# Live TV vs Streaming Services (and Blu-ray/DVD)



## Deleted User (Jan 5, 2021)

Do many of you still watch Live TV? I honestly stopped ages ago since the channels would never air anything I'd be interested in and they're always playing ads between the movies and shows. However, with streaming services and home media you don't get any of that garbage and you decide what you want to watch.

Moreover, users who pirate shows and movies have a better selection of TV series/movies than those who watch Live TV and they too don't have to watch ads.

What's the point having 100 or 1000 channels if there's nothing you'd like to watch? Quality over quantity, that's what it should be.


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## FAST6191 (Jan 5, 2021)

Youtube, bitchute, lbry or whatever it is called this week and all the rest (though dailymotion, Vimeo and most of the other "old guard" of youtube alternatives are zombies as far as I am concerned, mostly only good by virtue of being where a lot of people reshare content youtube deemed too non PC and the creators of such things did not think to have a bitchute account to mirror things to) have long since become my video entertainment channels of choice. Closest I have come to a streaming service is someone's house had Amazon so I watched The Boys on that, have watched Netflix for the first and only time a few months ago to see basically a music video, and many years earlier I was on Amazon's DVD rental by post service mainly because I had no TV and no internet at my house. Have done a bit with Channel 4's service mind you.

On those I can watch hours of in depth footage on anything I am interested in, something that would almost never have appeared on TV* and when it was it was still watered down and aimed at the the broadest possible audience, and never inclined to offend anybody.

*I like woodwork for instance and I am old enough to have caught New Yankee Workshop on TV back when. Loved it. Guy is still a legend to this day and I doubt any woodworker around at the time will argue otherwise. Tried watching it after watching various youtube channels but it is harder, though more of that is because I still remember it. Same for history shows -- I have battleplan on DVD that I bought new, give or take youtube's desire to throttle such content then https://www.youtube.com/user/TheImperatorKnight/videos?disable_polymer=1 does far better still.

An older acquaintance came up to me a while back and was excited about some general restoration show on TV. For some reason I was looking at TV ratings as well and it is actually seriously highly rated. However I can watch hours, and have watched hours in the limited amount my browser history is kept for, on machine tools, hand tools, cars, guns, jewellery that go into why they are doing everything in serious depth all whilst not having to keep to a time slot -- if 10 minutes is needed then 10 minutes is taken, if 30 is needed then 30 is taken (content density I believe is a phrase I heard and quite like here).

Obviously I like games so earlier today I watched a 1h:37 retrospective on the dino crisis series, at double speed because I don't have two hours when I could be doing it in one. Can also still find some game content with a sense of humour as well, which I am not sure anything other than Digitiser on TV (and that was a teletext service. By the way they are still doing stuff https://www.digitiser2000.com/ ) and maybe whatever Dominic Diamond (the good episodes of Gamesmaster, also occasionally still doing things) managed to slip past the censors ever had.

If I want to watch/learn/keep reasonably up to date on trades then I can do that too

Was not only highly amusing but was a nice example of worked external earthing systems which I needed to get current on again, though I can have just as dry as I need in the right length as well.

So yeah any of my interests (tools, engineering, chemistry, physics, history and history of anything else on this list, maths, economics, guns, psychology, medicine, skateboarding, cooking, woodwork, electronics, retrospectives on cartoons/films/games/sports, gaming, philosophy, long form discussion from interesting people I might not have ever otherwise sought out, literary discussion...) I can not only find but find better than anything I have ever seen on TV and ever expect to see on TV.

Short version.
I stopped doing live TV about 16 years ago (moved somewhere, didn't fancy paying TV tax so went without), and in more recent ones since have stopped even grabbing it in DVD (usually second hand for pennies) or (ahem) form in favour of user made stuff. At this point... actually better example might be I went on http://www.pogdesign.co.uk/cat/ the other month just to see what was going on and recognised almost nothing airing these days.
Piracy and streaming services won't be the thing to kill TV. Their long march into irrelevance will be what does that.


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## Deleted User (Jan 5, 2021)

FAST6191 said:


> didn't fancy paying TV tax


I won't be surprised if BBC decides to remodel and rebrand the TV License as "BBC Everywhere" streaming/antenna service since they know many aren't happy with Live TV anymore. Some, some still are and try their hardest to defend BBC and the TVL itself.

