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Post by Fading Fast on Jul 7, 2023 19:32:26 GMT
..Perhaps they will stop apologizing for their own product and celebrate it instead.
All of what your wrote is outstanding, but I loved the killer last line the most.
(It was seawhite2000 who made the Watch TCM observation.)
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Post by BunnyWhit on Jul 7, 2023 23:36:50 GMT
(It was seawhite2000 who made the Watch TCM observation.) Thank you, and thank you sewhite2000.
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Post by christine on Jul 7, 2023 23:59:06 GMT
I have TCM. I subscribe to DirectV and the only reason is TCM. I have watched TCM since 2001 and will continue to watch until...
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Post by christine on Jul 8, 2023 0:07:56 GMT
By the way - I agree with a few others - I miss Robert Osborne too. Ben is good I do enjoy him but Robert was absolutely perfect for the job he was doing on TCM!!!
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Jul 8, 2023 0:08:41 GMT
TCM has many other ways to cut costs so they can remain a non-subscription network or a subscription one with a 'low' monthly user fee.
E.g., only show films owned by the parent company. But would that be satisfactory to users? Most of us have complained that TCM mostly shows films already owned by the parent company (Warner Bros. MGM and RKO). I have seen most of the "A" production films TCM has already shown from these studios. That is what I loved about the "B" movie theme this month. E.g. Last night: MGM 'B' films. Out of the 6 films featured I had only seen one. So maybe such a cost cut would still be attractive to us TCM loyalist.
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Post by Swithin on Jul 8, 2023 1:32:17 GMT
I have cable -- RCN (now Astound) for cable, Internet, and land line. Whenever they want to raise the price, I phone them and ask them not to do that, because we have so many other options, including (in my building) FIOS and Spectrum. I have considered FIOS but then discovered that they don't have TCM/HD. After our conversation, RCN tends not to raise my bill too much, so I'll stick with them.
I can watch TCM on the app as well, when I'm out, or in the gym. I do have a TIVO cable box with lots of films on it from TCM (and elsewhere), but I also have DVDs.
I didn't have many streaming services but joined BritBox for a year, to watch some shows which featured a distant relative. When I switched my mobile phone service from Verizon to T-Mobile, they gave me Netflix and Apple TV. I also have Amazon Prime. I'm watching a bizarre movie on Prime at the moment: Poison (1991).
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Post by topbilled on Jul 8, 2023 2:21:09 GMT
Britbox is the one streaming platform I continuously subscribe to...they drop new episodes of Emmerdale at 2:04 p.m. Arizona time every weekday. And my lunch is from 2 to 2:30. Episodes are 22 minutes, so I can squeeze that in during my lunch. It's the only new show I watch everyday.
On the weekend, if I have a free hour like on a Sunday evening I may watch whatever else is new that Britbox added during the week...it could be a nature show, a crime show or a holiday special. For under $9 a month, Britbox is not going to break the bank...and I have subscribed to them since early 2018, and in over five years, the price has only gone up a dollar or two...and they're continuously adding shows so they are a subscription I don't see myself discontinuing anytime soon.
As for Robert Osborne...on one of my work teams, we got a new supervisor after a long search and rigorous background check. He finally had his first day at our company a week ago. In the first meeting he joined, we all went around and introduced ourselves. We had to say what city we are based out of, how long we've been with the company and one thing about us that our work mates may not already know. So for the last one, I said 'something about me people don't know is I love to watch films from the 1940s.'
Of course on this message board, that's old news. But with my work associates I don't really share the part of my life that is centered around classic film. I kind of felt like Robert Osborne for a moment when I said 'I love to watch films from the 1940s' because it was as if I was extending the mission of what he did every night on TCM, into this business environment, to increase awareness of classic Hollywood movies. It made me feel good!
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Post by lydecker on Jul 8, 2023 14:59:37 GMT
I buy cable solely for TCM and occasional sports programming. I literally watch nothing else on cable TV. Comcast dumped TCM into some "upgrade package" a couple of years ago (sports and entertainment) and I had to have it so I am spending a ridiculous amount on money on cable each month for essentially 1 channel. I travel a lot and if I don't have Comcast I can't get TCM on my laptop when I am in other cities. Also, I am probably the last living being who still tapes on VHS so I can library the tapes. You can't tape from the TCM app on YouTubeTV or HuluTV -- believe me, I tried.
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sme
New Member
Posts: 30
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Post by sme on Jul 11, 2023 15:15:55 GMT
I have TCM via cable. I don't see me cutting the cord any time soon. I've had a Firestick for years and it has the TCM app on it. I rarely used the Firestick until recently as I find streaming more trouble than it's worth. I only have an hour or two at night for leisure time, and one of the problems I have with streaming is there are too many options, and by the time I sort out something to watch, it's time to hit the hay. However, with TCM, there aren't that many choices so its relatively easy to scroll through the content and pick something. I doubt I would pay to stream TCM. I'm in the camp who doesn't care for "modern" classics and a lot of what TCM has been airing over the past few years to attract new viewers. (Ducking the rotten eggs you are probably throwing at me for being too rigid) I have a huge DVD collection and could go for years on that alone. Plus, I don't care for Ben and wouldn't miss not having a host very much.
