Remember when T.V. was free? if you were born in the 20th century you should remember when television commercials paid for television programming. We all tolerated the commercials because without them we would have no shows to watch, and we all have to get up to pee.
We had user friendly programming. There was the ABC After School Specials, The Wonderful World of Disney, Wild Kingdom, Gilligan's Island, Rockford Files and Star Trek. Now we have more channels than we know what to do with, or can possibly watch in a lifetime. We are forced to pay for channels that we never watch just to be able to watch the programming and shows that we personally enjoy. For example: A person may watch shows that encompass a total of, say, ten channels; however, to be able to watch those ten channels that person must pay for a package of 150 channels and a special rate for showcase channels. (HBO, Starz, Showtime $12.99)
I believe it is time for us to have a serious discussion with our government over this so called service. It needs better regulation. We should not be forced to pay to watch commercial advertising! T.V. should be free to watch. Rent us the equipment for viewing, but don't make us pay for commercials. Make the commercial advertisers go back to paying for the programming.
The thing that really gets me is that ever since the dawn of cable T.V., we have been paying to watch commercial advertising.
You read that right, we are paying to watch commercials. The cable/satellite company sells advertising that you and I pay to watch. That's a double dip. Wham Bam!
Now, you may think that their charges are justified because of the expense of putting the satellite in orbit, but think about this: if Directv has 30 million customers each paying $1 per month, and we know it is a hell of a lot more than that, it comes to $30 million per month. That is gross revenue for the sake of this example. Now, the average cost to put a satellite into space is about $500 million.
I would have to say the ROI involved here is enormous. Directv had a gross profit in 2013 of $12.21 billion. Their net revenue was $2.89 billion. The five year trend is an increase that continues to rise. I think that is more likely due to increased cost to the consumer, not additional customers. Think about it; my bill increased $30 over a five year period without anything extra being added.
Who needs that many channels? I mean really, there are only 24 hours in a day and if you spend them all in front of the T.V., you really should get a life.
What was wrong with making kids wait until Saturday to watch cartoons? I remember when Saturday morning cartoons were what we as children, lived for. Now though a person can watch cartoons 24/7. I always thought of Saturday morning cartoons as a reward for spending the week in school.
Of course this was all back in the day when Gilligan's Island was on right after school, so there was something fun to do before homework. The movie rating system did not include PG-13, music had no rating system and video games hadn't been invented yet. How times have changed, and not for the better, in my opinion.
I long for the days before home computers, video games and MTV. I really despise having to pay to watch commercials that tell me what to tell my doctor. What did he go to medical school for?
By their own admission, Directv has 30 million customers and my last bill from them required I pay $117 for 150 channels. I watch probably seven of those channels and every one of them comes with commercials. I'll let you do the math. When I signed up five years ago, my bill was only $70. I haven't upgraded anything, but they have upgraded my bill.
Rent me the equipment and let me watch whatever I want.
Remember cable T.V.? We used to have it, but Directv and Dish Network pushed them out of the area and now if you want to watch T.V., you have to sign up with a satellite provider.
I did a little experiment when I could not afford to pay the Directv bill. I let them shut it off, and they charged me $15.00 for that, and we have now been without T.V. for over a month. The result? More productivity. More homework gets done, we go to bed earlier and get up earlier; therefore more gets done during daylight hours. The power bill went down significantly too. No one has to remember to turn off the T.V. and there is less of a need for lights on after dark.
It amazes me that we as a species, have survived this long. Whatever did we do without Big Pharma screaming at us to tell our doctors what is wrong with us and what to prescribe to fix it; and how did we ever make it without visual stimulation from the boob tube?
If the government really wanted to do something meaningful for the American people, it would regulate the cost of services that some of these big corporations charge. The cost to watch T.V. should be put back on advertisers. Big Pharma should stop advertising on T.V. and let doctors do their jobs, and furthermore, do you think that the Walton's (Wal-Mart) shop their own stores? Of course not; they shop the high end stores. Why, because they can. They can because you are trapped into shopping their stores.
Really what's next? Paying to listen to Rush Limbaugh on the radio?
Between the high cost of food, clothing, electricity, entertainment, and medical care, it is no wonder that Americans are so unhappy and broke. We need price regulation. If it can be done at the pumps for gasoline, it can be done any place. There is no reason I can think of that a decent pair of shoes should cost $120.00. Spend less and they fall apart in less than a month.
Another thing I think should happen is that companies that want to sell products in the U.S. must make those products here. No more sweat shop T-shirts from Bangladesh, or shoes from China that fall apart after one week . With all of the wealth the Waltons have, surely they could invest in manufacturing their goods themselves, right here. Jobs, anyone?
The problem is not only with the multi-national corporations, but part of the responsibility falls upon us, the consumer. We continue to pay whatever price They demand. Remember the boycotting we did for Apartheid? And the result?
If They don't want to pay higher wages, then the cost of goods and services must come down.
I remember when seeing a tampon commercial mortified me as a girl. Now though, you have commercials for vibrators, K-Y jelly and pecker pills to explain to your kids. That's always a fun one. Get up to go to the bathroom and return to the question: Mommy, what is a personal massager for?
I am an analog girl living in a digital world.
Mon Jan 05, 2015 at 10:13 AM PT: Apparently most people missed the point I was trying to make, which is: Television programming was paid for by the advertiser and it was free to consumers who had a TV. Now the corporations make money off the advertisers and turn around and charge you to watch. They get paid twice. First by selling air time to the advertiser and second when you pay your cable bill.