• Kintarian@lemmy.worldOP
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      2 months ago

      Yes, they have people I don’t know trying to sell me things I don’t want and can’t afford just so some bigwig could buy a second yacht.

    • Z3k3@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Your not missing much. Last time I looked at it there wasn’t much more than reality and chat blocks aka cheap lower common denominator stuff

  • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Because around 20 years ago these networks figured out that they can make just as much money pumping out cheap and crappy reality shows as they can by creating expensive and difficult to produce quality programming.

  • sparr@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    The Learning Channel changed their name to TLC when they stopped carrying educational content.

  • Jomega@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Don’t forget Animal Planet, which hosts shows about tree houses and mermaids now.

    • jaxiiruff@lemmy.zip
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      2 months ago

      that one pisses me off the most, not to mention that pitbulls and parolees or whatever the fuck its supposed to be. I swear its on every day.

      • zephorah@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        The last time I had cable was the year of 9/11. And that was only because I plugged in a stray cable on a whim and found that my upstairs apartment tapped into the the cable from the downstairs apartment.

        Honestly, with internet, I never saw the point. And internet only cost $10-25/mo back then. Ofc, by about 2012 or so they became wise to that being the trend and started jacking the internet bill rates. And now internet costs the same as cable used to cost, or more, depending.

        But I don’t think anyone ever did a GenX is Killing Cable TV headline.

        • Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          2 months ago

          I think that’s around the same time I cut the cord. I moved shortly after 9/11 and didn’t see the point in subscribing. I left my (CRT) TV behind too rather than waste space in the truck for it. I haven’t owned a TV since.

        • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          And internet only cost $10-25/mo back then.

          True, but minimum wage was like $5 an hour, and broadband connections were like 1.5 Mbps. My current broadband connection is almost a gigabit.

    • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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      2 months ago

      They really need to pare down the number of channels at this point since they’ve all been bought up by a few companies and all show the exact same shit just at different time slots.

  • paraphrand@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    All of those channels were idealistic and naive. The reality of capitalism destroyed them.

    • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Capitalism just takes advantage of human nature. That’s why it has clearly been the most successful system, at least as a starting point, for the overall well being of a nation.

      The issue with these channels is that most people just don’t give a fuck about the information. They want to be entertained. Capitalism is just good system that enabled that to be figured out.

      Your issue is not with capitalism, but human nature.

      • paraphrand@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        So it’s a most or nothing situation? They need to be maximally broadly appealing? That sounds like capitalism to me.

        I don’t care if only a certain percentage of people are into these channels. That should be just fine. It is just fine. And I’m not here to guilt anyone because they don’t like watching history shows or whatever else.

        The economic model failed the audience of the original versions of these channels. It’s not society as a whole that failed the producers of the channels.

        • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          They need to be maximally broadly appealing? That sounds like capitalism to me.

          “broadly appealing” means “human nature.” This is my point. Capitalism is just a good system to figure this out. You want stuff that appeals to you, as do I. But that stuff is boring to most other people. Most people like this drivel, unfortunately. You just want a system that caters to you, and your niche interests (ones we likely share, BTW). You just want the stuff you want on what is available to the broad public. . . .But why is that fair to the majority?

          And you know what? With things like youtube, podcasts, and streaming (all thanks to capitalism, BTW), all of that is available to you. Just not on inappropriately named cable stations. Why do you care? Do you even get cable? Who does anymore? Even my pre-boomer dad has cut the cord.

          Don’t get me wrong. Capitalism certainly has it’s faults. There are certain things, like policing, fire protection, and health care, that simply don’t fit into the mold of capitalism well. Even as a well off American, I’m all for strong socialism for many things, like what we see in Europe.

          I just find the concept that “these aren’t the original intent of the channels. . .what a failure of capitalism!” to be kind of funny. Who really cares?

  • Bob Robertson IX@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    And there are no Indians in Indiana.

    To the tune of Home Again In Indiana:

    There are no Indians, in In-diana Most were removed, through treaties And the Del-a-ware, had no care went to Miss-ou-ri, with ease The Shaw-nee screwed, the Mi-am-i With the treaty, of, Fort Wayne William Hen-ry Harr-i-son versus Te-cumseh The In-dian’s loss, became, whitey’s gain Now there are no Indians in In-diana