Cold weather has kept me inside as of late and I have come to realize
something. The more channels I get on my cable box, the less it seems
there is to watch. It sounds strange to me too but it is true. When
I was growing up there were a half dozen stations to watch. You made your
choice and if the channel was coming in well enough, you watched it. Those
were your options and you accepted things as they were. Then I subscribed
to cable and I had about 20 channels. It seemed like there was so much to
see. That number kept growing and growing and now there are about a couple
of hundred channels to surf. The problem is that the more specialized the
channels become, the smaller the share of the market they appeal to.
The result is many niche channels filling your menu and nothing of interest to
watch. You would think more options would make for more viewing time but
it has proved to be the opposite. I scan the channels and find nothing of
interest. Then I decide to do something else. Television used to be
mesmerizing. There were shows that you made sure you were home in time to
see. Other shows you talked about with friends the next day because
chances were, they watched them as well. Now you ask someone if they
watched a show and either they were watching something else or they were not
watching television. I constantly talk to people who tell me about shows I
either never watch or have never heard of before. Likewise, I talk about
something I saw and it appears I was the only one on the planet watching that
program. Then there are the reality shows. Do you know what we
used to call reality TV...NEWS. Now every channel has some sort of contest
or adventure show where cooks square off, or fishermen fish or pilots in Alaska
fly or some guy eats disgusting food all over the world. I mean the list
just doesn’t stop. We have pawn brokers made into stars and teenaged moms
mouthing off and throwing their lives away. These shows are supposed to
make us want to watch? What ever happened to writers who actually wrote
scripts for shows? I guess people want realism because the prevalence of
such shows displays their unimaginable popularity. In the end I pay my
cable bill every month and wonder why I even bother having the service.
Maybe the people who just watch Netflix have it right. Who knows?
All I know is it seems I keep seeing new channels appear that I will never
watch.
something. The more channels I get on my cable box, the less it seems
there is to watch. It sounds strange to me too but it is true. When
I was growing up there were a half dozen stations to watch. You made your
choice and if the channel was coming in well enough, you watched it. Those
were your options and you accepted things as they were. Then I subscribed
to cable and I had about 20 channels. It seemed like there was so much to
see. That number kept growing and growing and now there are about a couple
of hundred channels to surf. The problem is that the more specialized the
channels become, the smaller the share of the market they appeal to.
The result is many niche channels filling your menu and nothing of interest to
watch. You would think more options would make for more viewing time but
it has proved to be the opposite. I scan the channels and find nothing of
interest. Then I decide to do something else. Television used to be
mesmerizing. There were shows that you made sure you were home in time to
see. Other shows you talked about with friends the next day because
chances were, they watched them as well. Now you ask someone if they
watched a show and either they were watching something else or they were not
watching television. I constantly talk to people who tell me about shows I
either never watch or have never heard of before. Likewise, I talk about
something I saw and it appears I was the only one on the planet watching that
program. Then there are the reality shows. Do you know what we
used to call reality TV...NEWS. Now every channel has some sort of contest
or adventure show where cooks square off, or fishermen fish or pilots in Alaska
fly or some guy eats disgusting food all over the world. I mean the list
just doesn’t stop. We have pawn brokers made into stars and teenaged moms
mouthing off and throwing their lives away. These shows are supposed to
make us want to watch? What ever happened to writers who actually wrote
scripts for shows? I guess people want realism because the prevalence of
such shows displays their unimaginable popularity. In the end I pay my
cable bill every month and wonder why I even bother having the service.
Maybe the people who just watch Netflix have it right. Who knows?
All I know is it seems I keep seeing new channels appear that I will never
watch.
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