Basic Cable's Corrisive Evolution

The standout mindfuck for me is MTV.

[bold]Music[/bold] Television.

Now it doesn't play any music videos or music shows whatsoever.

How many deacades has it taken you to notice. All the shows are the same. No matter what, you have 300 channles and nothing much to watch.

R1 Same as The Learning Channel. What are we learning from Honey Boo Boo?

And I forgot The History Channel. I used to watch the channel's "history in the classroom" shows in the mornings and learned so much from them. They were straightforward but interesting history lessons. Now the content is 50 percent Ancient Aliens and 50 percent "amazing occult Nazi tech!" I blame it for preconditioning people to make them susceptible to QAnon insanity.

[quote]FX set out to be "the HBO of basic cable" and it has had a lot of good shows, but it's interesting that the network originally showed gritty "dude" shows (I think there was even a Maxim magazine TV show?) and now it's The Ryan Murphy Network.

FX doesn't belong on this list. They still show 20th Century Fox movies and original "adult" oriented gritty shows, like "American Horror Story". You want a complete fuck up, how about BBC America which was to bring us great shows from Britain we never get to see and now they have "Law & Order and "Star Trek Deep Space Nine" all day, WTF? Because the lead actor is British? No sense.

R2 It hasn't taken me decades to notice. I just felt like starting a discussion thread. I'm curious to learn about exceptions to the rule I may not be aware of, or other ones I may have forgotten.

Go back to bed R2. You obviously got out of bed on the wrong side and you're being unreasonably cunty and nobody is interested in it.

You forgot the history channel, that now features stories about UFO hunters...

R7 meet R3

This parallels a precipitous drop in the popularity of classical music, opera and ballet. The NY City Opera already has folded. Symphony orchestras are suffering financially. And on and on.

Our culture now revolves around trash, and these TV channels are representative of that.

...and this "EVOLUTION" is precisely why cable will continue to die a slow death. There is nothing worth watching and so much better elsewhere. I'd much rather have 3 decent channels than 600 channels of crap.

The Travel Channel has turned from a station about, you know, travel to one about (and this is their quote) "the paranormal, the unsolved, the creepy and terrifying."

Instead of lifting people into knowledge, those channels are just producing entertainment. Because this is what people want. Do you think the masses desire to educate themselves? They'd rather worship Kardashians crap.

That's also how you end up with most Americans unable to tell you who Napoleon was, to place any country on a map, or grasp any basic science concept. To think that they vote....

Cable-free since 2007!

I subscribe to one streaming service, which I rotate every few months. Currently I am watching Paramount+.

TLC and A&E use to be one of my goto channels, not anymore

R10, this is not*why" cable is doing. People are still happy to get crap content, but on via a different medium: the internet. Do you believe people are cutting the cord with cable because they demand quality educational content? LOL, they're far too stupid for that. They're getting their daily dose of crap via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and conspiracy/celebrity news sites.

The Fox News Channel was once for fifteen minutes an actual news channel.

Dying, not doing.

R15, my theory is that reality TV was a precursor to social networks, on terms of getting the masses to new lows. Of course, with social networks it's worse because they're on your phone, and your phone is 24/7 with you. Making people stupider, noon-stop.

The Discovery channel.

OT, but R12 Do they even vote? Don’t think so. Or if they vote it’s once every four years, they tick one box and then leave the booth. That’s bad enough, though.

During the pandemic, I've discovered a whole crop of new crap and also a ton of fortifying information on YouTube. It's like video Wikipedia nowadays. I alternate between reaction videos and music videos and music performances to archival footage of old celebs and execs talking about their experiences (info I used to get on DL before the MAGA takeover changed everything), aquarium videos, plant videos, history, linguistics, people talking about their cultures, recipes...so much information!

What about HLN? It used to be CNN Headline News, with news updates every half hour around the clock. Now, it's a couple of hours a news in the morning, and then "Forensic Files" and "Death Row Stories" the rest of the day.

It’s an algorithm - a computer displays certain shows draw the biggest number of viewers for the least amount of money, so programming expands income generators and deletes underperformers.

Large ensemble performances - opera, symphony, ballet - will get cut as they have a higher fixed costs with lower general interest. These are also subjects with historically higher income barriers than other performances.

Finally, many of the original subjects are not making themselves available to common usage. Orchestras should be popular because of their use in movies. You can’t say that for opera or ballet.

