tv_talk | TV Tuesday: How do you watch?

I find that streaming is the most accessible method for watching TV unless you're very well off; cable packages are expensive AF.

I tend to prefer a weekly model of episode distribution and love tuning in when something it "airs" (i.e. drops on a streaming service)—I had so much fun watching The Last Of Us this way.

They are, it's crazy what a price difference there is. I mean if you had 3 streaming subscriptions you'd have viewing for years, yet it's less than half of what basic cable would cost (given all their added fees).

That said, if you've got a bunch of people in the household all watching various things (particularly sports) it starts to add up. And streamers are all raising their prices.

I find I prefer to watch weekly when it's a newly released show. That may sound obvious, but if you're watching via some methods, then even older shows may follow a weekly model (or once daily). In those cases I prefer to binge watch the series.

A big reason for that is that for a new show there's more time for conversation but for something finished 5 years ago or more, chances are few people are currently discussing it. And even if they were, I'd rather catch up to do so.

These days, it's pretty much 100% streaming for me. I still own a couple of DVDs (those ones I couldn't part with when I moved last year) but I usually consider it way too much effort.

What I appreciate about streaming: It's easy. Don't have to change disks. Don't have to click into several menus to change the language to OV (only a hassle if you don't live in an English-speaking country, I suppose). Also, subtitles and subtitle customization. I've pretty much started watching everything with subtitles ever since K-dramas got me used to them. It's a great accessibility feature.

That said, sometimes I miss watching live TV. There's something extremely sentimental about it. (Why I don't watch anymore: Not living in an English-speaking country = having to deal with lots of bad TV dubs. If you're able to watch the original, you'll watch the original. Though I have to say: German Scully >>> Original Scully, always.) I remember being a kid and watching The X-Files on Mystery Monday. Afterward, I think, they always aired Seven Days. I also remember Desperate Housewives being a bit of an event. Watched the episode on Wednesday, then discussed it with friends at school on Thursday. There's nothing like it anymore.

Sorry to be OT but I'm not really sure where else to ask without making an entirely new post: Would anybody appreciate a watch post for the new Only Murders in the Building episode?

Don't have to click into several menus to change the language to OV (only a hassle if you don't live in an English-speaking country, I suppose).

True, and there's so much more cross-language viewing now! But the streaming does make it easier. I like how Netflix offers the options between dubbed and captioned, for example. I watch everything captioned regardless of language (though how this works varies across streamers, even though we use Roku for all of it). But on occasion when I'm busy with something while watching, it's handy not to have to be reading at the same time.

It's true that there was something special about appointment viewing. I think this is particularly true when, say, you're watching the final season of a show. One thing that is better though is that there is much less lag between countries for the new release of something (whether movies or TV). I still remember when Dr. Who and Sherlock had their releases here in the U.S. within hours of appearing in the UK.

I watch OMitB and have Hulu right now! Don't hesitate to set up a watch party post for it. I don't know how many viewers there are following

tv_talk but I know there are on the site. Maybe they'll take a peek 🙂

Fan discussions used to be a pain for me when the show in question wasn't directly available in my country. I usually found a stream online to remain up-to-date. This reminds me that I've completely forgotten about Tumblr, Twitter, Reddit, or Discord as spaces for fannish TV discussion. However, that's mainly because I'm simply not comfortable using them and tend to spout most of my TV opinions in old-school forums.

Posted! I've used the watch post format from previous posts. However, not sure how much sense it makes to link the comment threads in the main body of the post when I'm putting that under a cut anyway (just wanted to be certain that nobody sees anything they don't want to see). Or would it be okay to list episode titles for everything that's already aired outside the cut?

I would personally find it very difficult to have a discussion in any of those places with the exception of Reddit, which at least is geared to topic-based conversation.

Given that there were people who thought episode titles were spoilers, might be better to err on the side of just episode numbers (though especially these early titles would be difficult to be spoilery).

I think it's fine to use the original community style of post for watch parties because, right now while we have activity in the community, it's not so large that any given show is likely to have a lot of people interacting. We might want to rethink in the future just because for a long running season and a lot of viewers the threads could get unwieldy.

I followed the Ted Lasso S3 discourse on Reddit and really disliked how unpopular opinions got downvoted and dogpiled into oblivion. Then again, it's a fairly beloved comedy and, unfortunately, some fans have managed to twist its message of positivity into a very toxic and self-serving fashion.

Moved the episode links outside for better accessibility and went with 3x01, etc.

Not sure if relevant to this post but I recently saw this: Linear TV Viewing Drops Below 50% of U.S. Television Usage for First Time, Streaming Hits Record High: Nielsen

That's definitely a drawback of that site alright. I could see it leading to a lot of groupthink given the way it functions.

You reminded me I have a pending post about the last season too. Perhaps I'll go ahead and post it tonight or tomorrow.