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Post by gerald424 on Jul 20, 2023 3:13:56 GMT
I buy cable solely for TCM and occasional sports programming. I literally watch nothing else on cable TV. Comcast dumped TCM into some "upgrade package" a couple of years ago (sports and entertainment) and I had to have it so I am spending a ridiculous amount on money on cable each month for essentially 1 channel. I travel a lot and if I don't have Comcast I can't get TCM on my laptop when I am in other cities. Also, I am probably the last living being who still tapes on VHS so I can library the tapes. You can't tape from the TCM app on YouTubeTV or HuluTV -- believe me, I tried. TCM doesn't have financial troubles. I've read over and over that the channel is quite profitable. its all the other divisions that the big conglomerate owns that are hemorrhaging cash. And they are cutting and slashing wherever they can.
The moved TCM to the higher tier "because" its one of the few cable channels people "have" to watch, and they know it. I just can't pay that amount of money for one channel.
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nickandnora34
Junior Member
Just a grease spot on the L&N
Posts: 77
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Post by nickandnora34 on Jul 20, 2023 14:43:27 GMT
As a member of Gen Z, I can tell you right now that most people in my age group are not buying/subscribing to cable packages. When I lived at home, I was able to watch TCM because my parents had cable. I haven't watched the actual channel in years, outside of the TCM hub on HBO Max (sorry, "Max").
I do have several friends in my film club who are interested in watching older or "classic" movies, but they will usually try to find it online/streaming or possibly "sail the high seas" instead... I usually go to my local public library and check them out to watch at home.
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Post by Fading Fast on Jul 20, 2023 15:41:37 GMT
As a member of Gen Z, I can tell you right now that most people in my age group are not buying/subscribing to cable packages. When I lived at home, I was able to watch TCM because my parents had cable. I haven't watched the actual channel in years, outside of the TCM hub on HBO Max (sorry, "Max"). I do have several friends in my film club who are interested in watching older or "classic" movies, but they will usually try to find it online/streaming or possibly "sail the high seas" instead... I usually go to my local public library and check them out to watch at home. I get it. Had I not grown up with cable, I'd feel the same way as Gen Z does. I also like streaming and think it offers greater flexibility and options with much better economics for the viewer (you and me ) than cable. I subscribe to three streaming services today.
What's lost when cable goes (and it's going) is not the content, but the manner of delivery, which helped introduce many, like me, to so many old movies I'd have never found another way. I recently mentioned TCM Imports as it introduced me to so many films from so many countries that I wouldn't have found on my own. Ditto Noir Alley.
Also, nothing will easily replace keeping a channel like TCM on in the background all day and "discovering" a movie you passed on when you read its online synopsis, but now seeing it, you want to watch it. That happens, at least to me, all the time.
If enough people don't feel that way, and clearly they don't, then cable will go away or shrink greatly as it is now. I, like many others, will discover old films via streaming, in particular, because I will make a concerted effort to find them. But maybe not as many, maybe not as easily and maybe many younger viewers will never discover them since they will be harder to stumble on.
These are not earth-shattering issues, so trying my best to be objective about all this, I think something valuable will be lost when TCM's cable station eventually goes away, yet if the economics don't support it, so be it. The real shame is TCM on cable is profitable, but cable itself isn't, or won't be eventually.
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Post by intrepid37 on Jul 20, 2023 16:36:10 GMT
Yes, I have it.
But cable is expensive and the only things I watch is TCM and SNL. And TCM is rarely more than 3 movies a month for me (once I've recorded a movie to DVD there's no reason to watch it again on TCM).
So I'm not sure how much longer I'll be playing the sucker, paying big bucks for cable and getting such a small return for my money.
Lucky for the cable company I'm so non-dynamic. Can never be bothered to change anything.
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nickandnora34
Junior Member
Just a grease spot on the L&N
Posts: 77
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Post by nickandnora34 on Jul 20, 2023 23:04:57 GMT
I get it. Had I not grown up with cable, I'd feel the same way as Gen Z does. I also like streaming and think it offers greater flexibility and options with much better economics for the viewer (you and me ) than cable. I subscribe to three streaming services today.
I also like to buy physical media (blu rays mostly, unless something is only available on dvd) because at the end of the day, they're the most reliable lol. But I can't ignore the conveniences of streaming.
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Post by gerald424 on Jul 21, 2023 14:39:34 GMT
As a member of Gen Z, I can tell you right now that most people in my age group are not buying/subscribing to cable packages. When I lived at home, I was able to watch TCM because my parents had cable. I haven't watched the actual channel in years, outside of the TCM hub on HBO Max (sorry, "Max"). I do have several friends in my film club who are interested in watching older or "classic" movies, but they will usually try to find it online/streaming or possibly "sail the high seas" instead... I usually go to my local public library and check them out to watch at home. Many Gen Z don't even watch TV or have a TV. They have so many devices that they watch whichever is convenient: Cell, Tablet, Lap Top, Desktop etc...
I definitely go for physical media when it comes to music. If I did it with film, my room would look like a library.
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