Some people have asked us why we still don’t have cable television, even though we have an HDTV. Well – the numbers speak for themselves. Cable is crap. Here are the most recent Nielsen rankings. Ironically, all of the shows on the top 10 lists for both Broadcast and Cable TV are broadcast in HD. That fact aside, the numbers show that millions more are watching broadcast.
Broadcast TV ratings for May 1
29 million viewers for the highest ranked show – “American Idol”
10 million viewers for the 10th ranked show – “Law and Order: SVU”
8 million viewers for the highest ranked show – “The Sopranos”
2.6 million viewers for the 10th ranked show – “NBA Playoffs: Lakers/Suns”
Plus, if we had cable (or satellite), we’d have to pay an extra monthly fee for actual HD programing. So, by paying that extra, we would lose HD programming that we have now (WB, FOX, UPN, and PBS) and would gain Discovery HD, ESPN HD, TNT HD, HBO HD, and Universal HD. Well, we watch PBS HD for documentaries, we hate sports, and we rent movies. Everything else shown in HD on cable is wholly inappropriate anyway. I do enjoy television, I just think that cable/satellite is rendered pointless with the advent of digital TV. Our over-the-air channels look and sound much better than even digital cable channels! Of course, this is strictly speaking from the point of view of someone in market 71 (Tucson). YMMV, especially if you live in some backwoods town in Montana.
fair enough, but i still get to watch TNG every day from 3 to 5!
Okay, you’ve made a good point. Certain syndicated shows are only available on cable. But, that’s where Google Video comes in. I’m hoping that they can make their syndicated shows (stuff like the original Twilight Zone, TNG, Voyager, DS9, etc.) available to watch online for free with commercials or AdSense ads or something.
Google Video is decent quality, and with a MacBook Pro hooked up to my HDTV via DVI, I bet things would look real nice!
good points, but what if the telcos go to the tiered internet they have been threatening us all with? what if instead of free google video, you have to pay extra to even view broadband video content?
To the telcos, I only have one thing to say:
“Hemorrhoidal suck naval!”
*cough* *cough* ess.tv *cough* *cough*