Is cable TV going downhill?

[Mike M]

Disney Channel = 

[ABC7]

Who watches the Disney Channel nowadays?

I hate to say it, but all of those obsessive preteen girls are.

[WeatherSTARIII]

I always hated the Disney Channel anyways. Plus I even think Disney ruined both ESPN and even ABC -- a non-cable network!

[Mike M]

Who watches the Disney Channel nowadays?

I hate to say it, but all of those obsessive preteen girls are.

Yeah, especially Hannah Montana 

[jtmal0723]

Here's some noticeble cable channels that I think is going downhill:

12. The Weather Channel. Reason why: They started to create full-length programs, became too political ever since the 2005 Hurricane season, the guy started talking over the local forecasts, It Could Happen Tomorrow, it became "the hurricane authority," everything is life or death, they became alarmists, when they changed the typeface on the local forecast, IntelliSTAR, they axed the WeatherSTAR 3000, they stopped doing "Weather and Your Home," when Hillary Andrews left, the 2005 relaunch, when Jim Cantore started shaving his scalp, the death of John Hope, Forecast Earth, and when they started airing in HD.
http://www.jumptheshark.com/topic/Weather-Channel/Weather-Channel-General-Comments/2139?chartStart=0&chartRange=500&chartOnly=true

So there you have it. I'm so sorry you guys. I still love TWC and I still like to watch it. Its just that they made it so harsh these days. It not like how it was back in the '80s, '90s, and all the way into the early 2000s (before the 2005 relaunch). Plus I miss the WeatherSTAR 3000.

The Weather Star III was put out of commission by the FCC December 31, 2005 because it did not have the capacity to sound an aural tone each time a severe weather alert displayed on screen. They could have fixed it, but it would have been costly millions to fix each one. This one wasn't TWC's fault.

[beanboy89]

The Weather Star III was put out of commission by the FCC December 31, 2004 because it did not have the capacity to sound an aural tone each time a severe weather alert displayed on screen. They could have fixed it, but it would have been costly millions to fix each one. This one wasn't TWC's fault.

Fixed.

[jtmal0723]

I miss Garden State Cable... atleast if you forgot to pay your bill, every channel would have been The Weather Channel 

[Localonthe8s]

I miss Garden State Cable... atleast if you forgot to pay your bill, every channel would have been The Weather Channel 

Me too! I had Garden State until 1999 when my parents switched to Comcast

[Mike M]

I never had Garden State because I didn't live in NJ when the cable co. existed, but there are some transformers around my neighborhood that still have the the GSC logo on them.

[Squizz]

Not really, when the DTV switch is coming up I think that cable will be going uphill.

[ilovemikebettes]

Until I see Stephanie Abrams and Jim Cantore going on a drunken rampage and punching everyone's lights out, or Mike Bettes sliding on a strippers pole, I'd say TWC's just fine.   

You just gave me an idea for a story I'm working on,Nicole.  That would be hilarious,though.

[WeatherSTARIII]

Not really, when the DTV switch is coming up I think that cable will be going uphill.

Technicly not. I found out that my cable line-up only has one network affilite. To make this simplified, Comcast in my area only has one ABC affiliate (WHOI), one CBS affiliate (WMBD), one CW affiliate (WHOI-DT2), one Fox affiliate (WYZZ), one My Network TV affiliate (WAOE), one PBS affiliate (WTVP), and one NBC affiliate (WEEK).

I found out that its still possible to pick up regional stations that are not avaiable on the cable line-up. For instance, according to antennaweb.org, I would still be able to pick up these stations in Peoria:

WCIA (CBS) - Champaign, IL
WHBF (CBS) - Rock Island, IL
KWQC (NBC) - Davenport, IL
KWQC-WX (a weather station that differs from either TWC or NBC WX+) - same location
KHQA (CBS) - Hannabal, MO
KHQA-DT2 (ABC) - same location
WQAD (ABC) - Moline, IL
WQAD-WX (another inpendent 24 hour local weather station) - same location
WBQC-LP (My Network TV) - same location
WGEM (NBC) - Quincy, IL
WGEM-DT2 (CW) - same location
WILL (PBS SD) - Champaign, IL
WILL-HD (PBS HD) - same location
WILL-DT3 (PBS World) - same location
WSEC (PBS) - Jacksonville, IL
KYOU (Fox) - Ottumwa, IA
WAND (NBC) - Decatur, IL
WAND-WX (NBC Wx+) - same location
KLJB (Fox) - Davenport, IA
KLJB-DT2 (CW) - same location
WICS (ABC) - Springfield, IL
WMEC (PBS) - Chatham, IL
WBUI (CW) - Decatur, IL
WQPT (PBS) - Moline, IL
KGCW (CW) - Burlington, IA
WQEC (PBS) - Quincy, IL
WFLD (Fox) - Chicago, IL
WWTO/W50DDD (TBN) - LaSalle, IL
KQIN (PBS) - Davenport, IA
WCFN (My Network TV) - Springfield, IL
WRSP (Fox) - Springfield, IL

With a tall 100 foot outdoor motorized rooftop antenna, an amplifier, some tin foil, DTV converter boxes, long cables, and special adapter, I would be able to pick up at least 31 brodcast stations from my hometown of Peoria, IL. These 31 additional stations are not avaiable on Comcast's channel line-up and yet, I can still watch it for free. Also, suposealy, the annena thats used at the cable headends are more powerful than any typical personal resdential antenna. They waste that powerful antenna just to have only one affiliate per station. Hence "CATV" ("Community Antenna Television") - the early concept of cable. They also don't have all of my local and regional AM and FM radio stations avaible on the channel line-up. I wish we could have radio on television! 

