Seriousness What do you forgo pay TV for digital terrestrial TV?

AprilHare · 12-15-2009, 05:52 AM

I've laid off getting cable TV to stick with digital terrestrial TV here in Australia and I was wondering: are people giving pay TV a miss and using digital terrestrial TV instead?
I personally don't mind having 11 unique standard definition channels, 5 of which are also simulcast as HD..

Greg Anos · 12-15-2009, 08:36 AM

Here is my Texas viewpoint. You give up specialty channels. Now, 99 out of 100 specialty channels don't matter to any one individual, but giving up the one that does, weeeellll. And yet...I can get much specialty material on the net. I go back and forth on it....

You also have transmission problems here, as well...

ficbot · 12-15-2009, 08:41 AM

I did not get cable when I moved recently. I get about five channels, two of which have most of the big American shows, one other is all in French, one other has most of the Canadian shows and the other seems to show nothing but repeats of Stargate SG-1. There are two shows I like which are not on channels I get so I watch them on-line. I am honestly not that into TV, and belong to a dvd rental service similar to Netflix (but available in Canada where I live) so I don't feel especially deprived. My mom was a little horrified and can't imagine how I manage

poshm · 12-15-2009, 08:52 AM

We had Sky TV for several years but hubby and I began to question how much we actually watched the specialist sky channels as opposed to the normal, terrestrial 5 channels we get here in the UK. We soon realised that 95% of what we watched was on those bog-standard 5 channels.

So we ditched sky about a year ago and now have freesat boxes (1 upstairs, 1 down) as well as a dvd/hd recorder so we can record any tv we want to watch while out. The cost of these gadgets was paid for in several months of not having to pay the sky subscription so now we are quids in every month.

So for us getting rid of paid digital tv worked out well. Even hubby who really likes his sport doesn't miss it because he's found different channels on the freesat plus listens to the radio more now as well.

HarryT · 12-15-2009, 08:57 AM

I've never had Pay TV. "Freeview" (digital terrestrial broadcast TV) here in the UK gives you 90-odd TV and radio stations, which is quite enough for me. Pay TV is great if you're really into sport or films, but I'm not.

We had our "digital switchover" at the start of this month (it's occuring in different parts of the UK at different times), at which time our analogue channels stopped transmitting, so digital is all we have now.

montsnmags · 12-15-2009, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've never had Pay TV. "Freeview" (digital terrestrial broadcast TV) here in the UK gives you 90-odd TV and radio stations, which is quite enough for me. Pay TV is great if you're really into sport or films, but I'm not.
...

Freeview is what they are calling it here (in Oz) too. We only have Freeview, but take advantage of the Tivo to watch the programs we want to watch when we want to watch them. It's a rare thing for us to watch "live" TV, and with the increasing number of "free-to-air" digital channels we're recording old repeats that we like to rewatch.

We used to have Foxtel Pay TV, with the IQ box (DVR). It was great, but we found that we were forever catching up on TV, and thus forever sitting down and watching it for hours on end. That was in Sydney, and once we moved to Queensland we wanted to get out of that habit as the point of moving here was to find more outside of the house and the office to occupy ourselves with. So, we didn't get Pay TV, and we've found that the Tivo works for what and when we do want to watch (also, I get to record those shows that The Loved One isn't interested in, and vice versa).

We liked Foxtel, with the IQ box. I liked the arts and documentary channels, and The Loved One liked the comedies and lifestyle, and we both liked some selective sports (e.g. snow sports, WRC and some selected motor racing), and found there was a never-ending supply of stuff to watch. Free-to-air couldn't match that at the time. Now though, without Foxtel...well, it's rare we don't have something to watch, and it's getting better.

Outside is nice too.

Cheers,
Marc

GA Russell · 12-15-2009, 08:50 PM

I gave up the cable tv fifteen years ago, and haven't missed it.

I've enjoyed radio since I was in fifth grade, and I find that the radio broadcasts of many sports events I am interested in (like LeMans, the Grey Cup game and the AFL Grand Final) are available for free on the internet.

I can get the cable news channels with my Sirius satellite radio subscription in my car.

kazbates · 12-15-2009, 08:59 PM

We have cable TV, mostly for my in-laws who live in an apartment in our basement. Ryleigh likes to watch the kid channels like Disney and we do watch NFL Redzone and football on Sundays, but that's about it. I used to watch a lot of home improvement type shows but have pretty much stopped doing that in favor of reading. If I want to watch a TV show, I prefer to watch it online now that many of the networks are putting the shows online the day after they aired. My daughter got me hooked on Glee! and we've watched the whole season in about a week. For the most part, though, we have cable. . .it costs a mint. . .and we hardly ever watch it.

