TVSquad

I get it through cable, as I have too many friends with Dishes that get affected by weather. The big change I am waiting for is not the method of transmission but being allowed to get Showcase without having to buy the Golf Network. I want just the 12 channels I watch.

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I'm in college with no money, so I still basic cable the old fashioned way with rabbit ears! Sometimes, I gotta run around the room to get the best reception or dance with it, but it works.

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Not to be too literal-minded, but i'm quite sure very few homes have satellites. I'm sure many have satellite dishes, though.

That said, i'm one of the 22% with rabbit ears. I live in a major metropolitan area with great local, independent stations not available on cable. Plus, I can't see spending $50 a month when all I really want to watch is the Daily Show and cartoon network. Once a la carte cable arrives (if ever) I'll pay up for what I want. When the digital switch happens I figure I'll either buy a digital TV or get a converter box.

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These numbers are not quite reflective of the total population. According to Nielsen estimates, only 16.2 million households (14.8%) rely entirely on broadcast, while the remaining 93.4 million (85.2%) have some sort of Cable or DBS. Last I heard, DVRs were only in 5-7% of households--nowhere near the 25% reported in this survey. Maybe a one-time survey of 1,000 people is more accurate than Nielsen's ongoing tracking of more than 13,000, maybe it's not; just take these numbers with a grain of salt.

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Hey, thanks for reminding me that I have to take back the rabbit ears I bought a few weeks ago before the 30-day return period ends. I just bought a 51" HDTV, but the cable company was out of the HD/DVRs at the time. I didn't feel like waiting to see how the HD quality was, so I bought a $50 pair of rabbit ears and got really, really horrible reception. I couldn't keep a digital picture for more than a few seconds. It turns out that reception is just lousyin my neighborhood because we're behind some poorly located mountains. But now I've got the HD/DVR and will banish the rabbit ears to the Best Buy from whence they came, never to be seen again.



And I far prefer cable over satellite, mostly because I'm currently getting my internet service through roadrunner as well. I like that there's no required annual subscription, no equipment that has to be isntalled on a roof (or anywhere else exernally), and when the ocassional problem arises my cable company is usually rather quick to rectify things with free service calls. I've got one HD/DVR, one regular digital receiver box and three other TVs hooked up to basic cable for free, with the cable plugged directly into the TV. When I called the company to report that I was getting a weak signal in my digital box, they came out two days later and installed three signal enhancers at no cost. And when the installer set up my HD/DVr last week and took the old box and along with it the power cable to my kids' PS2, I called them, told them about the cable and how I had to spend $16 to replace it, and they immediately credited my account for the cost, no questions asked. I was prepared to bring back the cord he should have taken back and presented them with the receipt, but they asked for neither.

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I get my tv from the cable company, since that is also where I get my internet service. I do keep an old set of rabbit ears handy for those times when the cable goes out however. I can still pull in ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, and WB. No UPN reception unfortunately, so as long as the cable doesn't go out on Wednesday night, I am generally good to go.



What exactly does DirecTV over cable mean? Are there companies offering the DirecTV service without requiring that you have a dish?

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I have basic cable, which gives me everything I need (adult swim), but I got that spanktastic new HDTV USB thing for my computer that receives OTA HD signals. Surprisingly, my 10 year-old rabbit ears do a more than adequate job of picking up the UHF digital signals. So, yeah, rabbit ears = free network HDTV.

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I still have rabbit ears. None of my roommates have been willing to shell out for cable, and I'm not dropping over $50 on my weenie salary for television all alone.

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I get my stations the old-fashioned way: stolen cable. Just kidding mom.

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coincidentally, i just bought a set of rabbit ears for my lovely 11-inch television. i didn't see much point in paying for cable since i would have had to use a magnifying glass to watch it.

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