Why DVDs and the Internet beat broadcast television

Ever since college, I’ve refused to pay for cable TV. Why should I spend upwards of $100 a month for cable, when I don’t want to watch most of it?

With cable TV you get:

1. No scheduling control: You’re stuck to the whims of network execs, and so if you really can’t miss a show, you have to work your schedule around theirs.
2. No content control: The only shows and movies available on TV are those that appeal to the most people. If you want to watch something else, too bad.
3. No Investment: Every month you have to keep paying, even if nothing new comes on.
4. Commercials: For every 30 minutes of show, there’s 10 minutes of commercials. Why waste a third of my life watching ads for crap I don’t need?

With a combination of DVDs and Internet downloads, I get:

1. Complete scheduling control: With DVDs and downloads, I watch what I want, when I want. Pause, rewind, and for TV shows, I can watch my own marathons.
2. Complete content control: I can watch the shows that I’m in to.
3. Investment: When I buy DVDs, I only have to pay once. I can watch and rewatch that DVD for as long as I want.
4. No Commercials: What’s there to explain? You mean you like watching the latest drug scam ads?

Scheduling Control:

When it comes to TV shows that I really enjoy, I don’t like waiting for Mr. Network Exec to send me the next episode. I voraciously consume TV shows and movies and I want to be able to schedule my own marathons, so I can easily plow through season after season of my favorites.

Even if I’m busy, it’s easy to allocate a single 20 minute episode during meals.

Content Control:

If I find myself watching broadcast television, I naturally gravitate to one of three channels: Comedy Central (for stand-up comedy), TNT (for the original Law & Order) or the Discovery Channel (for everything except the UFO/conspiracy/supernatural garbage).

I love samurai movies. When last the last time you saw a samurai movie on cable? I recently bought the Criterion Collection 3-Disc Remaster of The Seven Samurai, and I love it.

Television simply doesn’t have anything good on these days.

Investment:

Some people think that free downloads take away from sales. Not with me. When I hear about a good show, I can easily download a single episode to check it out. If I like it, I can download more. If I really like it, I’ll go out and buy it on DVD, so that I can watch it as many times as I want.

For example, Fox canceled Firefly way before I’d ever heard of it. Every now and then though, I’d hear it was a good sci fi show. So, I downloaded it, became instantly hooked, and watched through the entire show in one sitting. The next day, I tried to buy the DVDs, but every place within an hour’s drive of me was sold out.

I wasn’t able to buy a copy until late that evening, after spending an entire day looking for it. Starting early the next day, I rewatched every show in all its high resolution glory. I’ve since watched the entire show through several times, usually to get other people to watch.

How could I have done all of that if the show only existed for a partial broadcast and been canceled before I ever heard of it?

What I’ve Done:

Now a days I use and old Xbox with Xbox Media Center, which serves as my main portal for any media I don’t watch on my computer. I also have a portable DVD player for when I’m traveling.

I was an early adopter to DVD (my first player cost $300 back in 1999, came with 5 movies, and can’t even read burned media). I own literally hundreds of movies on DVD, with many TV show complete sets.

I also have a headless linux server to share any media files I download. I can easily download shows straight to the server, then stream them on the Xbox to watch them on my TV.

What I Want to Do:

Many people spent a small fortune to rebuild their VHS media collections in DVD format. I want to backup everything I own onto my media server so I can be physical format agnostic.

With the ease and availability to computer tools make media files, it won’t matter what new physical format the studios push at us, I won’t have to rebuy anything I already own and am satisfied with.

If you’re looking to cut out broadcast TV, be sure to check out the televsion tag at Lifehacker. Here are some of my favorites:

Technophilia: Forget the TV and watch the web
6 alternatives to help you ditch cable television