Television! Can you live without it? Of late, I have been toying with the idea of, gasp, cutting the cord and going completely online. You will no doubt say that I am not really giving up on watching TV. And you will be right, but I do want to make a serious effort to cut down. Ironically, the networks are making this easy.
The whole experience of watching TV has become very different over the years. Take the programming for instance. There are basically a few categories - mysteries, medical dramas, sitcoms and soaps. Sometimes it feels like the same show is playing over and over with a different cast. But that has not stopped me from watching them. I have realized that I am basically addicted and that I have to make a conscious effort to be very selective. There are hundreds of channels now, which means that we have loads of bad programs to sift through and a good one is the needle in this haystack.
The segment that is growing fastest is perhaps the so called reality shows. It is just a cheap and lazy way to produce new shows. Mind you, these are not exactly real but productions of scripted reality complete with casting calls and all. Some of these can be interesting but mostly they translate to trash in my opinion. Unless one likes to watch the endless drama of the Kardashians or 'Real Housewives', reality shows have little to offer.
Not long ago, commercials used to be the main irritant when watching TV. But with newer technology, mercifully, we can avoid them easily. Nowadays, I hardly watch any program when it airs. I record it on the DVR and watch it later which enables me to fast forward through the commercials. Sports is perhaps the one exception to this. Somehow it becomes cold once the event is over and all you are interested then is to know how it ended. In sports, by and large, commercial breaks are dictated by the actual game so you tend not view them as intrusions. More accurately, you may say that the game is designed/modified to provide the necessary breaks. As Wodehouse said of football, 'They run a play and then stand around and talk about it'. The games are designed to allow for enough time outs and such so that the sponsors can get their messages across (and the networks can collect their money).
I think money has taken the fun out of watching cricket on TV entirely. With multiple cameras, and mikes on the ground, coverage has become very sophisticated over the years. I don't get to watch much cricket but when visiting India, I would try to take in a game occasionally. I was very disappointed recently trying to do that. The screen had multiple frames (which expanded and contracted all the time) with commercials playing on the side even while the game was on. When a batsman got out, there was no instant replay but instant switch to advertising. I don't know how the fans are putting up with this.
Talking of money, the insane amount a spot costs during the Superbowl makes the commercials big production numbers in themselves. So much so, and I am not making this up, they command their own audience. You can actually watch just the commercials and skip the game altogether (Here's a link: How to watch just the superbowl commercials) many of them even before they officially air. It makes you wonder why companies pony up the big bucks to snag the spots during the game.
The other program that you have to watch live is of course the news. But news, especially on 24x7 news channels has become a sort of video game now (call it Spot the News, if you like). The screen is divided into many frames each telling its own story. With all of them vying for your attention, it is quite difficult to concentrate. Exhausting if you ask me. Whenever there is some breaking news (there is always some breaking news) the screen flashes 'Breaking news' along with a headline at such a rapid rate that you need to see it four or five times before you can read the whole thing. It is sometimes shown one line at a time making it extra challenging to put it all together. It calls for the use of, pardon the jargon, packet switching techniques. Below the banner, a video clip (beware - this may not always be the actual story) will be playing in a loop endlessly. One or two other frames with talking heads will be thrown in for good measure. A running display at the bottom showing other news items only adds to the general confusion. A few seconds of this, and my head usually starts spinning. I wonder if I can only gather the news subliminally!
From another angle, I think it is kind of hilarious. Just the other day, Bill Cosby was being arraigned in court to face charges. The news report showed him getting off the car and walk the few steps to the court house. As usual, this video clip was played in a continuous loop. I saw him get off the car and take the faltering steps almost stumbling at the curb while being supported by a couple of people and enter the court house, only to instantly reappear outside again getting off the car and so on endlessly. I tried to imagine that the scene was actually repeating in real time and that ultimately Cosby would eventually take a tumble!
Anyway, as I said, all of this has me looking at cancelling the cable service altogether and joining the increasing tribe of 'streamers', if I may use the term. I don't watch a lot of sports so I probably will not miss it. As for the news, I can definitely get it online. That will still leave me being a customer of the cable company for my internet service but I can at least decide what to watch and when, which is actually whatever, whenever! I think this may actually help me cut down on the time spent watching. And that will be a good thing. If I don't end up binge watching shows online, that is.
