I have some friends who prepared for the analog blackout here by hauling all their television sets out to the curb for the bulk trash pickup, or the more ecologically minded took them to the electronics recycling center. Given what I pay for cable or satellite service and the quality of available programming, I am beginning to think they may have had the right idea.
We still have satellite television but we get most almost all of our national and international news on the internet from the New York Times, L.A. Times, Washington Post, BBC, Huffington Post, and PBS. Even though there is only one daily newspaper in our market (I think there are fewer than half a dozen markets with more than one newspaper) their local news is balanced and well done. Even there their online version is now an image of the print version and the question that is being asked is how long can the print version survive. (I do wish they had an iPhone app.)
As to entertainment the local radio market is absolutely saturated on both the AM and FM bands but there are very few good offerings. I listen mostly to either satellite or internet radio. Even the local broadcast stations I listen to most are on the internet and I can listen to them on my iPhone or computer anywhere I happen to be. The content of television entertainment venues too often insults the intelligence of the viewer and is incredibly repetitive. How many times can you watch the same episode of NCIS, CSI, or Law and Order before you are bored to death. I won't even go into about the various shopping, reality, and special interest networks nor am I willing to pay a dime extra for that content. Internet downloads allow me to pick and choose among the best movies and even television show episodes and more and more of even the specialty network contents is available online as well.
My wife is always watching "videos" on her computer showing how to prepare a specific dish she wants to cook or a particularly difficult sewing technique. As an ordained minister she watches lectures from leading seminarians and there is no comparison between them and the televangelists.
In the end, the only thing left for over the air or cable/satellite broadcast is sports and how long will it be before the professional and college athletic organizations figure out they can charge for internet access to their games? So why do I keep the satellite service? I am not sure I can answer that right now.
