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As a side note, I hadn't watched OTA TV in so long that I was really amazed the other day when I watched it...we stayed in for a couple hours afterwards and they had Nickelodeon on the TV (was the morning so I think it was Nick Jr. or whatever it's called today). There were so many commercials I couldn't believe it! It seemed like most of the programming was squeezed between corporate sponsorships. Kids are bombarded with so much crap that makes them super materialistic. Anyway, sorry for my rant. OTA sucks.

macduke, rant on. We cut the cord a few years back. In July we were offered basic cable + HBO + double internet speed for $3/month (I already have expensive internet so they love me) so of course I took it. I would be lying if I said we've watch more than 30 minutes of tv outside of live sports in the past month. My 3 year old doesn't understand why there are commercials and gets mad that I can't pause for a potty break (dvr wasn't included for $3), and the older kids think it is fun to watch commercials to see the toys, but finding a program is too much work and they are back to Netflix within minutes. For anyone considering cutting the cord, if you are fine not having live sports at home, just do it. It is crazy the amount of commercials that I used to pay to watch every day.
 
You get quite a bit of stuff on Hulu with no commercials now for $12 a month. The shows you watch are available next day. I don't know when they air anyway these days, they just show up. Tivo is $15 a month and in addition to having the device running all day consuming extremely large mounts of electricity (more than your fridge) you still have to click to skip commercials of recordings. What is Apple gonna have that is gonna make $30 a month attractive?? Is it simply going to stream live or offer on-demand? I will bet they will have ads. Networks really want those ads in there. We'll see. What am I talking about....I haven't watched anything on CBS since MASH. I don't really care what service they offer.
 
He cared enough to post about it.....iamjustsayin

Ah, but how could I not care about the thrilling possibility that I might get to pay extra, so that I can watch TV which I can now get in better quality and for free over the air?! If I cared to actually watch the stuff.

Despicable me! Where is Apple going to get another 30% cut?
 
I'm glad. Streaming services make sense, it just seems the existing rights are outdated.

I've said this before here, so apologise if you're sick of seeing me type it: I can watch the Simpsons on Channel 4 here in the UK. Channel 4 is free - they earn their money from ad revenue. I should also be able to sign into Channel 4's on demand service and watch the Simpsons. They have ads there. Maybe not every episode, but certainly catch up on the last 7 days worth?

As it stands now, I can record every Simpsons episode on my Sky+ box, and fast forward the ads. If the episodes were on Channel 4's on demand service, I wouldn't be able to skip the ads, so they would be worth more per viewer, and it would be more convent to me as I wouldn't have to manage storage, choose in advance what I wanted to watch, etc.
 
Unfortunately, for now we still need them for hi-speed internet access. If or when we all desert them for our content needs, I suspect they'll try to recoup those losses thru increased bandwidth charges.

You guys in the US get screwed. Here in the UK you can buy the most expensive fibre optic broadband (200Mbps) for £42.75 a month (<$70.00) - but it goes as low as £30.25 a month (<$50.00). The idea of paying over $100 for television, then cutting the cord but your internet providers upping the cost to recoup that is astounding.

I think with on demand, it should mean content providers have to make less content. They can focus on good content, rather than filling 24/7 TV schedules.
 
antenna is a step backwards. Apple is looking to the future with how a lot of people now consume tv: streaming via apps
OTA broadcast is mandated by the Federal government. The fact it is mandated to exist, alone, is an excellent reason to support it. All the many reasons given in replies to my original post about having an antenna port in Apple TV included. As I said, it is a no-brainer.

When the three horsemen of media were on CNBC Squawk Box this week they agreed the must have content for TV was live sports and local news. These are the guys dealing with streaming entering their linear TV worlds.
 