Anyways, thats three CBS affiliates, three NBC affiliates, three ABC afilliates, four CW afilliates, four Fox afilliates, six PBS afilliates (excluding their HD and World channels), one TBN afilliate, and three My Network TV affiliates.

Also, both WEEK and WTVP have their digital subchannels carried on the digital cable line-up. That means that you would have to pay extra every month if its not avaiable on the annalog cable line-up.

[CartoonJazzLover]

Some channel are going downhill.

The Weather Channel: I like TWC, but the High Def days are going downhill. I like BWTL & Live By It better than this slogan.

All Spanish channel I've see. They're going downhill because I can't stand it anymore. 

Any non local news channel. They're going downhill because I remeber they were focusing on Hurricance Gustav/Ike.
 
That's all.

[jtmal0723]

Sorry, HD is what The Weather Channel needed and I loved it since day one... Now, if only all the newscast programs went that way up front instead of a 2 month "transition" period....

[WeatherSTARIII]

Here's some more noticeble cable channels that I think jumped the shark:

18. Spike TV (formaly TNN -- The Nashville Network). Reason why: too much UFC, TNA, and all that other wresleling garbage! Its just as bad as the WWE! So much for the first ever "Men's network!"

19. QVC. Reason why: the internet ruining home shopping on TV. Back in the '80s and '90s (before the internet), home shopping channels like QVC and HSN was one of the best places to order items. Even back then, it was fun to watch too. Even I used to watch QVC alot back in the late '90s, early '00s. 

20. HSN. Reason why: same thing as QVC. Even I use to watch HSN alot too back when I was little.

21. BET. Reason why: raceism. African Americans needs to stop listing to that rap music and listen to the music on TWC!  I even bet famous Afican Americans (like Barack Obama and Jessie Jackson) are tuning out BET too.

22. AMC. Reason why: Airing post-2000 movies (2000-present day). So whats next for American Movie Classics? Recently released movies from earlier this year? Plus watching movies on basic cable sucks, because its edited and they would always would have those annoying commercial breaks durring the movie!

23. ABC Family (formaly CBN Family, The Family Channel, Fox Family). Reason why: when Disney bought out the station after when Fox sold it. Like the Disney Channel, alot of the programming from ABC Family sucks these days.

24. Lifetime. Reason why: "Television for women." Don't expect to see Lifetime to be the the new home for the Super Bowl.

25. Bravo. Reason why: Another chick channel. No affence of course.

26. Food Network. Reason why: the obeasity epicdemic. Stop eating making all of those greasy foods!

27. Disney Channel/Toon Disney. Reason why: day one. I hate Disney! They are an monopoly! Plus they even took all of the good cartoons away from both The CW and Cartoon Network. That's Warner Brothers property! Disney is supose to hate Warner Brothers (hence Daffy Duck and Donald Duck -- othough no releation).

28. TLC. Reason why: no more education shows. Don't ever they know what "E/I" is? 

29. FSN. Reason why: when old man Rupert Merdoct just had to buyout every regional sports network. He even owns FSN Midwest which is our regional FSN affiliate! Fox doesn't know sports!

30. Oxygen. Reason why: Yet another chick channel. NBC Universial should of not bought out the channel and should of not aired the Olympics on it. I think Disney would of been a better choice because, they aready "F"ed-up ABC. They already ruined one of the major network televison stations and started to air more chick shows on ABC (like Desperite Housewifes and Super Nanny). I hope NBC woun't ruin TWC!

31. Golf Channel. Reason why: day one. I rather watch pro football or pro baseball! P.S. Go St. Louis Cardinals! P.P.S. Also, go Rams! 

32. SoapNet. Reason why: yet another chick channel. I even herd that they are rarely airing any recent soap oprea episodes from the network television stations (like As The World Turns and Day of Our Lives).

33. Style. Reason why: day one. Plus its not another channel that appeals me.

So there you have it. Even Comcast just had to add fuel to the fire. All of us are sick and tired of watching crappy shows on a good channel or even crappy channels that no one is watching. And lets not forget a whopping $70.00 a month just for basic cable! 

The only channels that I could name that haven't jumped the shark are:

• MSNBC
• C-SPAN
• C-SPAN 2
• C-SPAN 3
• NFL Network
• Boomerang
• All premium cable channels (like HBO and Cinemax)

Let's hope they continue staying strong.