USA is doing nicely with the sitcom/drama markets with all their crime and medical shows though. Not everyone has done badly expanding, and their original shows are generally good, particularly Burn Notice and Psych.

But USA has always seemed to be a network to air anything. SciFi was for science fiction. Not for wrestling and other non science fiction. Same for History - I turn in for historical information, not UFOs and ice trucking. And what am I learning from The Learning Channel, other than Kate's a biatch? AMC was originally for classic movies. Thank goodness there's TMC that still airs older movies.

peachy92: But USA has always seemed to be a network to air anything. SciFi was for science fiction. Not for wrestling and other non science fiction. Same for History - I turn in for historical information, not UFOs and ice trucking. And what am I learning from The Learning Channel, other than Kate's a biatch? AMC was originally for classic movies. Thank goodness there's TMC that still airs older movies.

True. I gave up on History years ago, after I realized that I wasn't ever watching anything that I didn't already know, or wasn't actually historical. But it was more that expansion can work. I miss the days that I could put Spike on and watch some goddamn Star Trek.

I get all stabby every time Discovery runs another "Deadliest Catch" marathon. Which seems to happen every other farking day!

/stabby!

Throw "History Channel" into that mix.

Still haven't figured out what truckers, chainsaw lumberjacks, and ghost hunters have to do with "History."

Crap. Nothing but pure crap on TV.

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Bladel: Throw "History Channel" into that mix.

Still haven't figured out what truckers, chainsaw lumberjacks, and ghost hunters have to do with "History."

The channel you knew is now history.

Bladel: Throw "History Channel" into that mix.

Still haven't figured out what truckers, chainsaw lumberjacks, and ghost hunters have to do with "History."

And Cartoon Network, too. They've begun showing reality TV, and the people who did make cartoons for them are reporting empty offices and laying off their staff.

GAT_00: AMC was originally for classic movies.

In their defense, "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad" are arguably two of the best shows on TV right now. They don't fit the channel's name or original intent, but at least they're quality.

On the other hand, nobody can justify airing Catwoman, Terminator 3, or Ocean's Twelve. They're American, and I guess they qualify as movies, but beyond that...

Sci-Fi - BSG is over and you call yourselves SyFy. Good luck with that. Bad taste in my mouth.

TLC. Never watched you. Assume you are a Lifetime offshoot. Enjoy your estrogen.

A&E. I assumed you were going to be a classy channel way back in the day. Enjoy your continuous racist bounty hunter coverage. What the f*ck is with that guy - braids, cameras on his glasses, religious soliloquies when he grabs people and that enormous gut. Just show the burnt crosses falling into ash on his lawn. Cocksucker.

Bravo. You are lumped into TLC category - I know one of you guys had that Kate and Jeff show with the ten kids. I found out about it this year when Howard Stern mentioned it. Christ. Ten kids and cameras all over. You recall the short life spans of every child actor out there, right. The blood is on your hands. Enjoy.

As long as Turner Classic Movies doesn't dive headfirst into that pool of buffoonery, I'll be happy.


IMDWalrus: On the other hand, nobody can justify airing Catwoman, Terminator 3, or Ocean's Twelve. They're American, and I guess they qualify as movies, but beyond that...

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Are you somehow implying that Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers is NOT an American Movie Classic?


In their defense, "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad" are arguably two of the best shows on TV right now.

Preach on, preach on.


eyehate: Sci-Fi - BSG is over and you call yourselves SyFy. Good luck with that. Bad taste in my mouth.

I wrote them off ever since they canceled MST3K.

I can't and won't forget that.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: As long as Turner Classic Movies doesn't dive headfirst into that pool of buffoonery, I'll be happy.


IMDWalrus: On the other hand, nobody can justify airing Catwoman, Terminator 3, or Ocean's Twelve. They're American, and I guess they qualify as movies, but beyond that...

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Are you somehow implying that Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers is NOT an American Movie Classic?


