Author Topic: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels  (Read 4854 times)

Goldielocks

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Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« on: December 04, 2017, 08:25:31 PM »
DH just received the TV antennae he bought on a black friday sale.  Tried it out  5 min ago and showed kids how the remote works with the "up and down" channels... "source" button, etc.

"Why is it playing British TV"?  (a:  It's Coronation Street)
"Is that a commercial?" (yes).
"OMG!   It's TV!!"


Okay,  I think we have been using just Netflix and Youtube for a very long time!   Got rid of cable TV (Treehouse) when youngest was 4.  He's 15 now.

mxt0133

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2017, 09:29:53 PM »
We too got rid of cable and over the air TV before we had our first born.  We have a TV again because it was gifted but it's only hooked up to Netflix and Amazon Prime.  But even then we do go over friends and relatives and they see how to use the up and down channels.  Do they never go to other families that have over the air or cable TV?

Goldielocks

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2017, 10:20:03 PM »
Not to watch TV, apparently.  They watch movies or more often, play video games.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2017, 02:58:32 AM »
First of the year were snipping cable and just doing Netflix and maybe Hulu. Were doing the free trial on Amazon right now then will try the free trial of Hulu and see if sling has one. My kids get worked up with commercials they got that from me. Couldnt imagine if they had to get up and change the tv with a dial.

gaja

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2017, 03:21:01 AM »
DD9 and I were at a hotel last weekend, where there was a TV. She soon got frustrated with the commercials, but since we were in Sweden, she found the state run "knowledge channel", where they only show high quality documentaries, studio debates about pressing topics, such as mental health, or the deeper meaning of certain words, and filmed lectures from universities. The last part was a bit boring, but she really enjoyed the documentary about the Hubble telescope.

At home, the kids have access to netflix, viaplay, youtube, and nrk.no (Norwegian state channel, paid via taxes).

ketchup

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2017, 05:43:15 AM »
This is the TV channels' (and cable companies') worst nightmare.  And I'm sure it's gradually happening everywhere.

I'm 26, so I'm on the tail end of the generation that watched any TV in the pre-internet-streaming age.  My parents never had cable growing up, but I did watch some linear over-the-air TV as a kid.  Most of it was PBS though, so no commercials.  Then around age 10, I started watching a few non-PBS shows (still OTA) with commercials, mostly dumb stuff like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, and the commercials really bugged me but I tolerated them because I was just a stupid kid that wanted to watch TV.  At 15 (2006) I discovered the wonderful world of Bittorrent, and pretty much stopped watching live TV or commercials of any kind right there.  I was "binging TV shows" (like House) before it was a thing.  As an adult, I've since switched to legal commercial-free streaming options (as they became available).  Post-2006, I can only think of a handful of shows (and definitely not every episode of each) that I've made any effort at all to watch live (at a friend's house if on cable), with commercials, and it's always jarring and awful, so only worth it for the best of shows (like the Breaking Bad season four premiere brought to you by the same Jimmy Fallon Capital One commercial played repeatedly).  I do watch Game of Thrones "live" right when it's available on HBO Now, but there aren't commercials, so it doesn't really count.

Now, we use Netflix and Amazon Prime (and HBO Now during Game of Thrones season).  We also have an antenna, but that gets used for one particular current show, and put away at other times (it's ugly).  I've never watched "the news" on TV, I've always just read the news online.

I haven't turned on a TV channel "just to see what's on" since the PBS days as a kid.  I'm sure if I was <10 right now, I'd have no real concept of TV channels.
« Last Edit: December 06, 2017, 05:45:40 AM by ketchup »

surfhb

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2017, 08:22:33 AM »
I used to drive my dad crazy before we had a remote TV.    Rifling through the channels quickly with the knob trying to find a show you wanted to watch.    Rat-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta 

Im an QC engineer for Netflix now so my job is to watch TV 8 hours a day.   NO TV at home though....no way!!

Goldielocks

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2017, 10:22:55 AM »
I used to drive my dad crazy before we had a remote TV.    Rifling through the channels quickly with the knob trying to find a show you wanted to watch.    Rat-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta 

Im an QC engineer for Netflix now so my job is to watch TV 8 hours a day.   NO TV at home though....no way!!

I know exactly the sound you describe....

Yesterday, I was amazed at the digital quality of the HD OTA channels.   Netflix HD is also nice, but creates huge overage charges on my internet (such as binge watching 4 seasons of Breaking Bad), so I had to turn it off HD.

