We are finally getting cable or satellite TV, whichever hubby decides on. I love the BBC with "Ground Force", a gardening show and "Changing Rooms" a decorating show. Oh, and the British comedies are great.

Since I've only seen satellite TV at work sometimes I'm not sure what else will be on I might like. Gardening, nature and science shows would be high on my list. Anybody have any ideas what I should look for?

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2002

Answers

Debra...we have Directv 'cause we're too rural for any cable company to bother with. But after having satellite t.v. for years (we started with Primestar) I'm glad it was our only choice at the time!! We have so many more choices with this system than cable and from what some people tell me, cable prices are going up and up! My favorite channels are the Discovery channels. And with six of them, there's always something good to watch!! We also like the two history channels, Animal Planet, the Nat. Geo. channel and...VH1 Classics :-)!! I sure hope Directv and Echostar don't become one!!!!

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2002

The American version of Changing Rooms is called "Trading Spaces", it's an hour long and shown on The Learning Channel (TLC). New episodes are Saturday evenings, they repeat Sunday afternoons and various other times during the week. They just filmed 3 episodes in Indianapolis which are due to be aired sometime this month.

I also like Home and Garden TV (HGTV), they have several good gardening shows, This Old House, and other home improvement/remodeling type shows.

Other good channels are the History Channel, Discovery Health Channel, and the National Geographic channel. Your basic satellite programming package should include most if not all of these.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2002

After having cable for years, I recently switched to DIGITAL cable. I did it because it could be gotten as a package with my high-speed Internet cable connection for $8 a month LESS than my analog cable service and Internet cable connect separately (which is how I was already paying for them). So I can save about $100 a year.

I don't really notice that the channels are clearer. I'm not thrilled with the cable box either. I'm going to have to go get some other gadget (A/B switch?) and figure out how to connect it into the set-up if I want to record one program while I watch another. So far, I've managed to avoid that. Also, whereas before I could program my VCR to record a variety of programs on different channels, I now can ONLY record whatever channel the cable box is set to. If I want to record a variety, I think I'm going to have to use a splitter and connect the VCR just to the "regular" cable.

I've had this less than a month, so I haven't reached any conclusions. But so far, I'm thinking it's kind of a PAIN. I suppose I could just disconnect the cable box and return to my old set-up and not tell them. I haven't really been using the "added" channels.

On the other hand, Julie has had satellite dishes, both a large one (previous house) and a small modern one (current house). She can tell you more about it, but I will note that in her situation, she has not been able to receive the local stations of the "major networks" -- the first time, she could get the national CBS (for instance) but not local; this time, she can't get ANY version of CBS, ABC, NBC, nor statewide PBS. I think this sounds like a skunky deal. I don't see why, in this modern age, we have to have so damn many gizmos and gadgets to get what we want. Switch from this to that etc. I have four remotes now -- cable box, TV, VCR, and DVD. Some of them are supposed to be "universal", but of course, every machine is so complex that you can't do everything you need to on one "universal" remote. Grrrr!

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2002

Oh blah, I forgot to say that I seem to mostly end up watching Animal Planet. I'm getting bored with that though because lately it's been only stuff I've already seen, or what I call the All Reptiles All the Time programming. :-/

For awhile the History Channel seemed to be the All WWII/Hitler channel, but they've gotten better lately. It seems like everytime I go to Discovery, it's bugs or reptiles too. Those are interesting once in awhile, but ALL the time?

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2002

Gee, does anyone STILL only have regular, TV antenna only TV reception???

We are very rural, but, we have a huge antenna and rotor (remember those things?) and we manage to get two PBS stations and all the usual network stations, several regular stations from two different directions (Pittsburgh and Morgantown/Fairmont, WV). With some rotor twiddling, the picture comes in really great comsidering how far out we are, which is about 90 miles or so from most of the stations transmitting. It helps that we are on a ridgetop though, my freind in a valley can hardly pick up stations 30 miles away with a bigger antenna and rotor!!!

I love the Britcoms on PBS, but when I get around someones cable/satTV, I go for the old standby shows from the 60's and 70's that some of the networks show in the evening, like "I Love Lucy" and "Mayberry RFD", and even "Green Acres"!!!

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2002

Annie...we still have a "regular" antenna and get ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS. These all get very good reception...although sometimes ABC is a little fuzzy. Occasionally we'll pick a "stray" Canadian station also!! I'll always hang onto the plain old antenna just in case the satellite companies become one and create a monopoly. If that happens we'll just go back to four channels :-)!!

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2002

We are a TV family and many times we are all watching a different channel so Direct TV wouldn't work for us since you can only watch one channel at a time.

My sister is in VA and she has Satelite but I noticed they have to scroll down a long list of TV listings until they find something to watch, sometimes missing some of it because they were looking to see what was on.

I was just remembering when I was living on a cattle ranch in Colorado during my teens, we only got one station on the TV. That was it. I never watched soap operas before but they got me into it at the time and I brought it home with me for a while after. That was when we would come in for lunch during the hottest part of the day.

My husband is the type who will walk into the house and turn on the TV. He's like Annie, watches TVland. He got upset when they took "Green Acres" off.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2002

As Joy noted, I've got Direct Tv now. I went with it over the local cable installation (that finally got here about 25 years after they said it would be installed...) because of my own viewing habits.

My main viewing seems to be the Sci Fi channel, the history, nature, and documentary channels, as well as the Independant Film Channel, the BBC, and I get three classic movie channels (TCM, AMC, FMC).

I like Animal Planet too, altho it's often the 'All Crocodile Channel' (with snakes as side-kicks). It repeats a lot, but if you haven't already seen it already, then that's not a bad thing.

I don't watch a lot of Tv....which is why I didn't go with local cable. Other than local weather, there ws very little that I was interested in. Of course, I don't get any local weather with Direct Tv. If you have a Big Three affiliate within about 90 miles of you, Direct Tv won't let you have a national affiliate patch to them -- apparently because then you would watch THAT, instead of having to go out and get an expensive tower antaenna to try and pull the local ones in, and you wouldn't watch all the local commercials for used car dealers. So you can't have it. Personally, most commercials have little impact on me, and since I don't care to watch anything on ABC, NBC, or CBS, I just listen to the local radio station for weather.

-- Anonymous, November 20, 2002

THis is the first time we've lived anywhere where cable was available. It's ridiculously expensive, but so was the satellite at the farm. We mostly watch movies; we are a movie-watchin family, but so much of the modern stuff is garbage. Even having every possible station available here, it is amazing to me though how often there is nothing on we want to watch at a particular time, and end up going to the video store anyway. We probably utilize sundance and ifc the most.

We do watch plain ol PBS alot, and Discovery, sometimes biographies including on VH-1, and of course I listen to news shows like Donahue etc, and I do admit to getting hooked on HBO's Six Feet Under and even Queer as Folk, but I really do despise all the foul language. It's so stupid and unnecessary. I used to watch alot of gardening shows but now they just depress me. :) Lately we've been watching the Wisdom channel; its very uplifting.

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2002

Better late than never in replying I guess: YES, we still have an antenna (only) on our roof. I watch Masterpiece Theater on Sunday nights; West Wing on Wednesdays; Washington Week in Review (and if I can stay awake long enough), NOW with Bill Moyers, on Friday nights. But then I'm a pinko commie anyway...

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2002