DVD & The Decline of Television (1 Viewer)

[Jesse Skeen]

It's interesting the right about the time DVD took off, the major networks (NBC, CBS and ABC) started showing their logos on the screen during all their shows (Fox had already been doing this for a while). I simply cannot watch anything this way, and I don't understand why so many people tolerate it, judging by the comments here it seems a lot of people don't even notice them. This practice will simply have to stop if they want me to ever watch a show on TV again.
I don't think it's any coincidence that there's been a market for TV shows on DVD, since now that is the only way to see them without the on-screen vandalism. It seems like the amount of commercial time per hour has increased in recent years as well, judging from the running time of some recent shows I've watched on DVD. I've actually been a fan of TV commercials all my life, but having about 5 minutes of them per break is too much. I have some tapes of network shows from the late 70s that have an average of only TWO commercials per break, then back to the show with no onscreen crap!
I also find it EXTREMELY ironic that HDTV has finally taken off, but they're ruining even THAT with onscreen logos. I'd rather watch standard-def in black-and-white with a clean picture than HD with onscreen junk. It's a shame that the 'new' networks (Fox, UPN, WB) have taken over most of the independent TV stations as well; before these networks came along UHF stations would show a lot of classic movies in prime time.

 

[Pat_TL]

I totally agree; I find myself ONLY sitting down to watch a DVD, in good, loud surround sound, rather than watching these idiotic reality TV shows or whatever else is on...since catching the HT bug, I watch a movie every night, and must sit in the sweet spot while setting up the DVD's menu to deliver glorious Dolby Digital or DTS audio. I wont watch movies any other way now. I put on my cable system when Im laying in bed, trying to go to sleep....thats the only time Im off my couch and the DVD player is off...haha. Seriously, though, I would much rather watch cinema on a good DVD in surround than watch broadcast TV anymore.

 

[Ben_@]

now that my collection is finally really getting up there I don't watch much TV. Especially broadcast. The things I tune into now are things on cable that are geared at my own interests.

I don't necesarily blame DVD however. This is more due to better content over broader spectrum.

 

[Ernest Rister]

"However, since I started collecting DVDs in 1999 I've noticed that my broadcast television viewing habits have declined to the extent where aside from news and the odd documentary, I haven't watched any tv shows in over three years."

Isn't that exactly when Survivor debuted?

The only time I watch broadcast TV is for the news. That's it.

 

[Rocky F]

Personally DVD hasn't slowed down my TV watching habits, but working two jobs has. I went for about a year and a half with no cable or satellite, and actually enjoyed it, but two months ago we got Dish with the two room DVR. My wife has fallen in love with that thing. Now I know that it's not as good as Tivo, but it works great for us. The only problem is that it's only SD. I can only get ABC, CBS, UPN and Fox in HD, but HD of course looks better than DVD, and can sound as good, so that helps. I also hate "reality" TV, so that eliminates a lot of TV time, as well.

Oh, one other thing to John Williamson, not to change the way you're watching Smallville, I definately think watching it on DVD is probably the best way to go, but the WB is broadcasting it letterbox 16x9 now, on the SD channel, FYI.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Rocky,
thanks for the heads up on Smallville being letterboxed.

However, the picture quality of the discs are just too amazing, WB did a wonderful job with this shw on dvd. The colors on the Kent farm are so real you feel like you could just step in and help Clark bail hay.

My favorite scenes though are the one's in 'The Talon' Lana's shop, the neon lights behind the bar are magnificent to look at on dvd. Hell, this show looks better than alot of feature films on dvd!

 

[KevA]

When TV-on-DVD started to become increasingly popular, my TV watching dropped considerably. First, I stopped watching syndicated reruns in anticipation of DVD releases and it has worked out great for a number of shows (including Frasier and Seinfeld). I am surprised that anybody would watch these shows in syndication any more; DVD (when done right) provides quality (full episodes, proper video/audio) and control (watch what you want, when you want) that surpasses TV viewing by a mile.

As for newer shows, I only watch a handful at this point and others (HBO's The Wire or Six Feet Under) are DVD-only viewing for me.

 

[Andrew Priest]

Well, I don't get any TV, and cable isn't available here at all. Still, I'll admit that as my DVD collection grew and I got into TV shows on DVD, not to mention rental by mail, my desire to purchase a satellite system declined.