WOW, Sure Is Condfusing to Watch TV These Days

 

As I sit in front of my 50-inch television with surround sound and access to an infinite number of channels and programs, you may wonder: what could he possibly complain about?

After all, I clearly remember the TV watching experience of my youth. The high-tech equipment we owned was a 12-inch black and white TV loaded to the gills with three channels – ABC, CBS and NBC.

All of the shows available were from those networks and were only presented once during the season, with some sporadic reruns appearing during the summer. After hours (midnight to 8am or so) the TV offered only a weird graphic that was called a Test Pattern.

TV viewing was simpler back then and very regimented.

All programs had lots of commercials, the TV sound quality was tinny, and all shows were broadcast on a strict schedule. If you happened to be out of the house at 8:30 on a Thursday night and missed your favorite show, you were totally out of luck.  It was lost and gone forever, never to be seen again (except now on YouTube).

Compared to today’s world of broadcast technology, that was like the ice age.

The journey from the days of the test pattern to today’s world of dazzling sound and color was slow but steady. color TV started to become popular in 1970 and soon after, cable burst on the scene.

Fast forward to 2022 and TV screens are as wide as the wall they’re hanging on (85-inch TVs are not unusual), complete with amplifiers, speakers, and an almost infinite array of program offerings. You even can record any show you want, to be seen time and time again.   

Well, you may say, that sounds…..heavenly. So, again, where’s the problem? What’s your beef?

Despite the astounding improvement in TV technology, I find the experience of what to watch, how to watch it, and what should I subscribe to, to be a very confusing (and expensive) affair. It’s like going to a buffet with a table as long as a football field, laden with every possible dish I’ve ever dreamed about.  What should I choose?

The confusion begins at the beginning. What equipment should I buy?

Back at the birth of the TV world, there were no choices at all.  We bought a TV set that brought the broadcast channels in by an outside antenna or an interior one, affectionately called “rabbit ears”. And everyone throughout the country had the exact same experience.

TV watching was a community activity. When “I Love Lucy”, “Milton Berle”, “Ed Sullivan Show”, or “The Honeymooners” appeared on TV, the entire country watched them at the same time, no choices.  And the next day, everyone talked about it at work or school.

And there was only one TV set per household.

So, now our TVs are not those small boxes of the fifties, but giant screens with multiple speakers throughout the viewing area.  We can watch theatrical movies with the viewing experience rivaling that of actually sitting in a movie theater – only better in some ways. 

Watching at home, we can talk about the movie while it’s playing without getting sneers from other paying customers, eat entire meals in front of the set, or even pause the flick to make a visit to take a tinkle. Also we can stop the movie altogether, and when we continue the watching the next day, it will remember where we left off.

No more antennas for receiving the signal. Now, we can watch by purchasing a cable subscription or a satellite dish subscription.

But wait, things are changing yet again.

For the last couple of decades, we have been tied to the cable/dish system. We subscribe to a selection of channels (hundreds of them) with a few premium channels for an extra charge. But now technology has matured so we are being urged to “cut the cable” and go to streaming – a combination of your smart TV plus your internet – for all of our watching needs.

But back to the bewildering choices we are faced with:  Now we have additional channels we can acquire – Hulu, Disney+, HBO, Apple TV, Paramount, Starz, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Brit Box, Sling TV, TNT, Cinemax and many more. And there’s a charge for each one.

What to watch – that’s a challenge too.

No more looking at the week’s TV schedule in the paper.  The selections defy category. You could opt to see theatrical movies (classic to new), old TV shows, or international TV shows. Premium cable channels also offer original movies, limited series, recuring series, documentaries.

There are so many options that the daily TV schedule listing in your daily newspaper (what’s that!) can’t begin to list everything. There are no universal schedules and new programs are released anytime. We have no idea when a new season of our favorite series will be released, or even if it will be released. 

To know what’s available, we have to conduct a rather thorny search of websites, listings and reviews. But that usually won’t do the trick either – friends will tell us about a series we must see that, despite our hours of research, we've never heard of.

 It’s all a complex game.

When you have finally identified the movie or show that you want to see on a given evening, don’t take it for granted that you can actually access it with all the hundreds of channels you have at your disposal. Not on your life. That would be too easy.

There is another catch. Yes I know you have spent hundreds of dollars per month for abundant watching options, but doubtless you will find that you don’t have the correct channel to see the particular show you’ve identified with your favorite actors and story line.

So now you have to consider buying yet another subscription ($5-$15 per month) just to watch that show.

That’s not all.  Maybe you don’t have a smart TV which means you won’t be able to get the channel anyway.  You’ll have to buy another piece of hardware – like a Roku or Chromecast – to access other channels. Which, of course, will force you to add yet another remote control, to your existing gaggle of remotes that reside on your coffee table.  Five or six of them is not usual (and they’re all black, not easy to find the right one!).

Five bucks a month doesn’t seem like a lot to spend to watch good quality shows but before you know it you’re buying several channel subscription, Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, Starz to name just a few, and your monthly entertainment bill begins to grow like weeds in your garden.

Oh, one more thing.  Even if you buy all those subscriptions and a Roku and whatever, there are invariably movies you want to see that are still on none of the channels or gizmos you have. They are offered on a rental basis - $3.99 is a common charge for one movie.

Wait, your nightmare is not over. To add to the turmoil, depending on your set-up you may have to add your personal password to order some of these additional shows, or even re-order some premium channels, so get ready to upgrade your own personal tech skills.

So now, relaxing on the La-Z-Boy to enjoy your favorite movie may not be such a relaxing experience after all. It is often fraught with frustration, sorting through various remotes, finding passwords, looking through various channels to find the lost program you want to see and more.

NO, I don’t want to go back to the old days of three channels and a small black and white set, but you must agree that watching TV today can be a hornet’s nest of technology, hardware, schedules, passwords, sound bars, and a dizzying choice of options.

Are the pleasures worth the challenging obstacle course we must complete to enjoy the entertainment?  Probably so, but sometimes not.