I've read stuff like "You can access the BBC Website!", "BBC offers the best news" and "BBC channels have the best content" all of which I disagree (especially with the news bit and the website? who cares lol)

I'm just done with Live TV because ads kinda kill me inside due to some being so terrible and others downright cringey. I'll just watch what I want.


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## Deleted User (Jan 5, 2021)

Travelling between countries, I can't actually take my United States Streaming subscriptions with me to share with family abroad.
This is compounded by the fact that to get past access and censorship issues, I'd have to install VPN which takes away from the overall Internet speed.

So, in those instances, I did set up Live TV outside of the United States for my family, but stopped around 2018.

The quality that the overseas Provider offered weren't worth the price points, as some HD Subscriptions I paid for came out as SD. 
I initially shifted to just downloading TV Shows and playing them for my family but last year Netflix, Amazon Prime and Google TV became available at the Provider my family is with, so I'm currently subscribed to their Streaming Service.

What I'm actually waiting for is CBS All-Access to be available outside of the United States, so that I can share my Subscription.
Practically every TV Show my family loves is on that Channel ...


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## FAST6191 (Jan 5, 2021)

I have dodged adverts for years, be it with the mute button or by getting up. If I was on the ball I would also do it with VHS and then DVR fast forward.
When P2P rose up and connections to match then not only did we get stuff as it was released (sometimes even before it was technically released if there was a delay because time zones). The channel 5 adverts for specific shows being what did me in.

BBC going wide. They have tried to do things for a while -- see reports a few years ago where they were thinking everybody was going to be using the then nascent iplayer service to watch the Olympics at work and what would have gone there.

On the subject of such things

I assume everybody reading knows about adblocking software.
What I find fewer people know about is
https://sponsor.ajay.app/
Basically a database of time codes for the sponsored by VPN/educational streaming service/bookwork service/wallet sapper mobile phone game/wallet sapper monthly bundle service/... type things that will auto skip those.


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## Deleted User (Jan 6, 2021)

FAST6191 said:


> I have dodged adverts for years, be it with the mute button or by getting up. If I was on the ball I would also do it with VHS and then DVR fast forward.
> When P2P rose up and connections to match then not only did we get stuff as it was released (sometimes even before it was technically released if there was a delay because time zones). The channel 5 adverts for specific shows being what did me in.
> 
> BBC going wide. They have tried to do things for a while -- see reports a few years ago where they were thinking everybody was going to be using the then nascent iplayer service to watch the Olympics at work and what would have gone there.
> ...


There is also the Britbox or whatever it's called? Do even a lot even use it? I dunno.

What matters is that Streaming Services are a thing and so Live TV only exists for those that still want it for whichever reason.



tomasowa said:


> Travelling between countries, I can't actually take my United States Streaming subscriptions with me to share with family abroad.
> This is compounded by the fact that to get past access and censorship issues, I'd have to install VPN which takes away from the overall Internet speed.
> 
> So, in those instances, I did set up Live TV outside of the United States for my family, but stopped around 2018.
> ...



VPN does take speed away, but that depends per provider and sometimes for watching media it doesn't affect. You'd notice it more on downloading and uploading content.

VPNs I'd recommend:
- Windscribe
- ProtonVPN
- ExpressVPN
- NordVPN

I'd also say Atlas VPN though this VPN is still newish and am skeptical about recommending it to people.


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## Deleted User (Jan 6, 2021)

Boesy said:


> VPNs I'd recommend:



Thank you - I'll keep this in mind.

In my parent's country, I either stay at the city of my Family Home or by myself at the Capital; right now it's the former as I'm doing my best to ensure we get through COVID-19 as safely as possible.

My goal with TV is to make it so even when I'm away the operation is manageable for my parent; as such, VPN is the very last option because even on a Google Set Top Box, it's one extra step that will make it hard to remember. So far, I've kept it as simple as the Netflix button on the Mi Box S 4K I bought, and I hope to keep it within that scope of ease.


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## Deleted User (Jan 10, 2021)

Desaran said:


> I also prefer streaming devices, it's convenient.


Chromecast / Miracast /AirPin, and etc are also super handy. I can't believe I only started using it recently.


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## Deleted member 397813 (Jan 10, 2021)

neither, pirate bay


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## D34DL1N3R (Jan 15, 2021)

I enjoy watching the 20 something free live streaming local channels I get through Locast.