And thanks for the link! I'm going to update the post with that graphic.

I couldn't really do the poll because of being limited to one option for the last two questions. It varies too much for me to pick one option.

I still pay for cable, mostly because I watch live sports, so I need the two main Canadian sports options (Sportsnet for baseball and TSN for tennis). I have the most basic cable package I can get, and pay an extra $20/month for the sports networks. However, there are very few network TV shows that I watch these days -- I probably watch maybe 3 channels of the who-knows-how-many that I have access to with any regularity. And then it's mostly syndicated stuff, e.g. all the older Star Treks on the SciFi channel on weekdays when I get home from work and while making/eating supper.

When I do watch a network show, I always record it because of all of effin' commercial breaks. I never watch any show live -- at the very least I will wait until it's recorded at least half of the episode and then start watching so I can fastforward through the ad breaks. And some shows that I do get through my cable package, I torrent because I don't even want the interruption of having to fastforward through ads. So that would include shows like the new Treks (e.g. Strange New Worlds), and Outlander. Added bonus that Outlander was dropping on the Starz app in the US midnight on Fridays, so the torrent was available by the time I got up Friday morning, and I could watch the episode while having breakfast. It only airs on Sunday night in Canada on the network that carries it.

I torrent a lot of stuff because 1) it's not available any other way, or 2) it is, but there's a limit to how many streaming services I can afford on top of cable.

I currently pay for Netflix and Apple+ only. I do tend to prefer Netflix's drop all the episodes at once approach to Apple's usual drop the first two, then drop weekly. Mostly because I like the option of being able to watch episodes in close succession. Not necessarily binge the entire thing in one day (never done that), but if the show has a complex plot, I like to be able to watch maybe a couple back to back then daily to properly get into it. If I have to wait a week between episodes I sometimes sort of forget what the hell was going on, or it just takes me much longer to really get a feel for the show. Because of that, I usually wait until at least half, if not most, of the episodes have dropped before I'll start watching. Unless it's a show I really really love, like Strange New Worlds, or Outlander, then I'm fine watching weekly.

As to how many shows I'll have going at the same time, really depends on what's available that interests me.

Edited 2023-08-15 19:27 (UTC)

Yes, sports, especially if one watches a variety of different ones, gets expensive either way. My partner has a subscription to MLB network and we get ESPN+ so he can watch hockey. But we also use YouTube TV because he watches auto racing and sometimes football and I've been watching the World Cups etc. Mind you, I still find YouTube (and before it DStream) more cost effective than cable. But the additional services add up.

Yes, I can't tolerate ads -- not just the ad breaks but all the constant banners and intrusions into a show that networks throw in. If there was no other way it would be different. So I either record it or get the no-ads options on the streamers. What I also don't like is how, say, Paramount+ will very often throw in an ad for another show that you have to wait through before your show starts. And there's always the "auto play" on services that can only sometimes be shut off.

I tend to prefer that most of the show has aired as well, though for financial reasons. Since we rotate streamers every few months, I prefer to be able to get through all of a season in that time. So right now we've got Paramount until next weekend. So that means that while I was able to catch up on the last few seasons of Billions, I won't be able to watch S7 before we rotate off.

YouTube TV isn't a thing in Canada. Because our various Canadian networks (CTV, Global, etc.) buy the rights to must US network shows, YouTube TV couldn't really operate here. I remember the brouhaha over news that all the Star Treks were being pulled from Netflix and the new shows would only be on Paramount+ -- except in Canada. All the older Star Trek series are still on Netflix here, and the new Treks air on our SciFi channel and stream on Crave. Hulu shows are typically picked up by other Canadian networks or Crave, so it's not a thing here either. Which is why it's just easier to torrent. Can't keep track of where everything is.

God yes, the confusion of rights where stuff airs in one place in one country, on another in a different one, and not at all in a third.

One really has to be a fan of something to find anything these days -- not only where it's airing but when it'll even become available. Too much info on too many things.

Anything I want to see, I try to see it when it hits so I don't have to worry about spoilers. I will go back and watch older shows if I hear they are good, but in general I try to stay on top of shows.

I like having one or two shows I am watching, but sometimes there is just nothing I want to see and sometimes there is a lot.

Yes, especially if you're mostly watching new releases that can be pretty unpredictable. Give that's how you usually watch, are you finding the strikes affecting your viewing?

They aren't really effecting me, since no boycott has been called for. I am not getting any new services during this, though, and I really want to watch My Kind of Country on apple TV. As soon as it's over I am picking up Apple TV for that.

Right now I am watching the last season of Nancy Drew. I haven't double checked, but I guess part of the next season of Quantum Leap was filmed so there will be that in the fall. I am using to sometimes just not having shows I want to watch for a long time, so hitting a period of that in late fall wont be a big deal. Oh, and Three Body Problem is coming up. I need to finish the book for that.