ShortNCuddlyAm · 12-16-2009, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've never had Pay TV. "Freeview" (digital terrestrial broadcast TV) here in the UK gives you 90-odd TV and radio stations, which is quite enough for me. Pay TV is great if you're really into sport or films, but I'm not.

We had our "digital switchover" at the start of this month (it's occuring in different parts of the UK at different times), at which time our analogue channels stopped transmitting, so digital is all we have now.

Does that mean you don't pay your licence fee, Harry?

Let me explain...

I realise that Pay TV is synonymous with cable/satellite TV, and I was about to answer the same as Harry. Then it struck me that actually in the UK and NI if you want to watch TV (including cable & satellite channels, according to the CAB) as it is broadcast (ie not on dvd/video/catch up on the internet etc) you are supposed to pay a licence fee. Which effectively means that any TV in the UK & NI is pay tv (not sure how it stands in other countries).

So no, I've never had satellite/cable along the lines of Sky or Virgin; but I do get the terrestrial channels and those on the freeview box. And (even?) with all that choice, it's usually very very hard to find something remotely worth watching. So I don't usually bother with it.

Sparrow · 12-16-2009, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

So no, I've never had satellite/cable along the lines of Sky or Virgin; but I do get the terrestrial channels and those on the freeview box. And (even?) with all that choice, it's usually very very hard to find something remotely worth watching. So I don't usually bother with it.

I've got Virgin's basic package, which equates pretty much to Freeview and doesn't cost anything (other than the licence fee).

I wouldn't get subscription channels; because the ones I've seen don't appeal, and they are riddled with adverts every 10 mins.

That's why I like the shopping channels - no ad breaks!

DixieGal · 12-16-2009, 04:14 PM

We LOVE TV!! Have 2 satellite dishes on the roof, kitchen and living room have DRV receivers, so we can be recording 4 shows at once and watching a pre-recorded show in each room at the same time.

AprilHare · 12-16-2009, 04:54 PM

Harry had better watch out for the BBC detector vans.. It helps if you believe in them though

No licence fee in Australia, woohoo!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

Does that mean you don't pay your licence fee, Harry?

Let me explain...

I realise that Pay TV is synonymous with cable/satellite TV, and I was about to answer the same as Harry. Then it struck me that actually in the UK and NI if you want to watch TV (including cable & satellite channels, according to the CAB) as it is broadcast (ie not on dvd/video/catch up on the internet etc) you are supposed to pay a licence fee. Which effectively means that any TV in the UK & NI is pay tv (not sure how it stands in other countries).

So no, I've never had satellite/cable along the lines of Sky or Virgin; but I do get the terrestrial channels and those on the freeview box. And (even?) with all that choice, it's usually very very hard to find something remotely worth watching. So I don't usually bother with it.

PKFFW · 12-16-2009, 10:54 PM

No pay TV for me.

Every fire station has it and watching it at work occassionally reminds me never to waste my money of it at home. 100 odd channels of crap all on most of the time. On top of that they now have ads through every show except movies! The big selling point of pay tv when it first arrived in Australia was that there were no adds!

Now that the NFL is on freeview here I'm happy. Other than that and Lost(I know, I know!) I don't watch tv at all.

Cheers,
PKFFW

HarryT · 12-17-2009, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

Does that mean you don't pay your licence fee, Harry?

Of course I pay my TV licence - but I don't think that's the sort of "pay TV" that the original poster was referring to, do you?

AprilHare · 12-17-2009, 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Of course I pay my TV licence - but I don't think that's the sort of "pay TV" that the original poster was referring to, do you?

I believe you Harry - and yes I wasn't referring to television licences

Keep on paying it though Harry - apparently TV Licensing can be a pain to deal with..

