Here in rural Texas we have a couple of options with Satellite TV... both are miserable excuses for intelligent content. Both require the user to utilize an energy consuming DVR. Both are complex systems and easy to get "out of whack."

Out of frustration, I wanted to see if "free" television is still available digitally... so I bought one of those cheapie, line of sight digital antennas. (No, it won't work with anything but a digital TV) To my surprise, since we live within 60 miles from the Metroplex, I was able to pick up ten (sometimes more) channels. The content is not much better but I can receive local news and PBS. The higher you position your antenna, the better your reception will be.

If cable were available, I would prefer it. Not that the content would be any better... most American Television is slop for mindless hogs... but the signal would not be interupted by a flock of birds or a small rainshower. Heaven forbid a thunderstorm... LOL!

I'm sick and tired of ten minutes worth of commercials. By the time the show is ready to return... I've forgotten what I was viewing in the first place. Then there's the problem with the volume boost these scoundrels employ when they run a string of 5 to 10 commercials. (They know you've gone away to the regrigerator... LOL!)

The promise of TV has been sidetracked by greed and corruption and our mainstream media giants only give us the news they want us to have. Things happening in the rest of the world... or in the academic or scientific communities are left for CCTV (the communists) to reveal. What a sad state of affairs. That's what happens when you let politicians get involved with broadcasting. Just like everything else... it ends up being a pile of rat dung... sorta like universal health care.