Did OTA Channels Go Down Hill?

[vcr1980]

Is it just me or did free OTA channels go severely downhill in the last couple of years?

CBS, ABC -- There used to be good shows, good sitcoms, good hour long shows, but I don't see anything like that I want to watch anymore. The only thing I watch on ABC now is the news.

ABC Sub Channels -- These channels seemed to start buying cheaper and older stuff. There is nothing I watch on these at all anymore. ABC used to have newer (2000s) movies on at weekend nights. No longer.

FOX -- The sub channel is basically gone and now just shows reruns of stuff on the regular channel. The Walking Dead used to be on this channel as was 'Bones.' I never watched Bones but at least it was a newer, recent show.

CW - Wow! This one I really notice it. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, hell EVEN The Vampire Diaries was better than all these super-hero snooze fests. Maybe I just need to be a comic book guy to appreciate these? But wow, even 'Hart of Dixie' was more interesting.

Escape -- This was sort of my last breath. They had some real great movies on a few years ago. Now, it is just Forensic Files over and over and over. For some reason I can't even get this station anymore so I feel like the nail in the coffin has been set.

Anyone else notice a decline in the quality of programs for OTA? I used to watch a lot of stuff. Now, I struggle to find anything.

 

[navychop]

Well, at least no one is showing “My Mother The Car.”


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[comfortably_numb]

Most of my OTA time is spent watching shows on the 3 PBS affiliates I get, and most of those shows are very high quality IMO

 

[osu1991]

Well I like super hero shows, so CW is the main network I watch. Agents of Shield is all I can think of on ABC. Occasionally Hawaii Five O on CBS.

I like the old westerns on Grit and GetTv and some of the old sci-fi on Comet. I watch quite a bit of PBS and Create.

Other than sports and I follow The Voice and DWTS intermittently not much on broadcast networks. They usually cancel the niche shows I like. I dvr a lot but usually delete if it’s cancelled or pulled before I’ve started.

Premium Cable isn’t much better, I’ve never liked anything from HBO, Showtime, etc..

I watch a good helping of non US content too, from UK,AU and Canada.

 

[harshness]

OTA is getting steadily worse on both the programming and quality counts. The audio and video quality may improve as Next-Gen takes over from DTV some years down the road but the programming is dependent on a funding scheme that may no longer be sustainable.

Hulu, Netflix, Prime and Vudo are buying up the good seasons leaving not much for the locals to carry.

There are more ways coming to watch the same stuff without having to endure mesothelioma commercials and they will put even more pressure on the funding model.

 

[osu1991]

Just how many NCIS, Law and Order and Chicago this or that shows can one endure.

 

[danristheman]

OTA is getting steadily worse on both the programming and quality counts. The audio and video quality may improve as Next-Gen takes over from DTV some years down the road but the programming is dependent on a funding scheme that may no longer be sustainable.

Hulu, Netflix, Prime and Vudo are buying up the good seasons leaving not much for the locals to carry.

There are more ways coming to watch the same stuff without having to endure mesothelioma commercials and they will put even more pressure on the funding model.

Or the catheters commercials or farmers only.com must mean a lot people on farms must have a lot of problems then. I watch laugh because of home improvement, PBS- NOVA, Frontline, American Experience, or any other good shows on that network. Last man standing on reruns on FOX soon or bad new episodes of macgyver.

 

[boba]

"Emergency" has been in syndication for at least 10 years they just change networks. You are watching the same programs being repeated daily how do you expect any improvements in programming?

 

[Larry1]

The one show that makes OTA worth it for me is Svengoolie on MeTV.

 

[Justin Hill]

Ion TV used to be really good way back when it was called Pax TV.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Y’all forgot My Pillow.

 

[billowens]

Don't forget Liberty Insurance and Consumer Cellular...

Sent from my cheap phone using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[Justin Hill]

Don't forget Liberty Insurance and Consumer Cellular...

Sent from my cheap phone using the SatelliteGuys app!

...and J.G. Wentworth, 8-7-7-Cash-Now!

...or those Progressive Insurance commercials.

 

[andy_horton]

Antenna TV is always showing the animal abuse commercials. My cat is a rescue. Will be 19 y.o. in Aug. Being an animal lover I turn the station. Just turns my stomach.

 

[billowens]

Antenna TV is always showing the animal abuse commercials. My cat is a rescue. Will be 19 y.o. in Aug. Being an animal lover I turn the station. Just turns my stomach.

...and they are at least 2 minutes long. I also change the channel because it upsets our 7 year old to the point of tears.

Sent from my cheap phone using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[navychop]

Just how many NCIS, Law and Order and Chicago this or that shows can one endure.

I’ve wondered about that but don’t dare ask her.


Sent from my iPhone using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[N5XZS]

What's worse they always chopped up high quality R rated movies made in the USA. That's was killing the FTA local stations can't compete against HBO. Local stations are hand tied by the lame duck FCC. Europeans stations show uncut R rated movies made in USA over the air! That's why our TV shows and movies are all chopped up and bleeped to death and no wonder we tune out save for sports and news.
Sad but somday the FCC will be overhauled.

 

[comfortably_numb]

What's worse they always chopped up high quality R rated movies made in the USA. That's was killing the FTA local stations can't compete against HBO. Local stations are hand tied by the lame duck FCC. Europeans stations show uncut R rated movies made in USA over the air! That's why our TV shows and movies are all chopped up and bleeped to death and no wonder we tune out save for sports and news.
Sad but somday the FCC will be overhauled.

Never going to happen. Their concern is that children might have access to OTA movies rated R. Even though they implemented the ratings restriction system into TV’s

 

[N5XZS]

Kid will always get access to ota, cable and satellite no matter what. Most parents are too lazy to set up so called rating lockout system.

 

[Justin Hill]

I remember when ABC, NBC, CBS, WB, UPN and FOX had Saturday morning cartoon blocks. They were all replaced with the Litton educational block.
CW discontinued their Vortexx Saturday morning block in the early 2010s and replaced it with another Litton block.
I remember when WB, UPN and FOX did weekday afternoon cartoons, but they've abandoned those blocks in favor of daytime and syndicated programs.

It was because of cable/satellite TV's Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network that Saturday morning cartoons were once thought to be extinct...

Saturday/weekday morning cartoons came back, thanks to Sinclair Broadcast Group's KidsClick syndicated cartoon block that is broadcast on Sinclair-owned CW, MyNetworkTV and FOX affiliates. Some of these affiliates air the block alongside their respective Litton blocks.

In addition to those affiliates, KidsClick also airs on digital subchannels ThisTV and TBD.