12-15-2009, 05:52 AM	#1
AprilHare Wizard Posts: 2,981 Karma: 11862367 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony Reader PRS-T2	What do you forgo pay TV for digital terrestrial TV? I've laid off getting cable TV to stick with digital terrestrial TV here in Australia and I was wondering: are people giving pay TV a miss and using digital terrestrial TV instead? I personally don't mind having 11 unique standard definition channels, 5 of which are also simulcast as HD.. Last edited by AprilHare; 12-15-2009 at 06:01 AM. Reason: whoops :)

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12-15-2009, 08:36 AM	#2
Greg Anos Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,248 Karma: 35000000 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Pocketbook	Here is my Texas viewpoint. You give up specialty channels. Now, 99 out of 100 specialty channels don't matter to any one individual, but giving up the one that does, weeeellll. And yet...I can get much specialty material on the net. I go back and forth on it.... You also have transmission problems here, as well...

12-15-2009, 08:41 AM	#3
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	I did not get cable when I moved recently. I get about five channels, two of which have most of the big American shows, one other is all in French, one other has most of the Canadian shows and the other seems to show nothing but repeats of Stargate SG-1. There are two shows I like which are not on channels I get so I watch them on-line. I am honestly not that into TV, and belong to a dvd rental service similar to Netflix (but available in Canada where I live) so I don't feel especially deprived. My mom was a little horrified and can't imagine how I manage

12-15-2009, 08:52 AM	#4
poshm Fanatic Posts: 581 Karma: 1003580 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Cambs, UK Device: PocketBook 360, Sony Reader Touch, Ipod touch & Kindle 2	We had Sky TV for several years but hubby and I began to question how much we actually watched the specialist sky channels as opposed to the normal, terrestrial 5 channels we get here in the UK. We soon realised that 95% of what we watched was on those bog-standard 5 channels. So we ditched sky about a year ago and now have freesat boxes (1 upstairs, 1 down) as well as a dvd/hd recorder so we can record any tv we want to watch while out. The cost of these gadgets was paid for in several months of not having to pay the sky subscription so now we are quids in every month. So for us getting rid of paid digital tv worked out well. Even hubby who really likes his sport doesn't miss it because he's found different channels on the freesat plus listens to the radio more now as well.

12-15-2009, 08:57 AM	#5
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I've never had Pay TV. "Freeview" (digital terrestrial broadcast TV) here in the UK gives you 90-odd TV and radio stations, which is quite enough for me. Pay TV is great if you're really into sport or films, but I'm not. We had our "digital switchover" at the start of this month (it's occuring in different parts of the UK at different times), at which time our analogue channels stopped transmitting, so digital is all we have now.

12-15-2009, 08:50 PM	#7
GA Russell Montreal wins Grey Cup! Posts: 7,583 Karma: 31484197 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite	I gave up the cable tv fifteen years ago, and haven't missed it. I've enjoyed radio since I was in fifth grade, and I find that the radio broadcasts of many sports events I am interested in (like LeMans, the Grey Cup game and the AFL Grand Final) are available for free on the internet. I can get the cable news channels with my Sirius satellite radio subscription in my car.

12-15-2009, 08:59 PM	#8
kazbates Wizard Posts: 2,627 Karma: 406616 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Northern Virginia Device: SurfacePro, SurfaceBook 2	We have cable TV, mostly for my in-laws who live in an apartment in our basement. Ryleigh likes to watch the kid channels like Disney and we do watch NFL Redzone and football on Sundays, but that's about it. I used to watch a lot of home improvement type shows but have pretty much stopped doing that in favor of reading. If I want to watch a TV show, I prefer to watch it online now that many of the networks are putting the shows online the day after they aired. My daughter got me hooked on Glee! and we've watched the whole season in about a week. For the most part, though, we have cable. . .it costs a mint. . .and we hardly ever watch it.

12-16-2009, 04:14 PM	#11
DixieGal Hi There! Posts: 7,473 Karma: 2930523 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ft Lauderdale Device: iPad	We LOVE TV!! Have 2 satellite dishes on the roof, kitchen and living room have DRV receivers, so we can be recording 4 shows at once and watching a pre-recorded show in each room at the same time.

12-16-2009, 10:54 PM	#13
PKFFW Wizard Posts: 3,681 Karma: 28297636 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: BeBook, Sony PRS-T1, Kobo H2O	No pay TV for me. Every fire station has it and watching it at work occassionally reminds me never to waste my money of it at home. 100 odd channels of crap all on most of the time. On top of that they now have ads through every show except movies! The big selling point of pay tv when it first arrived in Australia was that there were no adds! Now that the NFL is on freeview here I'm happy. Other than that and Lost(I know, I know!) I don't watch tv at all. Cheers, PKFFW

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