After watching TV with DD (17) for a while (in the background, while doing other things, may as well invite the full TV experience), we both felt a bit nauseous -- do you know what they show on Daytime television?  Weird people on Dr.Phil and then.. it is all daytime "Home shopping channel" minus the "CALL NOW!" pitch.   All "what to gift someone for Christmas"...   DD asked why the Nordstroms segment had such disjointed items on it - a sparkly pillow, a large tote bag, lip balms in primary colours, mittens --  horribly expensive mismatched items..  I told her it was because those specific companies paid to have those items on that show, it likely was not curated by the fashion design speaker like she was portraying.

A funny moment -- DD asked ; "Did they just call that tote a hearse?"   (a blend of "her" + "purse")   I looked up, the bag was certainly big and certainly not attractive.  "Hearse" seemed to be as good of a description as any.

TV = off.   Netflix movies were on again last night.

moof

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #8 on: December 06, 2017, 11:53:17 AM »
While visiting in-laws for Thanksgiving we tried watching Elf on TV with our 5 year old.  He got frustrated with the ads (about 25-30% of the time seemed to be filled with ads...).  I quickly decided against ever buying an antenna.

I'm trying to convince my wife to drop Hulu, since we are down to one show we watch together, but she has a few shows she watches during the day still.  Since the Daily Show and Colbert Report disappeared from there it has lost most of its value to me.

Bird In Hand

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #9 on: December 06, 2017, 11:56:03 AM »
My kids have had very little exposure to "regular" TV with commercials.  On the rare occasions where we watch something on broadcast TV, they all complain vociferously when commercials come on.  The oldest usually can't make it through the entire 2-3 minute commercial break and just leaves the room to do something else.

shawndoggy

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #10 on: December 10, 2017, 06:49:18 AM »
y'all do know that you can buy a dvr to work with OTA TV, right?

I mean srsly there's a lot more effort being put into complaining about "free" broadcast television in this thread than into taking advantage of the fact that even in very small markets a metric crap ton of content is put out there for free for you to catch with an antenna at no cost. 

Sheesh doesn't anyone remember programming their vhs with the TV guide in hand so that they wouldn't have to watch the commercials?  Go to your local garage sale or thrift store and pick up a vhs and some tapes and you can take care of this issue.

geekette

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #11 on: December 10, 2017, 07:41:51 AM »
VHS recorders - are any of them digial?  We had to ditch our (wonderful) ReplayTV when OTA went digital. We now have a TabloTV. It records channels OTA and you skip through the commercials on playback. Once you pay for the box and guide (and a Roku or other device on your TV), it’s free. 

shawndoggy

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #12 on: December 10, 2017, 08:03:53 AM »
Great question.... you may need to run through a digital tuner first.

Me personally -- I have a Tivo Roamio with lifetime subscription.  They were $249 a couple of years ago (refub).  I'm "in the money" on the lifetime subscription now.  it rocks.  Records up to four simultaneous shows at once and I can watch anything recorded on the dvr from other devices around the house via tivo app for firetv.

geekette

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #13 on: December 10, 2017, 09:25:10 AM »
Yes, and the Tablo also streams to any device in your house (Roku, AppleTV, Firestick, tablets, phones).  If you set your router up properly, you can even stream to your tablet/phone over the internet if you're away from home.  I haven't used it except once for the novelty factor, but I hear some like it when they travel.

Goldielocks

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #14 on: December 10, 2017, 12:11:56 PM »
Update -- kids learned what an "Infomercial" was today.

DH flicked through our 3 channels and it stayed on an infomercial for about 3 minutes.   Kids were surprised to find out that businesses can buy air time to hold hour long commercials.  "Huh? Yeah, it's an ad..... What!?!  "
« Last Edit: December 11, 2017, 01:37:54 AM by Goldielocks »

shawndoggy

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Re: Blow your kids' minds -- TV channels
« Reply #15 on: December 10, 2017, 04:01:17 PM »
Update -- kids leaned what an "Infomercial" was today.

DH flicked through our 3 channels and it stayed on an infomercial for about 3 minutes.   Kids were surprised to find out that businesses can buy air time to hold hour long commercials.  "Huh? Yeah, it's an ad..... What!?!  "

haha just wait till they tell you that you need to invest in "real" assets like gold, and that you need to stop being broke and get a payday loan!