[vijaymishra]

Same Experience here, I moved from traditional Cable TV to DTH in July 2012, took services of Videocon D2H, was awestruck watching HD Channels. No to very minimum add's and realized I did the best investment in moving to HD though I was paying more than cable TV. This happiness was short Lived and in a year things changed, HD channels also followed suit like SD. There are still one or two channels that do show any add (TravelXP) and I spend my time watching this channel.
Content On Demand would overtake TV channels in near future, I have a NAS(Network Attached Storage) at home and it streams content to my TV through DLNA.

[AshBabu]

Today everything is based on TRP rating. Even news channel vie with each other to gain the top rating and dramatized presentation is the order of the day. News had lost its charm in this rat race.

I have Tata Sky and Sun HD at my home and looking back, TV is switched on by my daughter only to watch Pogo. Whenever I switch on the TV to watch news I end up watching advertisements only. I really wonder how people watch special films during festival days like Diwali etc. New films are aired but it is a torture to watch it as film is shown in between full time advertisement.

[charanreddy]

Never thought about "Why we pay for TV" ! Its just been one of the things I took for granted. I don't think lack of cable TV will be the end of me but will affect my life to a good extent.

The first thing I do after waking up is switch on MTV or any other music channel. These days have been watching Discovery Turbo too but the quality of the programs has been consistently decreasing and has been replaced by crap telebuy ads.

With all those ads TV still remains a important medium of de-tuning from work for me

[joshiviv]

I don't mind ads, rather the fact that the ads are at a much higher volume than content here. It's wasn't like this in the US, so I don't know why we have that practice here. So every time ads come on I had to scurry for the remote. Utter crap. My TataSky HD+ connection has been deactivated for more than a month, barely miss it, except for those night I would want to watch a movie, and then I remember that whenever I wanted to watch a movie with TataSky, nothing good would be on.
I do use a chromecast. Love it. Best $35 I have spent on entertainment.

[Soumyajit9]

Let me jump into this discussion and take a U-Turn to the general sentiment expressed by everyone. Its' okay folks to see some ads.
At the end of the day, when I come back from a tiring day at work, I want to relax and watch something funny or relaxing.

I am not going to write an exam the next day about how did Sachin hit the ball, or what kurta was Modi wearing to the summit.

Just a glimpse of the news channel can give you all the masala news of the day. And let me ask, doesn't anyone browse news websites on the mobile or at work ? If you know what is happenning, what is the intent of watching the same news on big screen with a serious face ?

I can agree to some extent about the irritation while watching sports, because it is real time and you want to express that exhillaration when Sachin hit a six. That cannot be felt / expressed in the highlights.

Coming back to ads, yes, to some extent I feel entertained.
It is funny when AB has a headache and he applies a cool cool oil. Or those soft drinks ad. Me and wifey have a good laugh at those cosmetic cream ads.
It gives me time to go and pee, and drink a glass of water.
It gives me time to even get a pack of biscuits to munch on.

I pay about 300 bucks per month. Airtel DTH with a North Indian Mega Pack which includes most of the channels I prefer watching and excludes the one which I could watch, but won't die if I don't watch.
I paid almost the same amount to a local cable guy with horrible picture quality and channels to his mercy, until I migrated to DTH.
I am not supportive of ala-carte type. Choose a nice combo pack and add 1 or 2 channels that you would die to watch. Never should a bill come above Rs. 300 (+/- 50)

I am no die hard fan of any particular show or channel.
If you are one, then you can record them and watch later, or rather watch online.

I am not supporting the ads business, but hey, you got to know about the new product only when you see it ? Right ?
How will you know when Airtel has launched its 4G LTE service, unless you see an ad ?


Okay, time to bash me.

[MaheshY1]

I had a TV Tuner in my home desktop. My Angry Old Man broke it because I watched it till 3 in the morning so he couldn't sleep. I slept till 12 and he had to wake up at 6 for office.

The last day he was with me (next day he was leaving for home town forever,) he broke my computer.

I haven't bought a TV since then ( Aug 2007.) I don't miss it. Whatever I get from my friends on HDD I manage with that. I don't have to watch those pesky ads. And I'm able to finish a 1.5 hr movie in 1.5 hrs. No Ads!
The only craving is having a large(ish) screen to watch those HD movies. May be 24 inch full HD can double up as a monitor as well.
Can't understand why we buy a TV anymore because there are no Free-to-air channels. Everything is digital. I think a monitor should be good enough. Except they don't come with half a dozen input options (HDMI, DVI, D-SUB, RCA, and S-Video.)

