"...what some folks are looking for is a return to the days of basic cable when you could throw on TBS and watch Demolition Man from the midway point or some random episode of Seinfeld or MASH."
Pssst! Sonny! -- The "days of basic cable" never ended! Not everyone has abandoned the old set-top box in favor of streaming services. I can tune into a random episode of Seinfeld or MASH any time I want to, thanks to my DirecTV connection. Or could it be that this entire article is an extended parody of Millennial cultural amnesia? It's hard for me to tell, because my sense of humor has taken quite a beating since 2016...
Ha, yes, well: the number of linear subscribers is in a death spiral (literally, in a way, as the percentage of subscribers to cable TV is highest among older cohorts and cord-cutting is increasing in every age group, the younger the faster). Over the last six years, the number of households that subscribe to cable has dropped from 73% to 46% according to one estimate. (https://www.techdirt.com/2023/09/18/a-new-low-just-46-of-u-s-households-subscribe-to-traditional-cable-tv/)
So the streaming companies and the studios are trying to figure out what comes next, and it turns out people mostly liked a lot of things about TV as it has existed for many years!
You've certainly got me pegged -- I am definitely a member of an older cohort (OK, Boomer)! And I must admit that even an old fart like myself would probably cut the cable if I could get some faster Wi-Fi. Thanks for an entertaining and informative article!
Shudder has a similar passive stream, but they include the title of the film in the little window streaming the movie. The Criterion channel is just a black tile with the C logo. Just hope that they aren't in the middle of The Devils or Cruising when you have company over!
When my son comes home for the weekend from college "Let's watch a movie" becomes a half hour of him scrolling through thousands of thumbnails on various services as I say "wait, that one looks good...what about that one....I've read that was a good one...let me know when you find something...."
My roomie does this to me all the time, he says he wants my opinion, but, he keeps scrolling and often so fast I can't even read what he is looking at...lol..and when I say, that looks good, or I am in the mood for that one...he says no and just watches what he wants anyway...lol
“I’ve heard from showrunners who are given notes from the streamers that 'This isn’t second screen enough,’” Justine Bateman told the Hollywood Reporter last year during the strikes. “Meaning, the viewer’s primary screen is their phone and the laptop and they don’t want anything on your show to distract them from their primary screen because if they get distracted, they might look up, be confused, and go turn it off.”
It's things like *THIS* that frosts my weinie, Sonny. This is Exhibit A for why a lot of people are too stupid to focus. If you are answering emails. then why the hell do you need the television on across the room? You should be focused on your task. The same applies to fiddling with your phone. If you are fiddling with the phone, then why do you need "background noise" that you aren't actually hearing? This is just average couch potatoes wasting their money by wasting electricity. When you fry out your ability to focus, what good are you, really?
I still have mini TV bundle I stream through Spectrum without a cable box. I also enjoy the old stuff on Pluto. Since the consumer has lost the battle for a La carte pricing, it becomes a software issue. My Spectrum mini bundle has tons of crap, but via favorites, I can only show those channels I’m interested in seeing. But there is not a way to make favorites a default setting, so each time I have to go in and select the favorites view. Pluto makes selecting favorites a bit easier, but still requires some navigating. I can’t imagine adding a default settings to their software is that big of a deal, but they obviously want to keep me pissed off.
"...what some folks are looking for is a return to the days of basic cable when you could throw on TBS and watch Demolition Man from the midway point or some random episode of Seinfeld or MASH."
Pssst! Sonny! -- The "days of basic cable" never ended! Not everyone has abandoned the old set-top box in favor of streaming services. I can tune into a random episode of Seinfeld or MASH any time I want to, thanks to my DirecTV connection. Or could it be that this entire article is an extended parody of Millennial cultural amnesia? It's hard for me to tell, because my sense of humor has taken quite a beating since 2016...
Ha, yes, well: the number of linear subscribers is in a death spiral (literally, in a way, as the percentage of subscribers to cable TV is highest among older cohorts and cord-cutting is increasing in every age group, the younger the faster). Over the last six years, the number of households that subscribe to cable has dropped from 73% to 46% according to one estimate. (https://www.techdirt.com/2023/09/18/a-new-low-just-46-of-u-s-households-subscribe-to-traditional-cable-tv/)
So the streaming companies and the studios are trying to figure out what comes next, and it turns out people mostly liked a lot of things about TV as it has existed for many years!
You've certainly got me pegged -- I am definitely a member of an older cohort (OK, Boomer)! And I must admit that even an old fart like myself would probably cut the cable if I could get some faster Wi-Fi. Thanks for an entertaining and informative article!
Shudder has a similar passive stream, but they include the title of the film in the little window streaming the movie. The Criterion channel is just a black tile with the C logo. Just hope that they aren't in the middle of The Devils or Cruising when you have company over!
When my son comes home for the weekend from college "Let's watch a movie" becomes a half hour of him scrolling through thousands of thumbnails on various services as I say "wait, that one looks good...what about that one....I've read that was a good one...let me know when you find something...."
My roomie does this to me all the time, he says he wants my opinion, but, he keeps scrolling and often so fast I can't even read what he is looking at...lol..and when I say, that looks good, or I am in the mood for that one...he says no and just watches what he wants anyway...lol
If the Criterion thing is a spoof you did a great job with it.
“I’ve heard from showrunners who are given notes from the streamers that 'This isn’t second screen enough,’” Justine Bateman told the Hollywood Reporter last year during the strikes. “Meaning, the viewer’s primary screen is their phone and the laptop and they don’t want anything on your show to distract them from their primary screen because if they get distracted, they might look up, be confused, and go turn it off.”
It's things like *THIS* that frosts my weinie, Sonny. This is Exhibit A for why a lot of people are too stupid to focus. If you are answering emails. then why the hell do you need the television on across the room? You should be focused on your task. The same applies to fiddling with your phone. If you are fiddling with the phone, then why do you need "background noise" that you aren't actually hearing? This is just average couch potatoes wasting their money by wasting electricity. When you fry out your ability to focus, what good are you, really?
I still have mini TV bundle I stream through Spectrum without a cable box. I also enjoy the old stuff on Pluto. Since the consumer has lost the battle for a La carte pricing, it becomes a software issue. My Spectrum mini bundle has tons of crap, but via favorites, I can only show those channels I’m interested in seeing. But there is not a way to make favorites a default setting, so each time I have to go in and select the favorites view. Pluto makes selecting favorites a bit easier, but still requires some navigating. I can’t imagine adding a default settings to their software is that big of a deal, but they obviously want to keep me pissed off.
"O.J. Simpson, the star of The Naked Gun and Capricorn One, has died at the age of 76."
Out of all the news about O.J., Sunny Bunch the only one to mention this, and only this.
(Read the Bulwark for news that you don't get elsewhere.)
"Always find the local angle."
To this day Capricorn One is still one of my favorite movies.
I figured your tongue was firmly ensconced in your cheek when you wrote that. Whatever... good one!