and figured no big deal I'll just stream the show to catch up. Well it turns out I need a TV package (with cable or satellite) even though the show is on a FREE channel OTA.

My favorite part is that it's asks who is your TV provider....um you are, you pay millions of dollars to broadcast a signal.

I guess I will just have to pirate the show....if it's even possible to pirate a show that is on FREE TV.
Click to expand...

"FREE", eh?

So your local network affiliates are all non-profits and they air no commercials?
 
You just don't know where to look.

Quit TV for good. Do something else. Go outside. Read. Learn a new language. Start an online business. Anything.
 
Mai72 said:
You just don't know where to look.

Quit TV for good. Do something else. Go outside. Read. Learn a new language. Start an online business. Anything.
Click to expand...

I don't understand the idea that going outside and reading are intrinsically better than TV. They all waste time in different ways.
 
NikolaeVarius said:
I don't understand the idea that going outside and reading are intrinsically better than TV. They all waste time in different ways.
Click to expand...

There is always a time when you are tired and just in the mood to catch up with shows on the DVR. That's why I timeshift, so I can watch when I want too.
 
13Gigatons said:
Yeah cause nobody speeds through those on the DVR. Some DVR's had commercial skip as well.
Click to expand...

you sure are entitled. I think you should demand that the major networks send you free DVDs of all their shows

let everyone cut the cord and see what happens to all the "free" content...
 
slayer202 said:
you sure are entitled. I think you should demand that the major networks send you free DVDs of all their shows

let everyone cut the cord and see what happens to all the "free" content...
Click to expand...

I don't mind watching commercials. They pay for the content. I wish they weren't so loud and stupid though.
 
slayer202 said:
let everyone cut the cord and see what happens to all the "free" content...
Click to expand...

Why would people cutting the cord make any difference? The only thing you are doing by cutting the cord is eliminating the middle man. The actual broadcaster is still free to add commercials at their discretion no matter how you are receiving the signal.
 
I want to make a open-source crowd-sourced DVR system that automatically creates chapter breaks you can skip to based on the parts that other users have skipped through.
 
DaveStall said:
Why would people cutting the cord make any difference? The only thing you are doing by cutting the cord is eliminating the middle man. The actual broadcaster is still free to add commercials at their discretion no matter how you are receiving the signal.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing ad time on TV is significantly different and more expensive than on the internet. Diluting a network into individual shows lessens the value of the network brands, and they are getting a lot more than ad revenue. and do the basic networks get paid by the cable companies? I recall hearing no? but I also remember disputes where fox or cbs would fight time warner or whoever else. people paying for cable drives the current system
 
Ichinisan said:
I want to make a open-source crowd-sourced DVR system that automatically creates chapter breaks you can skip to based on the parts that other users have skipped through.
Click to expand...

Commercials are meant to fit into 10 or 30 second spots. Tivo nailed commercial skipping 15 years ago by having a 30 second skip button, we don't need a more complicated model. Problem is advertisers freaked out about how easily Tivo destroyed their entire business model, so it turned into a hidden feature:

http://bigmarv.net/how/tivo/tivo-30-second-skip.html

Fast forwarding through commercials is a compromise, you still watch the ad but faster. It also gives the advertisers a CHANCE to get you to watch, like when you see an explosion or celebrity you like in their ad. Or you forget to fast forward because you are distracted, I don't know about you but I feel like they "win" when I accidently watch a DVRed ad.

At some level DVRs have undone the traditional industry business model even without perfect commercial skipping, but not everyone has the talent/content of a HBO or Netflix to move to a new model where the content is SO worthwhile you are willing to deal with a paywall to get at it. Most network television devolved into something you watch when its on back in the 90's, so the entire binge watching craze driven by these new models is something they aren't equipped to handle. Instead the major networks have focused on the only content that is "DVR-proof," like live tv. The cost of rights fees for major sports have skyrocketed since the invention of the DVR, and talent competitions have boomed in a way Ed McMahon would have never dreamed.

The problem is that this type of content (and reality TV) digs the hole even deeper for networks, because unlike all those DVR-killed 90's sitcoms this content isn't worth ANYTHING on syndication/Netflix. Once the next-day water-cooler value is used up and the winner is declared there is nothing left to monetize, while non-major network providers who create serialized cult content on smaller budgets have a guaranteed future revenue stream. You would think the massive sales of DVDs or Netflix rights fees would wake the networks up to this reality, but the truth is many of them sold off their back catalogs years ago for minimal value and therefore they don't have that former success to fall back on.

The end result is a child born in 2015 will probably know what Netflix is before they know what CBS is.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top