All of these provide a treasure for new formats. You see shorter ballet pieces on Youtube that do something for your soul. Use of one opera snippet in movies leads to countless full performance views on Youtube. The stories are rich and applicable.

We can't really predict how things will continue to evolve, even if the lowest common denominator seems obvious.

I remember in the 2000s when reality took over everything, actors lamented that their industry was dead and that reality had killed storytelling and good opportunities to play complex characters.

Now, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Glenn Close, Robert DeNiro and so many other A-list actors have some of their toothiest roles ever in TV series and the feature film industry somehow has been entirely co-opted by Marvel Comics. Which I am fine with because a lot of television today is as good as movies were in the 90s, and we get more hours of entertainment.

Of course, Netflix et al make 95% disposable television but good series are really A+++ these days.

R22 So You Think You Can Dance has produced many great dance sequences, but it seems the US audience can only tolerate creativity as a competition, from Probect Runway to cooking shows to dance shows to singing shows to even arts shows. It's weird.

I'd say Homos & Gays TV (HGTV) remains fairly true to its original mission. And I guess Comedy Central is still more or less the same. Is Sci-Fi channel still on the air? I used to watch Sci-Fi many many moons ago for MST3K.

There is some quality left on basic cable channels although it is increasingly recent concluded series (such as Sons of Anarchy, The Americans, Schitt's Creek, etc.) or others that are long in the tooth (Archer, Sunny in Philadelphia). TV has become more of a truffle search than when I was a kid in the 70s-80s. But if you keep an eye open, you can spot the gems you'll enjoy.

R10 thinks shit on Netflix and Disney+ is "so much better."

Remember when AMC was more like TCM? No commercial breaks, classic films, no zombies.

HGTV House Hunters episode 1 circa 1999: "That's nice. This is nice. Look at this room. This is nice! I was hoping for more open concept but we could work with it. I was hoping for turnkey, though. Granite countertops! Nice! Hey, look at this nice big backyard!"

HGTV House Hunters episode 49,362,113 circa 2021: "That's nice. This is nice. Look at this room. This is nice! I was hoping for more open concept but we could work with it. I was hoping for turnkey, though. Granite countertops! Nice! Hey, look at this nice big backyard!"

The rules of the thread are “Basic Cable” so we can’t focus on internet or premium channel content.

I was curious about one explanation for keeping Fucker Tarlson on the air despite a lack of advertisers; there’s a fixed income generated by putting on a show that gets paid regardless of advertisement. My question is how much revenue does a network receive from different cable providers?

The cable companies know if they went al a carte and people could chose which channels they want they would go out of business. All my aunt wanted was TCM, she was disabled and got pleasure from watching old movies all day. I'm sure their core audience are seniors yet Comacst put it in their most expensive tier.

A&E is the most disappointing to me.

Frim Wikipedia. Sad.

"On December 11, 2013, A&E unveiled a new on-air brand identity built around the slogan "Be Original", emphasizing the network's lineup of original productions and positioning it as a 'much lighter, more fun place to come and spend time.' The success of Duck Dynasty, Bates Motel and Storage Wars put A&E fourth in 2013 among cable channels in the key 18-to-49 age demographic."

[quote] HGTV House Hunters episode 49,362,113 circa 2021: "That's nice. This is nice. Look at this room. This is nice! I was hoping for more open concept but we could work with it. I was hoping for turnkey, though. Granite countertops! Nice! Hey, look at this nice big backyard!"

You forgot, "This would be great for entertaining!"

Destination America used to be travel-oriented. Now it's reruns from HGTV all day (and I love Holmes Inspection and Holmes on Homes)

Don’t forget The Disney Channel. They used to have shows that both children and adults could watch together and not be embarrassed by. Then, it turned into nothing but awful annoying crap for 12 year old girls.

is TV Land still around?

Nick @ Nite is a fucking disgrace. They went from actual classics and shows that hadn't been syndicated in years to absolute shit such as [italic]Who's the Boss. Full House[/italic], and [italic]Friends[/italic].

[quote] I'm sure their core audience are seniors yet Comcast put it in their most expensive tier.

Without a doubt. I don't know anyone under 50 who has cable TV. I'm 54, and cut cable about 8 years ago. Never looked back.

Little bastards though are trying to make up for all the lost revenue by charge new and ridiculous fees for wi-fi and internet. I'm right of center, but I agree with the Left that internet should be a basic needs utility made affordable to everyone. Without internet, you can just barely function today, and it's especially awful for the educational opportunities of poorer children (even before COVID).