In their defense, "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad" are arguably two of the best shows on TV right now.

Preach on, preach on.


eyehate: Sci-Fi - BSG is over and you call yourselves SyFy. Good luck with that. Bad taste in my mouth.

I wrote them off ever since they canceled MST3K.

I can't and won't forget that.

NO! The end of MST3K was a GREAT thing!

If it wasn't for that, then Mike would still be riffing on old movies no one cares about instead of issuing TOP quality comedy of every movie that you would actually know about and want to see made fun of!

The Harry Potter rifftrax are knock you out fantastic.

But Twilight puts them all to shame

(Bella and Edward stare awkwardly at each other)

"LINE!?"

"um uh ah, no, uh, um, ah,"

"LINE!?!?!?!"

hetheeme: But Twilight puts them all to shame

(Bella and Edward stare awkwardly at each other)

"LINE!?"

"um uh ah, no, uh, um, ah,"

"LINE!?!?!?!"

Quivering disaffectedness...

Twilight is one of the best rifftrax. The jokes are good, but this movie needed to be pilloried like no other.

I remember when TLC used to actually be The Learning Channel. Back show operations. Real in-your-face blood and guts. Now it's Jon and Kate 24/7. Total downgrade.

Tell me again why I should get cable for $80 a month? Oh, for the niche channels and informative programming?

Bwwwwhahahahahahahahahahahahaha 'pant' 'pant' Bwwwhahahahahahahaha

Hold on, my side hurts. OK

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahahahahahaha....

/Cable TV sucks dead sweaty donkey dongs. Comcast has umpteen religious, shopping, spanish and scrolling local govt. notices channels on the lower tier, they want even more for digital. Fark You Bubaloo

Phil Moskowitz: hetheeme: But Twilight puts them all to shame

(Bella and Edward stare awkwardly at each other)

"LINE!?"

"um uh ah, no, uh, um, ah,"

"LINE!?!?!?!"

Quivering disaffectedness...

Twilight is one of the best rifftrax. The jokes are good, but this movie needed to be pilloried like no other.

This is the 2nd person I have seen say that the rifftrax Twilight was good but I watched it and I thought the jokes were exceptionally weak compared to other MST3K and I was a huge fan of the old show. Those guys need to get drunk and sit around and talk shiat on the movies they seem to uptight while doing the rifftrax.

Bladel: Throw "History Channel" into that mix.

Still haven't figured out what truckers, chainsaw lumberjacks, and ghost hunters have to do with "History."

To be fair, they still show 87 episodes of Modern Marvels in a row every now and then.

propasaurus: I get all stabby every time Discovery runs another "Deadliest Catch" marathon. Which seems to happen every other farking day!

/stabby!

I don't like the marathons but I do like that show. To me I have a ton of respect for those guys out on the cold ass ocean fishing for crab. The fact that they can do that year after year means they have some pretty big balls and I respect that. They are true badasses and the captains, especially Sig Hansen, crack me up.

/can't believe they wasted development time on a Deadliest catch game
//cable TV is in the crapper
///haven't had cable in months, thank you internet for teaching me why I don't need it

IMDWalrus: Bladel: Throw "History Channel" into that mix.

Still haven't figured out what truckers, chainsaw lumberjacks, and ghost hunters have to do with "History."

And Cartoon Network, too. They've begun showing reality TV, and the people who did make cartoons for them are reporting empty offices and laying off their staff.

I never understood why CN took a turn for the worse and did their current lineup. Well I can understand it from a budgetary accountant stand point, since reality TV is really cheap to produce and develop, but the fact that you are a network that says CARTOON in the name and you are taking that away is just mind boggling. It's basically like MTV getting rid of music videos and dropping everything they use to stand for.

The comments on that CN music ad are hilarious, I've never seen so much nerd rage.

Food Network execs should be chopped, breaded and fried for what that network had become compared to...oh..say..5 years ago

IMDWalrus: They've begun showing reality TV, and the people who did make cartoons for them are reporting empty offices and laying off their staff.