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macduke, rant on. We cut the cord a few years back. In July we were offered basic cable + HBO + double internet speed for $3/month (I already have expensive internet so they love me) so of course I took it. I would be lying if I said we've watch more than 30 minutes of tv outside of live sports in the past month. My 3 year old doesn't understand why there are commercials and gets mad that I can't pause for a potty break (dvr wasn't included for $3), and the older kids think it is fun to watch commercials to see the toys, but finding a program is too much work and they are back to Netflix within minutes. For anyone considering cutting the cord, if you are fine not having live sports at home, just do it. It is crazy the amount of commercials that I used to pay to watch every day.
Yeah a couple years ago I was able to pickup a Direct TV streaming sunday ticket package. They stopped offering it to me. So now I either don't watch as much football or I might just find a shady stream somewhere. Same thing for baseball. I don't watch much during the regular season but stream my Royals during the post season. This year it was practically impossible for me to stream them compared to last year, so shady streams it is. I guess they just don't want my money? Even buying the mlb.tv streaming package had blackouts on ALDS and ALCS. So dumb. Yeah they don't want my money. Sports is a time suck anyway.
 
Apple launches Apple Music Help twitter account
Written by Jim Dalrymple

It doesn’t seem like a good sign when you have to launch a support account for your new music service, especially when you’re known around the world for ease of use.

You mean like their iOS help twitter account? Or their "iSupport" twitter account? Or every other service companies support twitter account?

You're making something out of nothing....
 
I live in an 'urban' area by definition of the Census, but I can't receive OTA signals from most channels in Connecticut. I'm about 10 miles away, as the crow flies, from the towers but because of hills and weak signals I get nothing.

They use the public's airwaves, don't actually implement the proper systems to ensure everyone required by law to get the signal does in fact get the signal, then want to charge for it.

CBS... now here is a company that really irritates me. There isn't but 2 shows I want to actually watch on their network. One is Stephen Colbert. The number of commercials on their app is ridiculous and yet they don't offer a commercial free tier. They aren't on Hulu, and instead insist on using their own app and ask you to pay for JUST CBS content, content that would be free if I could just get the signal.

I refuse to pay for channels that are available free OTA.

Latest census data show that over 80% of the US population lives in urban areas, so all these folks are likely well within range of a accessing an OTA tower using a cheap indoor antenna.

For the other less than 20%, I guess it might make sense to pay for streaming CBS.
 
I would subscribe for a while if I could watch back seasons of CSI. The original, not NY or Miami -- Netflix doesn't have them, even though it has those spinoffs.
 
I want this to happen so bad and cut ties with cable. I mean I know I will still have internet with them but seriously if apple provided a 30 dollar a month thing that would be awesome. Cut my bill by over 100 bucks.

Streaming a TV channel isn't really cutting the cord. Being able to stream programs individually is, and I wish these networks would focus on that instead!
 
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What about a whole section of Guided Tours for a service that should be a no-brainer from a company that invented the iPod?

You mean like the Guided Tours they have for each and every one of their *new* products?

Watch: http://www.apple.com/watch/guided-tours/

iPhone OG:

TV OG:

iPod Touch:

Again. You're making something out of nothing. It seems quite evident you've never used it, and you're pulling talking points from some fanboy site of some other product.
 
OTA is not that bad if you have a DVR to skip over commercials or watch the non-commercial channels, like PBS or World. If you are within 40 miles of a major city antenna cluster, you are home free. Get an outdoor antenna and connect it to your ethernet router with an HD Homerun or two. You can record on a Mac using EyeTV or the HD Homerun DVR with either PC, Linux, or Mac. Watch what you want , when you want. Also available everywhere on your PC/Mac, iOS, Android. For everything other than OTA, you can use the apps on the AppleTV4. Here you can purchase HBO or Showtime. You can also run a Plex server for free on your Mac or PC. Plex contains its own channels as well as your saved video, audio, and photos, and it is free. One of the free channels on Plex is CBS, which offers next day streaming of all of their programs, without commercials. Plex is available on many TV's as well as both Mac and PC, and is working on an App for AppleTV4.
Sample: http://www.thestreamingadvisor.com/...hannels-part-2-of-our-special-series-on-plex/
 
CBS All access also includes their library of classic shows some people still like to watch. Just an FYI

Looked into that for my CSI back seasons. They only had a small fraction of the seasons, so I didn't even sign up for the one-month freebie. Now that CSI no longer runs, I have no reason to get their pay service if they don't have the episodes I want to see.
 
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