Posted on 06/28/2006 8:37:43 AM PDT by Kdorf_CEO
Shouldn't we be able to pick and choose what channels and shows are brought into our homes. When you pay for cable, you are given a large amount of channels and do not get to pick what you want. I am trying to raise children and all the filth that is brought into our home is ridiculous. If we are never going to get "a-la-carte" cable, what can we do besides not have cable or tv?
Seems most TVs and cables have the "V" chip now, which allows you to lock out stations. I'd inquire about it.
Since 2000, the feds have required all TVs that are 13+ inches to have a V-Chip installed.
Problem solved (and has been for nearly for 6 years).
You signed up today to ask this?
That would be just terrible. If we were allowed to pick which channels found their way into our homes, the propaganda folks would lose their arena for scamming us Americans...
Yes you do.
It's so freakin' simple. Use your remote control and watch what you want to watch, and don't watch what you don't want to watch. I get Lifetime on my cable package. Do I watch it? No. Don't care about it at all. I don't spend time worrying about, "Oh, but it's ON THERE! I HAVE IT! What do I DO?"
Grow up.
The wife and I have 3 children - 6, 4 and 23mos. We don't have cable/satellite. What we do is a) limit their amount of TV time to an hour or so a day and b) watch broadcast or DVDs from the library/rent.
Ala carte? Buy boxed sets of programs on DVD. If you don't want to keep them after viewing, put them on ebay. Many old series are available and even modern shows appear on disc within a year or two.
Cable networks like getting you to pay for channels you "boycott". They still get a share of your cable bill even if you aren't watching.
It is feasible but the industry doesn't like it. How can they fund their political niche programming? How can they get the masses (or their children) to click across the networks they "won't" pay for?
The V chip ratings are all self-imposed.
What rating would Linda Ellerbee on Nickelodeon talking about Clinton, BJs, and impeachment have gotten?
Networks used to have a "standards and practices" department. They don't appear to regulate their own content anymore.
And does the V chip also screen out the tv promos (for network shows) that also cross the line with bathroom humor?
You pay for the All Men Suck network even if you don't watch it.
BUMP
Being on my own, I never had to look into the VChip or how it operates. I was just providing an option that may be worth looking into.
I don't have a TV, but I hear with cable systems you can lock out any channel you don't watch your kids watching.
Understand, I also personally don't care for content of several channels today. That's why I don't watch them. I like enough others to say, "Well, fine. I'll assume I'm paying $x.xx for these channels that I like, and the rest are free bonuses." Makes it a bit easier...like thanking Grandma for that nice pair of Lederhosen she gave me for Christmas, while keeping them sealed in a box in my closet. ;-)
But the whole "I am trying to raise children and all the filth that is brought into our home is ridiculous" argument doesn't wash. Nothing that is broadcast over a television appears in your home unless you allow it to be. There are options for locking channels, or keeping a TV only in areas where it can be monitored by parents, or even getting rid of it all together if you wish. AFAIC, if any "filth" is actually being seen in your home via a TV set, that's your own fault.
I don't pay for what is on CBS although I may boycott their sponsors.
If I were paying a monthly cable bill (and I did until I dropped it several years back), I would not be happy funding at least half of what is on there.
Especially when it took them years to find room on the dial for Fox News (which I do not find to be great, but at least as worthwhile an alternate to CNN as MSNBC is).
I care where my money goes. Same with my tax dollars. My dollars go for national defense, but they also go for photos of a crucifix submerged in urine.
Everything will available as Video On Demand. The networks will still be there but they will not have the impact that they do know. The Internet will become Videonet. I'm not sure this is a good thing but it is inevitable. Only the cable companies and the cost of fiber optic to your front door stands in the way. Verizon is doing it now. Others will follow. It's like the Borg - resistance is futile.
I know exactly what you mean. There are some things out there that block certain channels. the v-chip is one of em. I also recently heard about a new program from tivo called kidzone. obviously it is more focused on kids, but i think it probably does the same general thing. you should check it out. Sounds like it might be good.
TV?
Do you mean that large dust connection device in the living room? My daughter uses the screen as a dry erase board.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.