The moment I saw that there was going to be a live-action Ben 10 movie I knew the channel was going to crap. (One might argue that it was always crap, but I like cartoons and I used to enjoy it.) When it was more successful (ratings-wise) than any other show Cartoon Network had ever aired, I knew it had arrived at crap.

That link you posted kind of made me want to cry.

/fan of Chowder

TheGhostofFarkPast: Phil Moskowitz: hetheeme: But Twilight puts them all to shame

(Bella and Edward stare awkwardly at each other)

"LINE!?"

"um uh ah, no, uh, um, ah,"

"LINE!?!?!?!"

Quivering disaffectedness...

Twilight is one of the best rifftrax. The jokes are good, but this movie needed to be pilloried like no other.

This is the 2nd person I have seen say that the rifftrax Twilight was good but I watched it and I thought the jokes were exceptionally weak compared to other MST3K and I was a huge fan of the old show. Those guys need to get drunk and sit around and talk shiat on the movies they seem to uptight while doing the rifftrax.

I was just saying to my husband the other day that they HAD to have been wasted when riffing on "Giant Spider Invasion."

"PACKERS! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! PACKERS WON THE SUPER BOWL!"

/still would like to procure the Twilight Rifftrax
//if only it didn't require, you, know, actually watching Twilight

I watched some good shows earlier actually.
A show on the Battle of the Bulge, the Cuban missle crisis, and a few Twilight Zones. I was surprised by all of the shows I could actually watch.

It was nice.

pestluvr: I was just saying to my husband the other day that they HAD to have been wasted when riffing on "Giant Spider Invasion."

"PACKERS! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! PACKERS WON THE SUPER BOWL!"

/still would like to procure the Twilight Rifftrax
//if only it didn't require, you, know, actually watching Twilight

MST3K was heavily scripted almost from the start. I believe one of the reasons J Elvis Weinstein left was because he didn't want to work from scripts.

Occam's Chainsaw: Bladel: Throw "History Channel" into that mix.

Still haven't figured out what truckers, chainsaw lumberjacks, and ghost hunters have to do with "History."

To be fair, they still show 87 episodes of Modern Marvels in a row every now and then.

Whoa, whoa! The only thing wrong with Modern Marvels is that an episode of it spawned Ice Road Truckers. Back off MM, Man!

relaxitsjustme: Food Network execs should be chopped, breaded and fried for what that network had become compared to...oh..say..5 years ago

Food Network is one of the ones I've been watching a lot of since I've been home injured. I've heard it's not the same as it was a few years ago, but I still like it. Well, except for The Joker.

Your_Huckleberry: Whoa, whoa! The only thing wrong with Modern Marvels is that an episode of it spawned Ice Road Truckers. Back off MM, Man!

That was a defense of History Channel. Too much coffee?

Cartoon Network had to shuffle off all of the old cartoons worth a damn onto their OWN network, which, having been in a few different addresses in two states in the last few years, has never been available unless I want to sign up for the ULTIMATE PREMIUM 500 + Channel package.

I just want some gorram Looney Tunes on a network for cartoons. Seriously.

IMDWalrus: Bladel: Throw "History Channel" into that mix.

Still haven't figured out what truckers, chainsaw lumberjacks, and ghost hunters have to do with "History."

And Cartoon Network, too. They've begun showing reality TV, and the people who did make cartoons for them are reporting empty offices and laying off their staff.

Cartoon Network is throwing golf into the mix now too. Golf.

Link (new window)

Cable channels are suffering the same fate as GM (and look how that worked out for GM): instead of each brand serving a large majority of one well-defined audience, they are all fighting to dismember the course of the same dead elephant. To the accountants, it may seem like a good "strategy" because on paper it looks like a big elephant, but with too many vultures pecking it, nobody gets more than a mouthful, and some poor sucker ends up with the tail.

Um, that metaphor kinda got away from me. But you know what I mean.