I remember when The History Channel was nicknamed The Hitler Channel. When A&E first changed it was alot of Bill Kurtis and Gotti.

American Heroes Channel (AHC) beat out The History Channel as the "All Hitler Channel" for its predilection of Hitler and Nazi stories, R39.

It launched as Discovery Wings Channel in 1998, rebranded as Military Channel in 2005, then AHC in 2014.

In the UK Channel 4 signed on in 1982 with a remit to show cultural and arts programming. They began funding films by Merchant Ivory and the like. Today they bring you Big Brother and Naked Attraction, a dating show which features closeups of the contestants’ genitals.

[quote]They began funding films by Merchant Ivory and the like.

And now the survivor of that duo makes racist pedo propaganda in Fascistland starring a cannibal rapist.

[quote] During the pandemic, I've discovered a whole crop of new crap and also a ton of fortifying information on YouTube. It's like video Wikipedia nowadays.

YouTube is simultaneously the best and the worst of the Internet content. The problem is that allows everybody to sell themselves as an expert on something without any criteria to establish their credentials in the professed area of expertise. If you have a misfortune to click on something deceptive and vile and you're not careful about vetting sources and doing further research, it'll drag you down the rabbit hole of potentially harmful disinformation.

Back to the metamorphosis of basic cable into the rotting pile of maggot-infested garbage: all Discovery-owned channels have suffered from it. It's truckers, doomsday preppers, fishermen, etc. Even Investigation Discovery is now largely this cheesily narrated, badly reenacted crap geared towards fraus, what I like to call "Hallmark True Crime ." Basically, it's the visual equivalent of those podcasts where two suburban ladies sit around with a box of white wine and discuss their favorite true crime cases.

The Sundance Channel once showed some great, sometimes weird movies. They had few commercial interruptions, if any. A fun channel, in the beginning.

Around 2000, I was watching some great series on the BBC, like Casualty and Monarch of the Glen.

I honestly don’t believe that people wouldn’t watch higher content entertainment it’s just that the programs being produced and broadcast are cheaper to be made. It sort of simple as that.

Agree with R3 - some of the programming is irresponsible, leaning into all sorts of conspiracy bullshit.

[quote] The Sundance Channel once showed some great, sometimes weird movies. They had few commercial interruptions, if any. A fun channel, in the beginning.

I subscribe to their streaming version (Sundance Now) and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

[quote] Remember when AMC was more like TCM? No commercial breaks, classic films, no zombies.

For me that’s the most egregious and sad example. It used to be Bob Dorian in a comfortable study/lounge, in a chair, introducing mostly black and white films. I watched it constantly, as an under-10-year-old in the 80s. People don’t even remember Bob Dorian now. AMC now produces series like the fucking Walking Dead. What the hell does that have to do with “American movie classics”?

BBC America. Once they showed programming primarily from the UK, now it's nothing but Star Trek repeats (Next Generation AND Deep Space Nine), Harry Potter and James Bond movies, and the *occasional* British program such as Top Gear

[quote] AMC now produces series like the fucking Walking Dead. What the hell does that have to do with “American movie classics”?

What does reality trash with no music have to do with Music Television?

What do sitcom reruns have to do with "Video Hits"?

What do polygamist Mormons and horny Amish people and Honey Boo Boo have to do with The Learning Channel.

As soon as any clearly defined network flips from network name to just the letters, you know they're going to give you trash.

BBC America is a US company whose only tie with the actual BBC is through its for-profit subsidiary, not the "real" BBC network. It's really another AMC junk channel:

"BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary series)."

r50

American Broadcasting Company = ABC Columbia Broadcasting System = CBS National Broadcasting Company = NBC

So, yeah.

[quote] As soon as any clearly defined network flips from network name to just the letters, you know they're going to give you trash.

I'm going to watch some MTV and VH1 while dining on food from KFC.

The dumbest name change was “SyFy”. Good grief.

[quote] As soon as any clearly defined network flips from network name to just the letters, you know they're going to give you trash.

When "The DataLounge" officially becomes just "The DL," you'll know that its days are numbered.

[quote]Nick @ Nite is a fucking disgrace. They went from actual classics and shows that hadn't been syndicated in years to absolute shit such as Who's the Boss. Full House, and Friends.

Because to the demographic they're trying to reach, those shows are classic shows. Nick and Night hasn't changed, we just got older. And the original Nick at Night shows can be found on the vaginal mesh and Alec and Caleb channels.

