What Are YOU Looking At?

 I lost interest in the NBA after Michael Jordan retired for good. Growing up Chicago-adjacent, it was a great time to be a Bulls fan, but with Magic and Bird in their last years too, it just wasn't must see TV for me anymore after they were all gone. I just didn't have basketball in my heart and soul like baseball, and to a lesser extent, football. When the Knicks of New York got into the finals this month, I was only mildly curious. I got a little more curious when Trump reared his ugly head and threatened to ruin it for everyone by making Gane 3 all about him. I went so far as to search my streaming services to see if I could conjure the ABC Network. Truth be told, I was kinda interested in hearing NYC boo Trump live. 

You know, I couldn't? I couldn't find ABC anywhere. It's still Channel 7 in Chicago, but I'm not sure anyone can watch it unless they have a package. It's the same with CBS and NBC (2 & 5 in Chicago) All three are offered as local news, but news is as far as they go. If you want to watch network TV (for some dumb reason) you have to subscribe to some service. Paramount owns CBS, Peacock owns NBC and ABC is just an orphan, I guess. I dunno- Disney maybe? Who cares?

The days of sitting down in front of the TV to watch "Cheers" are long past. Well, not completely. You can still watch Cheers, but you have to pay for it now! It was free and on every TV in the 80's, but the same product is now a subscription. Same with "China Beach", I noticed. The real gut punch? "This Old House" the PBS stalwart, the granddaddy of all home improvement shows, is now available via subscription. The new stuff at least. Somehow Norm and several hosts managed to teach America to hammer for 40-some years on public TV, and now they are a premium. Late-stage capitalism really sucks when you have to pay for shows that were once free. 

For Cubs games I pay $20 a month for the Marquee network. And I consider that a bargain, though the way they are playing of late, I'm less sure about that now. For a while I had YouTube TV and got all sorts of sports and other stuff, but it went up to $82.50 a month. That might have been a bargain compared to a lot of cable packages I've been familiar with but add it all up and you're paying a thousand dollars a year to watch TV. It used to be free. You didn't even have to buy the shit they were selling. No one checked! The last hockey I saw was the Olympics earlier this year and that was only because I had Peacock at the time. TNT is big on the NHL, but if you don't have YouTube TV, you can pay for TNT separately and also get trashy superhero flicks. 

The Balkanization of television is the true harbinger of doom for America. Well, Trump too, for sure, but that's a bit different. The thing is, the revolution probably will be televised, but my cheapskate ass won't pay for it. 

Comments

  1. MaggieJune 9, 2026 at 7:52 PM

    I looked for ABC last night. Growing up, watching out three channels and now I have to pay. Lol. No.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJune 9, 2026 at 10:05 PM

    It is OBSCENE! We definitely lived in a glorious, simpler time.

    ReplyDelete

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