I used tier buy-through to save $40+ and not get the main cable package and the accompanying dreck. The digital tier stuff still has some sorta OK channels. History International,Science Channel, DIY and some of what's on Investigation Doscovery are pretty good. To make up for not having Turner Classic Movies, I just look at what their showing and Netflix the good films.

Occam's Chainsaw: Your_Huckleberry: Whoa, whoa! The only thing wrong with Modern Marvels is that an episode of it spawned Ice Road Truckers. Back off MM, Man!

That was a defense of History Channel. Too much coffee?

Why do you ask? WHY???


Actually, more like too many pain killers and not enough sleep. And some messin'with you.

Here's one thing about cable TV I wonder about...since when do they go to the Paid Programming so early? I can understand three AM or something, but some of these channels are kicking in the Colon Detox, Houses for 300 or Montel Williams Healthmaster at midnight. What's up with that?

Sudlow: I used tier buy-through to save $40+ and not get the main cable package and the accompanying dreck. The digital tier stuff still has some sorta OK channels. History International,Science Channel, DIY and some of what's on Investigation Doscovery are pretty good. To make up for not having Turner Classic Movies, I just look at what their showing and Netflix the good films.


ID has become one of my wife's new favorites. My DVR is usually filled with my go-to block of History,National Geographic, Food Network, Planet Green, Military Channel, Travel Channel, Discovery, Science, Sportsmen, History International,MLB, E and ESPN. My DVR is often full.

Your_Huckleberry: ID has become one of my wife's new favorites. My DVR is usually filled with my go-to block of History,National Geographic, Food Network, Planet Green, Military Channel, Travel Channel, Discovery, Science, Sportsmen, History International,MLB, E and ESPN. My DVR is often full.

Nat Geo's doing a best-of marathon of their HD stuff next week. My DVR's going to start bulging around the middle.

TLC is the new lifetime. Shows that only women could pooibly like.

"Too Many Kids!"

"Midgit Marraige!"

"Too Many Midgits!"

possibly*

Occam's Chainsaw: Your_Huckleberry: ID has become one of my wife's new favorites. My DVR is usually filled with my go-to block of History,National Geographic, Food Network, Planet Green, Military Channel, Travel Channel, Discovery, Science, Sportsmen, History International,MLB, E and ESPN. My DVR is often full.

Nat Geo's doing a best-of marathon of their HD stuff next week. My DVR's going to start bulging around the middle.

Very nice.

OMG! And there's nothing you can do about it!

relaxitsjustme: Food Network execs should be chopped, breaded and fried for what that network had become compared to...oh..say..5 years ago

At least they are still talking about food. But I hear you. They need to cut way back on the competition shows. I like shows like "Unwrapped" and "Secret Life of..." and "Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives", but they can get rid of Chopped and Throwdown. Iron Chef America doesn't even come close to the coolness and charm of Iron Chef Japan.

And please, please, please, Food Network, no more Next Food Network Star!

/oblig

NYZooMan: OMG! And there's nothing you can do about it!

Honestly, I'm ready to cancel mine, but I don't get regular antenna reception in my apartment, not even with digital rabbit ears. Looking at the digital channels I should get in over the air, I don't need cable. The five digital PBS channels available in my area alone would adequately stand in for Food Network and HGTV. But since I can't get in anything over the digital airwaves, I sit and I grumble when I pay the bill every month for 100+ channels I don't even watch.

I would miss The Soup, though.

NYZooMan: OMG! And there's nothing you can do about it!

Actually, there are 2 things you need to do about it. One was well defined by your picture. Two is a group of e-mails to your cable company and the stations in question saying WHY you are doing step 1.Step 2 won't work unless other people do it as well, but the OFF button will always work.


/On the road, tried to find a movie on a sleepless Wednesday morning 2-3 AM.
//Not anything. Just infomercials.
///Cause that's what America wants on TV, I guess. Billy Mays in his Final Days.

msannomalley: NYZooMan: OMG! And there's nothing you can do about it!