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Okay, time to bash me.

That's right. I'll be the first. 'kidding'
Whether the ads are good, bad, or plain ugly doesn't matter. The product companies are paying to have it shown to us. May be the service providers (Airtel, Tata, etc.) should work out a deal with the channels so we don't have to PAY and watch those ads. It'll be like the watching ads is paying for our DTH bill.

[atul.sxna]

With the changing times, DTH has already started loosing its sheen with the younger generation. Whenever i discuss the various shows/movies with the kids in the family (14-17yrs) most of them see the reruns on YouTube.

And with almost all the TVs now becoming Smart TVs, you don't even have to connect your PC/Phone to the set. Switch on the TV and you can browse YouTube.

Net Penetration is the key here, that too won't take much time now.

The heads of all media firms i interact with over the course of business, agree that digital is the future.

A major caveat though is that Metros is not what defines India, Rural India is the real India and TV there is still a major source of entertainment.

I like to believe that we're currently in a transition phase and over the next 10-15 years hopefully we will move towards fully embracing new technology.

That being said, once the digital medium gains mainstream attention, we will start seeing ADS there too

The only logical answer as of now is HDR (HD Recorded) set-top boxes where we see recorded movies/prog. so that we can FF the ADS. !!!

[hellmet]

Originally Posted by MaheshY1

May be 24 inch full HD can double up as a monitor as well.
Can't understand why we buy a TV anymore because there are no Free-to-air channels.

I have a 22" Monitor that's perfect for 1-3 people watching a movie and you don't have to go full-blown HD (1080p) to enjoy shows/movies on this monitor.

Originally Posted by MaheshY1

May be the service providers (Airtel, Tata, etc.) should work out a deal with the channels so we don't have to PAY and watch those ads. It'll be like the watching ads is paying for our DTH bill.

Absolutely.

I use the same reasoning for people wearing shirts that prominently display brand names. I ask them - "Hope the brand gave you the shirt for free?"

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

At the end of the day, when I come back from a tiring day at work, I want to relax and watch something funny or relaxing.

Just a glimpse of the news channel can give you all the masala news of the day. And let me ask, doesn't anyone browse news websites on the mobile or at work ?

TV switches off your brain - that's not relaxation

No, I don't browse news websites becaues I'm on a no-news diet. This ideally is content for another thread, but read this: http://dobelli.com/wp-content/upload...Part1_TEXT.pdf

Originally Posted by joshiviv

It's wasn't like this in the US, so I don't know why we have that practice here. So every time ads come on I had to scurry for the remote. Utter crap.

I do use a chromecast. Love it. Best $35 I have spent on entertainment.

US ads are boring and drag on and on - ads for medicines are the worst with 1-2minute disclaimers.

Can you play non-web stuff using a Chromecast? Say a video file on your mobile played on TV?

Originally Posted by charanreddy

Never thought about "Why we pay for TV" ! Its just been one of the things I took for granted. I don't think lack of cable TV will be the end of me but will affect my life to a good extent.

Originally Posted by vijaymishra

This happiness was short Lived and in a year things changed, HD channels also followed suit like SD.

Content On Demand would overtake TV channels in near future, I have a NAS(Network Attached Storage) at home and it streams content to my TV through DLNA.

Typical click-n-bait.

What NAS storage do you use?

Originally Posted by venuvedam

One big advantage that broadcast TV has, over on-demand/streaming programming, is - you don't have to make a decision of what to watch. In an online/streaming world, you need to know what you want to watch and then stream it. Believe me, this decision is a very tough one to take. After a hard day's work, you come home, settle on the sofa - and all that you want to do is to watch something - and not get into an elaborate framework of deciding which show to watch.

100% agreed about deciding what to watch part.

Originally Posted by fine69

The one show that we used to watch at home is now being watched on the laptop and what we love about it is that we don't have to watch any ads.

My bedroom is suddenly quieter and I like that a lot. I missed the TV experience initially but with 3 weeks gone by, I don't miss it too much now.