The whole experience of watching TV has become very different over the years. Take the programming for instance. There are basically a few categories - mysteries, medical dramas, sitcoms and soaps. Sometimes it feels like the same show is playing over and over with a different cast. But that has not stopped me from watching them. I have realized that I am basically addicted and that I have to make a conscious effort to be very selective. There are hundreds of channels now, which means that we have loads of bad programs to sift through and a good one is the needle in this haystack.
The segment that is growing fastest is perhaps the so called reality shows. It is just a cheap and lazy way to produce new shows. Mind you, these are not exactly real but productions of scripted reality complete with casting calls and all. Some of these can be interesting but mostly they translate to trash in my opinion. Unless one likes to watch the endless drama of the Kardashians or 'Real Housewives', reality shows have little to offer.
Not long ago, commercials used to be the main irritant when watching TV. But with newer technology, mercifully, we can avoid them easily. Nowadays, I hardly watch any program when it airs. I record it on the DVR and watch it later which enables me to fast forward through the commercials. Sports is perhaps the one exception to this. Somehow it becomes cold once the event is over and all you are interested then is to know how it ended. In sports, by and large, commercial breaks are dictated by the actual game so you tend not view them as intrusions. More accurately, you may say that the game is designed/modified to provide the necessary breaks. As Wodehouse said of football, 'They run a play and then stand around and talk about it'. The games are designed to allow for enough time outs and such so that the sponsors can get their messages across (and the networks can collect their money).
I think money has taken the fun out of watching cricket on TV entirely. With multiple cameras, and mikes on the ground, coverage has become very sophisticated over the years. I don't get to watch much cricket but when visiting India, I would try to take in a game occasionally. I was very disappointed recently trying to do that. The screen had multiple frames (which expanded and contracted all the time) with commercials playing on the side even while the game was on. When a batsman got out, there was no instant replay but instant switch to advertising. I don't know how the fans are putting up with this.
Talking of money, the insane amount a spot costs during the Superbowl makes the commercials big production numbers in themselves. So much so, and I am not making this up, they command their own audience. You can actually watch just the commercials and skip the game altogether (Here's a link: How to watch just the superbowl commercials) many of them even before they officially air. It makes you wonder why companies pony up the big bucks to snag the spots during the game.
The other program that you have to watch live is of course the news. But news, especially on 24x7 news channels has become a sort of video game now (call it Spot the News, if you like). The screen is divided into many frames each telling its own story. With all of them vying for your attention, it is quite difficult to concentrate. Exhausting if you ask me. Whenever there is some breaking news (there is always some breaking news) the screen flashes 'Breaking news' along with a headline at such a rapid rate that you need to see it four or five times before you can read the whole thing. It is sometimes shown one line at a time making it extra challenging to put it all together. It calls for the use of, pardon the jargon, packet switching techniques. Below the banner, a video clip (beware - this may not always be the actual story) will be playing in a loop endlessly. One or two other frames with talking heads will be thrown in for good measure. A running display at the bottom showing other news items only adds to the general confusion. A few seconds of this, and my head usually starts spinning. I wonder if I can only gather the news subliminally!
From another angle, I think it is kind of hilarious. Just the other day, Bill Cosby was being arraigned in court to face charges. The news report showed him getting off the car and walk the few steps to the court house. As usual, this video clip was played in a continuous loop. I saw him get off the car and take the faltering steps almost stumbling at the curb while being supported by a couple of people and enter the court house, only to instantly reappear outside again getting off the car and so on endlessly. I tried to imagine that the scene was actually repeating in real time and that ultimately Cosby would eventually take a tumble!
Anyway, as I said, all of this has me looking at cancelling the cable service altogether and joining the increasing tribe of 'streamers', if I may use the term. I don't watch a lot of sports so I probably will not miss it. As for the news, I can definitely get it online. That will still leave me being a customer of the cable company for my internet service but I can at least decide what to watch and when, which is actually whatever, whenever! I think this may actually help me cut down on the time spent watching. And that will be a good thing. If I don't end up binge watching shows online, that is.