Basic cable has found itself in the same position that network TV found itself in years ago. Fighting for a dwindling audience with even more choices. To remain viable and in business, these channels are going to cheaply produced reality programming. The more shocking and titillating, the better. Even Netflix is going there now.

And the bottom line is, why watch scripted tv, when you can watch real people acting like fools for almost no money.

The audience for nostalgia does shift as people get older. Oldies radio used to be 50s and 60s. Now it’s 80s and 90s.

One that baffles me is PBS continuing to run old Lawrence Welk shows. If you were into that you would have to have been already and old person in the 60s. So the demographic watching it now would have to be people who are over 100 years old.

It was a slow and sure decent from what is now considered elite entertainment and educational enrichment. All of those channels appeal to the lowest common denominator, the idiots, and those idiots gave us Trump. Those channels wouldn't be successful unless they were giving people exactly what they want. Just like Trump, who gave the people exactly what they wanted.

This is the USA we live in now. And I'm not so sure anymore that we aren't the minority.

Thankfully there is still wonderful stuff out there - if you take the time to search for it - but it's not on cable TV, unless you subscribe to specific streaming services. And there is some great content to stream on the Internet, such as music and theater.

Cable's descent into shit is just one more example of the decline of civilization. Yes, I know that's hyperbolic; I still think it's true.

[quote]The dumbest name change was “SyFy”. Good grief.

They tried to copyright Sci-Fi but were denied. So it was just business.

DIY Channel is becoming Magnolia, an entire Chip and Joanne Gaines channel. I will remove DIY from my favorites guide list so it is blocked and I can't even accidentally change to it like I did to E!

in the near future all of these networks will be airing different genres of porn.

As we move toward giving equal credit to all voices in society, the concept of objectively “good” television/art/music/literature just doesn’t exist anymore. We are headed toward a wasteland of mediocrity and platitudes. Any “flowers” that poke their head up will be mowed down by over-analysis on social media.

I still remember watching The Furniture Guys on TLC on the weekends. Now it's all midgets, and parents with a dozen kids, and giant gross feet and pimple popping.

I hate to be one of those supercilious people, but WTF? Who is watching a TV show about popping pus-filled kits? Is the spin-off going to be about enemas and impacted colons? Jesus Christ!

Don't forget the zip popping network. Whatever the hell it is. Classy.

I love 80s movies/John Waters, etc but there's a time and a place for everything - and TCM sure ain't the place! Makes me hella nervous as I see TCM creeping ever closer to this kind of programming on the regular. Before long, it'll be the same story as Nick at Nite (RIP)

R64 - actually, the show Smothered on TLC had mother/daughter enemas last season.

R56: What kind of network wants to reach bigots, morons, and assholes? That one!

Dl. Where it is forever 1987 and "basic cable" isn't dying off and everyone cares what's on "prime time TV" tonight

I am frequently amazed that half the people on this board know how to connect to the internet.

Humanity is fucking stupid and trash gets ratings.

There's trash and then there's garbage.

We all do R26.

I went cable free in 2018 and I have never missed any of that crap for even one second. It was such a relief to have it all gone. Now I control what I watch, when I watch it and there seems to be a plethora of content which I didn't know about. I would never have cable TV again for any reason.

The Travel Channel has the most ridiculous Bigfoot shows where they always hear them but miss seeing them, show after show. Oh so close!

Here in Canada Showcase used to show great international movies and TV shows and had lots of classic and new Canadian content. Now it's just the NCSI channel.

The Spice Channel used to show boobies but now I can't even find it.

[quote] Nick and Night hasn't changed

Oh, dear. Apparently it has!

Reality television has been a cancer on our culture and our society.

Everything Viacom touches turns to shit.

Nickelodeon and N@N turned to shit.

TV Land turned to shit.

BET turned to shit as soon as they bought it.

MTV turned to shit the moment [italic]Beavis and Butt-Head[/italic] went off the air.

LOGO was everything wrong with those wrapped in a rainbow flag.

[quote] Reality television has been a cancer on our culture and our society.

It was never not one.

[quote]The Spice Channel used to show boobies but now I can't even find it.

Cinemax killed the softcore channels.

[quote]LOGO was everything wrong with those wrapped in a rainbow flag.

LOGO was never committed to actually be gay oriented.

That article is crap if it defends a racist homophobic piece of shit show such as [italic]Friends[/italic].