We watch a lot of movies though and the only thing I'm not liking is connecting the 2.1 system to my laptop and then watching it. So I'm getting a big LED this time (may be 50" philips) but I think I'll not renew my tatasky DTH which is due for renewal in Dec'14 (I was on the semi-annual package). Oh and yes I was paying 400 something for the Grands Sports Pack which has everything minus 4-5 channels.

Anything but that chaos now, good riddance!

Good thing you're not going back to DTH, but 50" TV, whoa! To each his own, but I hope you aren't addicted to screens. Addiction is when one has to always be staring at a screen - mobile/laptop/tablet/TV etc.

Originally Posted by mayuresh

There are two different problems why TV looks unattractive to some, me included:

1. Advertisements

2. Mediocre contents, with very few exceptions

So may be it's the TRP rat race that is killing the quality?

There are a lot of people who enjoy the low quality shows that we wouldn't think of watching. These "lots" of people are a majority so we'll continue to see such shows for a long time to come.

Originally Posted by saion666

Guess what this thread made me remember we have a TV at home. Switched it on to find the Tata SKY connection has been deactivated.

The connection was in the name of my flatmate who has been to US for more than a month and nobody bothered to check the TV, such is the redundancy of the idiot box.

Good, maybe sell off the dish and STB else you may be tempted to top-up the thing. :P

[utsav1303]

Watching TV these days... LOL!

Rightly said, it is like watching ads even when the movie is about to end, matches have started, important news is awaited.

While DTH service providers keep on changing their plan and channel subscription offer (free -> paid).

I don't watch TV anymore, and IMO on line streaming of sports or viewing news videos on mobile internet or torrent for movies is much better option.

[joshiviv]

Yes, you can share content on your mobile to your TV via Chromecast.

Originally Posted by hellmet

Can you play non-web stuff using a Chromecast? Say a video file on your mobile played on TV?

[theexperthand]

Think I am really a minority here - I watch TV to watch ADs. I LOVE watching ads and flip channels when ads in one channel are over
In fact, that is one main reason I some time watch cricket match telecasts - I get to watch lot of ads.

--Anoop

[Srikanthan]

This is what I wrote on my FB wall earlier this year.

And here is another news...

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...2-sechour.html

So, watch more of advertisements if this is implemented

We have stopped viewing TV for quite some time at our home and my wife depends on YouTube for her favorite soaps.

I depend on social media for latest news

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Hey, of all people you with your avatar cannot say that you do not watch TV or only sports

Hahaha, no no. I watch all my movies and series on Netflix. There is no way to view sports live without a DTH connection so I still maintain the Tata Sky connection.

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Let me jump into this discussion and take a U-Turn to the general sentiment expressed by everyone. Its' okay folks to see some ads.
At the end of the day, when I come back from a tiring day at work, I want to relax and watch something funny or relaxing.

Hahaha, you are different in this regard! I can't stand the ads these days. Maybe there are a few good ones somewhere but I don't want to wait to find them.

[ILTDrive]

It is plain and simple as to why I pay for TV. To watch the Ad's and nothing else. I like to watch sports and English news and movie channels and am forced to watch daily soaps at the pretext of spending time with the wife (She is not on TBHP thankfully).

What gets my goat is when the climax of the movie is almost done with, there are ads and then what follows after the ads are the names, I am like WHAT!!!

And with sports, the worst are the Ten sports one. These guys went to the extent of having advertisements between the balls being bowled with in the over. I am like WHAT AGAIN?

So the summary is, I pay to watch the Ads.

I wish the premium we pay for HD will allow us to watch the shows without Ads, but guess that is too much to ask for. So, what are we paying the pay channels for if they are earning revenues with ads? Shouldn't they be paying us back for watching the Ads?

[vinit.merchant]

Why do I pay for the TV?

For two reasons
1. Parents watch a couple of soaps daily + couple of regional channels
2. Kids watch Chota Bheem/Tenalirama.
3. Daughter (5 yo) sleeps with her mom and I have to put my son (2 yo) to sleep. There are some rare occassions when my son sleeps quickly. I pay for watching whatever comes on Star World/Zee Cafe/AXN during these times.

This is the reason I have kept just one TV at home. No TV's in the bedroom. This way everybody is not confined to their respective bedrooms.

My TV has inbuilt wifi, but does not support the router I currently use. Maybe I should upgrade my router so that the soaps that take 30 min can be done with in 15-20.