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## Deleted User (Jan 15, 2021)

the only people who still watch tv i know of are my parents, mostly for news (which imo have been obsolete ever since social media and forums exited, though they were never a good format in the first place), for video entertainment i use mostly youtube, as even if i like anime, i never know if i will have 24 uninterrupted minutes, i haven't seen movies in ages because of this as well


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## GammaPrime (Feb 23, 2021)

I only use my Dish receiver to access Netflix these days, and I only have Dish because I still live at home.  If I were on my own, I'd skip TV service entirely and get all my TV through a combination of streaming services and DVDs.  I don't have a Blu-Ray player yet, and my DVD player is still going.  I'll wait to upgrade until that dies.


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## notimp (Feb 24, 2021)

There is something to be said about the limited release weekly format.

Someome build a feature into streaming services, where you can hook certain series into that. (Probably make it five days  ) To then be featured in a top spot.

After the disgrace that is Disney feeling the need to put trigger warnings in front of the muppet show - because of chinese flu jokes (apparently), I rewatched the first two episodes.

Meticulously crafted, funny, intelligent, uplifting, personable - but impossible to 'binge watch'.


Does anyone know what happened to serialized formats that dont do well as an 'epic series' release? Stuff like that doesnt get produced anymore right (three act format, two plotlines, monster of the week - stuff has fallen out of favor as well)? Too little resell value (as a DVD/BR set, or series release)...


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## Deleted User (Feb 24, 2021)

notimp said:


> There is something to be said about the limited release weekly format.
> 
> Someome build a feature into streaming services, where you can hook certain series into that. (Probably make it five days  ) To then be featured in a top spot.
> 
> ...


it has to do with how people watch series nowadays, before, the thing that stopped producers from making shows where you need to watch all episodes was that most people don't have a consistent time slot available every week, but if you can pick up a show whenever, why wouldn't you watch every episode? I had a very hard time rewatching old seasons of Pokemon because even while having somewhat of a connecting plotline, and being an anime, whuch are known for the collective plotlines, most episodes are the same, this isn't bad if you watch a few ocassionally, but get's tiring if you watch over 3+ in a row


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## BigOnYa (Feb 24, 2021)

CPG said:


> neither, pirate bay


I'm with you. Have a NAS drive full, firesticks with KODI on all tv's, theoretically of-course!  And get 41 Local channels with HD antennae. Good enough for me!


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## notimp (Feb 24, 2021)

Azerus_Kun said:


> it has to do with how people watch series nowadays, before, the thing that stopped producers from making shows where you need to watch all episodes was that most people don't have a consistent time slot available every week, but if you can pick up a show whenever, why wouldn't you watch every episode? I had a very hard time rewatching old seasons of Pokemon because even while having somewhat of a connecting plotline, and being an anime, whuch are known for the collective plotlines, most episodes are the same, this isn't bad if you watch a few ocassionally, but get's tiring if you watch over 3+ in a row


On the Muppets show example - because its very formulaic - you are basically been shown around the production of a variety show in a theatre. There are running gags, around running gags, and gags around running gags being canceled - and its encapsulated in that 'production of a theatre show' format. If you watch three of them in a row - it looses much of its charm - otherwise it becomes sort of a weekly glimps into a production environment of a theatre production you like.

So the repeated elements dont blend into each other, but remind you of the charming thing you liked in the first place.

Its not that one item gets repeated, its 10 or so every episode - so bingewatching that becomes boring.

I usually like the 'extensive drama' format as well - and wouldnt have thought twice to call it (deeper plot and character development) superior, probably a week ago -- but while watching The Muppet Show, I kind of felt sorry, that I didnt have to wait for another week to continue.

And making an artificial schedule around that, that I'd have to put effort into - also somehow detracts from the enjoyment. So there was something to 'limited availability' as well...


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## ds34 (Feb 24, 2021)

the only TV "shows" that I watch are the news. still better than most online-magazines besides Reuters (news agency).
I really like streaming services like Netflix or Amazon Prime, but I noticed how fast Netflix produces new shows that seem to be random and almost based on algorithms and get canceled after just a few seasons (e.g. the OA).
It seems like TV shows/shows in general lost their value (regarding rewatch-value and story-quality) due to how the availability and audience has shifted due to streaming services.


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## WiiMiiSwitch (Mar 22, 2021)

Streaming services, wonder if Popcorn Time counts


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