Honestly, I'm ready to cancel mine, but I don't get regular antenna reception in my apartment, not even with digital rabbit ears. Looking at the digital channels I should get in over the air, I don't need cable. The five digital PBS channels available in my area alone would adequately stand in for Food Network and HGTV. But since I can't get in anything over the digital airwaves, I sit and I grumble when I pay the bill every month for 100+ channels I don't even watch.

I would miss The Soup, though.

I'm canceling mine soon, too. As for the shows I'll miss out on, well, there are ways around that. I wonder if the TV stations realize that they're losing popularity because they're NOT catering to their niche markets anymore.

Television will eat itself.

propasaurus: I get all stabby every time Discovery runs another "Deadliest Catch" marathon. Which seems to happen every other farking day!

/stabby!

I try to avoid saying it, but THIS

I hate that show. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Everyone on that show just looks miserable. The ship is miserable, the weather is miserable, and they all just seem to be pissed off, angry and dramatic all the time. And every farking preview looks the same: they're on a boat, it's wet, it's cold, and someone is biatching about something. I hate farking sick of it.

Phil Moskowitz: pestluvr: I was just saying to my husband the other day that they HAD to have been wasted when riffing on "Giant Spider Invasion."

"PACKERS! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! PACKERS WON THE SUPER BOWL!"

/still would like to procure the Twilight Rifftrax
//if only it didn't require, you, know, actually watching Twilight

MST3K was heavily scripted almost from the start. I believe one of the reasons J Elvis Weinstein left was because he didn't want to work from scripts.

I didn't say it wasn't scripted. Just seemed they relished screaming those lines a bit too much.

Then again, they were based out of Minnesota. Damn Viking fans.

I no longer trust the History Channel either, as some have mentioned. Aside from the ghost hunting and trucking shows, there are massive blocks that treat the Bible as fact (until the last 10 or 15 minutes where they admit it's speculation).

The entire channel has become sensational.

The only time actual history is portrayed involves programming no the Nazis. Not bad in itself, but that's all they ever show.

Brooklyn Irish Mets Fan: TLC is the new lifetime. Shows that only women could pooibly like.


This woman thinks TLC is full of poo.

WFern: ...The only time actual history is portrayed involves programming no on the Nazis...

That too.

Even the channels that remain dedicated to their original audience are disappointing. Look at Sleuth, which is essentially a bunch of canceled Canadian detective shows and the same 4 episodes of Monk shown over and over.

IMDWalrus: Bladel: Throw "History Channel" into that mix.

Still haven't figured out what truckers, chainsaw lumberjacks, and ghost hunters have to do with "History."

And Cartoon Network, too. They've begun showing reality TV, and the people who did make cartoons for them are reporting empty offices and laying off their staff.

Flapjack is freaking brilliant. I can't believe they'd cancel it.

This is what is wrong with people getting MBAs.

Let's presume CN and SciFi etc were profitable. I don't know this, but let's stipulate that just for now.

So you had a niche market, that was loyal, dependable, and dedicated. Sure, it's not as big as it could be, but you could depend on selling ads pretty much regardless. And you're employing people, and creating new content, and making people happy.

Then the MBAs come in. And much like the people who gave us G, they've got to do something to justify their existence. That means changing stuff- unless you commission a new Star Trek series, exclusively for SciFi, you're not going to increase your market- and that's only if you caught lightning in a bottle again.

Why? Why not just be happy with a nice little profit? If you've got a dozen channels, that adds up to a nice chunk of change, I'm sure.

Cable should institute the "a la carte" package. For so much a month, you get all your local and local digital channels, plus X amount of any channels of your choice. If you want to watch a show that is not on one of the channels you subscribe to, you can watch it on a pay-per-view basis.

When the cable networks have to compete for the viewer to add their channel to their package, the programming will get better. Fewer channels=better quality.

That's the theory anyway.

Cable won't do it, though. They should, but they won't.