Tv in the U.K and we thought we had it rough!
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Having a state run broadcast service and being required to pay for it (but only if you are going to watch it) doesn't sound too entirely bad, especially if they have a lot of channels that are good quality (programming-wise). This is obviously the biggest reason that they have FTA television. But, of course, we see that NOTHING is truly free.
What would "bug" me is having to pay to watch TV (the tax) and ALSO have to pay for SKY TV service as well, as a subscription. I am pretty sure that Sky TV is a paid subscription service like DN or DirecTV. Correct me if I am wrong. If they didn't charge the tax if you were a subscriber - and charged it only when viewing state TV, I guess I could go along with that. Otherwise, it would seem like double-dipping to me, and the person watching the television is the "DIP".
RADAR
What would "bug" me is having to pay to watch TV (the tax) and ALSO have to pay for SKY TV service as well, as a subscription. I am pretty sure that Sky TV is a paid subscription service like DN or DirecTV. Correct me if I am wrong. If they didn't charge the tax if you were a subscriber - and charged it only when viewing state TV, I guess I could go along with that. Otherwise, it would seem like double-dipping to me, and the person watching the television is the "DIP".
RADAR
I know what Shillings are, however I was unclear as to how keeping them on top of the tv helped it to continue functioning.
Hehehehe not on top. there was a meter in the back of the TV . When it ran out you.d have to put more coins in it and turn the dial.then it would run for an hour or so .
I can assure you, the British FTA channels are of good quality. Here in Germany they are popular, we watch them without paying British TV tax. We pay German TV tax, around USD 20 a month per household, and maybe British citizens watch German TV as well..what I doubt.
Most Germans are not used to pay for TV beside this TV tax, paid TV like SKY has maybe 10% market share, and mostly because of German football (= soccer).
Now this is really "cool" and interesting to hear from our European freinds and members... The first hand information about satellite TV, FTA and subscription. I always wondered what it was like.
Here in the United States, I pay $0.00 USD (0.00 Euros) for my television services. Sorry to gloat over that aspect, but you have to remember that I don't get all that much, really. Cubavision, Kuwait TV, RTV, Tuff TV, History, Biography, Al Jazeera and PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) are my main sources of TV broadcasts. PBS brings me about 20 or more channels of really good content (including their feed channels). There are about 500-600 more FTA channels here for me, but I only list the most favorite ones of mine.
These are all channels from FTA Ku band. I could do better with the addition of C-Band, but I have been dragging my feet on that project for quite a while. I will get around to it someday, really I will.
I can imagine that the sport events draw a large number of people to the TV in any country, paid or not!
RADAR
I think you have a good point. American television, IMO has been going downhill steadily. I've seen a few british shows and I was pretty impressed. Even though they do not regulate the content, the providers do a good job to regulate it themselves. I find American content trying to push the limits of the FCC or public opinion and its never entertaining. There have been a good amount of TV programming that has been popular but its simply canceled due to lack of desirable advertisement audience.
Other note, I was really shocked about how cheap their internet and television. A friend was telling me she pays 10.00 for her 5 meg line.
Yeah we get a lot of channels but what you pay for, a lot of it isn't worth watching...I'm thankful in the U.S. we still have some decent stuff on FTA. I agree with AC sound kinda like double dipping if you had to pay twice to watch something.
We also get ripped on what we pay for internet as well compared to other places...$35-40 a month on average here....Blind
We also get ripped on what we pay for internet as well compared to other places...$35-40 a month on average here....Blind
The minimum price for Internet where I live is $49/month for something called "high speed" that any South Korean would chuckle and say "ROFLMAO" -- because broadband in most of the USA is as slow as molasses in Antarctica by comparison.
Unfortunately Bio and History are not FTA here. Cubavision and Jazeera are FTA and on almost all satellites. Kuwait 2 (the English one) is not so popular since the similar stations from Dubai have a better schedule, even the German soccer league ist broadcast there.
Is Kuwait TV shown in real time, I mean you see the Kuwaiti evening program at noon?
I didn't know PBS before although I knew some of the formats like Barney and Sesame Street (btw, Sesame Street is popular here, with American puppets and German actors). As well as the British teletubbies... PBS = Primarily British Series hehey.
balck & white tv? wonder how many sets are in england. I have not seen one in years. does anyone have one??
Paul,
I have never really paid much attention to the "real time" of the broadcast on channels like Kuwait TV. I just take what is on air at the time. I work mostly night shift, so I am probably watching TV at dawn here when it is primetime in the middle east. I am 6 hours earlier than GMT. How far would that put me off from Kuwait in time zones??? Nine or so hours? Hmm?
History and Bio are okay channels. I wouldn't want to be without them here on FTA, but the programming isn't what it used to be. They are getting lame. They rarely run history programs on the history channel anymore. They air stuff that has nothing to do with history most of the day and a lot of the programs are simply leaning to the genre of "make-believe-reality-TV". I don't know how that all goes together, but that is what it is. I think that the younger generation is in control of the programming and they want to see make beleive things that are "fantastic" or "fantasy" rather than historical facts. This is part of the reason that I dropped my subscription with DN, as it was TVLand that excited me. They aired all the old sitcoms from the past that I enjoyed. Then they started eliminating those programs and replaced them with what I would consider garbage, like dancing with the stars. Then they raised their prices. I just gave up as it wasn't at all worth $1.00 per month, let alone $56 a month or much more... and now much, much more!
