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An alternative...

Who's buying these shows and why? Do you not have a DVR? Are you trapped in a closet with nothing better to do than watch reruns of your limited library, over and over and over? Are you really gonna watch "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader" eight times? You people scare me.

I'm also not sure why you'd want to buy these shows...

In our country we have this marvellous new invention called, "Mr Logie Baird's Television Set" it's great...
You buy the set for a one-off price, and if you turn it on, you get as many "Television Programmes" as you want, some of them are very very similar to the ones you see on iTunes, and they're free!

I like the ones produced by the new company, "BBC" - they include second-rate celebrities arguing, Bill Oddie looking at a bird, and a neatly-dressed gentleman, reading the newspaper aloud to me... I think it's called "The News"
 
Well I'm from Europe so I don't really have any other legal choice if I want to watch my TV Shows in English and when they air in the US rather than one or more years later with TERRIBLE sync-speakers etc. Another thing is that many of our TV networks STOPPED this year to air their programs in HD!!? So I buy my season-passes on iTunes via gift certificates and can watch the shows on my PC, on my MacBook, on the bigscreen thanks to AppleTV and on-the-go on my iPhone.
And yes I'm one of weird ones here who watches shows over and over again.
 
Technologically, we're already there. ABC offers their entire lineup in HD online, and other networks such as NBC, CBS, FOX, and Discovery are starting to follow suit.
No, we are not there infrastructure wise around the world. There are still many places that do not have broadband that is consistent enough, nor fast enough, to support full screen video screening without pauses/interruptions.

I don't know about the rest of you, but when watching a video stream and there is interrupted play just steams me! It ruins the whole viewing experience.

For me, it is well worth paying a small fee to have a well encoded show with no commercial interruptions. :)

I do wish that Apple offered a 72 hour period on the rental videos.

Streaming video is fine except that...
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Well said.

... for shows with commercials, studio logos on the bottom, and little "ads" along the bottom for upcoming shows...
Not worth it in my opinion.

I am a fan of NCIS. Have the seasons from iTunes.

And when I need to ride the train, sometimes I will watch an episode on my iPod touch. Granted I use my touch for mostly audio, but I do like the flexibility.
 
Well I'm from Europe so I don't really have any other legal choice if I want to watch my TV Shows in English and when they air in the US rather than one or more years later with TERRIBLE sync-speakers etc. Another thing is that many of our TV networks STOPPED this year to air their programs in HD!!? So I buy my season-passes on iTunes via gift certificates and can watch the shows on my PC, on my MacBook, on the bigscreen thanks to AppleTV and on-the-go on my iPhone.
And yes I'm one of weird ones here who watches shows over and over again.
I just can't justify having to have one of each of those items, although I do have a MacBook and iPhone, the download option seems fairer when I have access to BBC HD and Sky One for Lost, 24, Prison Break and Heroes.
 
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