I know I am a harsh critic, but if I have to pay to watch TV, I want to watch something REALLY GOOD! I am a stingey, greedy old miser! LOL The last time I paid to see a movie in a theatre was when the Star Trek movie came out... "Star Trek, The Motion Picture", and then, my brother actually treated me to that one!
As for PBS, that is probably the best for me here. Especially the CREATE channel. Can you get it in Germany (paid or free)? Lots of good shows on CREATE from making dinner to BBQ to fixing a toilet, to landscaping and to building a whole house, etc, etc. Lots of excellent information to digest! This is a channel that is actually worth paying for, but it is free here. It has class.
Sesame Street on PBS has been a long standing classic for kids. I think I was a little older than their target age group when it first started, but I watched it anyway and I enjoyed it. Bert and Ernie and Oscar the Grouch were my favorite characters. I remember walking home from grammar school at noon to eat lunch and watching the show for a few minutes. If any very young child was to be allowed to watch tv, Sesame Street would be a program that I would approve of.
Paul, if you get British TV there in Germany, do you ever see reruns of "The Goodies"? It was from the early to mid 70's I think. Kinda like a cross between Monty Python, The Three Stooges, Benny Hill and The Monkees. I loved it!
RADAR
Don't knock it Dantheman!
B&W TV was great! We had a 19" Sylvania with a bad Vertical Hold (the Horizontal hold wasn't much better). As the TV warmed up, the screen would start to scroll and roll! You would have to get up and readjust the potentiometer to keep the picture straight. Besides that, we had rabbit ears on the TV for the antenna. So, if you changed channels, you had to spend five minutes or more readjusting the antennas to get a clean picture and you had to adjust the outer tuner dial to fine tune it. When you got a great picture to come in, it would change when you walked back to your comfy chair so you would have to get up again to readjust. It was always best for one of your siblings to simply stand there and hold the antenna to receive a good signal for the others to watch.
Oh, the days that you missed! The fun times and the golden age of B&W TV!
LOL
RADAR
I still have a 12"black and white Tv from the 70's for setting up dishes, otherwise I haven't seen a B&W Tv in a long time. I'm trying to slowly trying to get rid of the last of my old color sets...you know the big bulky ones lol. Anyway I'm in the Eastern time zone and I think the stuff on Kuwait 2 is 8 hours later than my local time. I've watched some pretty decent shows on there in the evening..never know what they're gonna show...Blind
Radar, I'm a big fan of Monty Python but haven't heard of the Goodies before. Maybe because they were never dubbed and shown on German TV. Some of the Goodies episodes were aired last Christmas in UK, the first time after the 70s. I'll keep my eyes open, or maybe get a copy on DVD or "in the net". Benny Hill and The Monkees were dubbed (except the songs) and shown on German TV.
I had a look at the website of CREATE TV, it looks interesting. Woodwork and even knitting is better than the all-present cooking shows here. Sad to say, CREATE can't be received in Europe. Well, we have "Dr Dish TV", a station only showing satellite related topics, plus some computer stuff and amateur radio.
The latest is HbbTV (hybrid tv) here, a combination of sat tv and internet. Pressing the red button on the remote leads you to a website which is somehow related to the program. For example, you can order the product what is shown in the commercial. Or, much better, you can read additional info about the country or the person what is the topic of a documentary. Mostly government stations use this "red button" function, financed by my tv tax, it really gives "value for money". Tv tax money also pays for the online news pages, of good quality and mostly "unfiltered" because at least on paper the government tv stations are like judges independent. By the way, tv tax is due when you own a tv set or a car radio, whether you consume the paid stations or not. As mentioned in another post here, you can't avoid to pay, one day someone knocks on your door and it won't be Jehovah's witnesses. I didn't pay for 6 years, but hard to deny being a TV user having a big sat dish on the balcony
I had a look at the website of CREATE TV, it looks interesting. Woodwork and even knitting is better than the all-present cooking shows here. Sad to say, CREATE can't be received in Europe. Well, we have "Dr Dish TV", a station only showing satellite related topics, plus some computer stuff and amateur radio.
The latest is HbbTV (hybrid tv) here, a combination of sat tv and internet. Pressing the red button on the remote leads you to a website which is somehow related to the program. For example, you can order the product what is shown in the commercial. Or, much better, you can read additional info about the country or the person what is the topic of a documentary. Mostly government stations use this "red button" function, financed by my tv tax, it really gives "value for money". Tv tax money also pays for the online news pages, of good quality and mostly "unfiltered" because at least on paper the government tv stations are like judges independent. By the way, tv tax is due when you own a tv set or a car radio, whether you consume the paid stations or not. As mentioned in another post here, you can't avoid to pay, one day someone knocks on your door and it won't be Jehovah's witnesses. I didn't pay for 6 years, but hard to deny being a TV user having a big sat dish on the balcony
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