Never subscribed to a streaming service, and I doubt I will. Unless, say, the BBC releases some of their still-existing TV plays on some streaming service. You never own the stuff you watch on streaming, so if a show gets taken away, too bad. That's my biggest problem with it. I guess it's because I have a history degree and obssessed with archival.

If I'm watching a show that is airing on whatever channel, chances are I will record it and watch it later. Like some people mentioned before, there's just so many ads. And then they put ads while the programme is going which is just baffling.

But! Most of the stuff I watch is either very old or not available in my country, so I have to use... other ways to watch them. Not elaborating, you know what I'm talking about ;)

I will say (and this is a tangent, but semi-related to that last paragraph), that I was in shock that the third season of Versailles aired in Portugal one month before it did in the UK.

Edited (Hit post too soon...) 2023-08-15 20:38 (UTC)

You're not wrong, this past year has had a number of examples of how tenuous access to content can be.

Wow, that is surprising alright! Was it perhaps a joint production with a Portuguese production company? I watched Versailles via Netflix and I imagine it was already some time after the show had originally aired.

As far as I know, no. There was a Portuguese actress on it (well, her name was Portuguese at least), but other than that, no idea.

I'm old-school. Love my DVR for shortening shows (FF through all the ads), but haven't even tried streaming. (My internet speed isn't good, so I don't expect streaming would actually work.)

But... what do you mean by watching x shows at a time? I mean, huh? Do you mean on a weekly schedule? (Not so many now, because everything's in reruns.) Or what we binge-watch? Or something else?

Yeah, my generation gap is showing...

Think about it as being back when shows aired on a weekly basis on broadcast or cable -- you might be keeping up with how many shows a week? 2? 4? 10?

Right now with libraries of viewing on demand, it's possible to be watching a lot of episodes a week but only 1 show. Or one might be watching a combination of weekly release shows, some scattered reviewing of older shows, or binge watching one show while also watching a bunch of others.

Regarding streaming, internet providers often want people to buy higher speed packages and thus make it seem like they're necessary for TV viewing.
But streaming is usually possible with much lower tiers. However if you have trouble running, say, videos on YouTube, then you're probably right about it not working well.

Oh, okay! I think it was 7 or 8 w/o news shows, add 4 or 5 if we count news shows. (All the early MSNBC lineup.)

LOL, that's exactly the reason for my doubt; I can rarely watch a Youtube video without it buffering two or three times. But when you live rural, choices of internet providers are limited. I look forward to faster internet when Biden's push for more inclusive service gets up and running, but I know I'll have to wait. There are many places in the state where people have NO internet, and they deserve the first round of improvements. At least I have something, however irritated I get with the (lack of) speed.

Yes, it's extremely unequal alright. And even if you're in a city, it all depends on where you live. Apartment dwellers are very likely to have just one option and can be extorted accordingly.

And yes, I suspect that in some ways people watch fewer shows at once now than they used to. I might have watched something different every day, and sometimes a lot of them on Thursday due to programming strategies. So that would easily have been 10 shows. And that doesn't count what I'd consider more incidental viewing -- things like news shows or syndicated programming that was just "on."

I only have over-the-air antenna for TV at home, and I do watch a few things live when I'm able to get the channels. But mostly, I just rely on collecting DVDs of my favorite shows these days. I'm a chronic rewatcher and have enough to shuffle to not get bored!

That being said, I recently discovered Tubi, and that's been a nice free streaming option

I voted for watching 2-5 shows at a time (usually 2 or 3 for me), but I'm fascinated by the results of that poll so far. How do people find the time to watch 6+ shows?! 😁

A big library can definitely make for many hours of TV. My partner used to have tons of VHS tapes (almost all of which he recorded himself) of different shows. (DVDs are definitely better storage and playing wise!)

There's a lot that can be watched for free these days as long as someone doesn't mind ads. I know that when we first got a Roku we came across an all Hogan's Heroes site, where we could watch each episode on demand. The quality wasn't always good and it was incomplete as it turns out. But there was just one or maybe no ads per episode so it was a nice option given that the show didn't seem to be available anywhere else.

Then the site just disappeared. We ended up watching the final seasons via DVDs from our public library. So hard copies won the day 😉

We are considering dropped shows to be "live" on streaming, yes? House of Dragons, The Last of Us, Justified... THAT I really enjoy because it feels old skool and I know there are no spoilers and it's fun to be part of something larger. But having so much entertainment just a click away via streaming services is also nice, although I have trained myself out of mainlining.

This question needed to be clearer, I think, because I meant live as in not on-demand in some way. So either aired on broadcast or on things like Roku channels or Pluto, etc. where you just have to watch whatever's playing at the time.

So you've watched Justified? I binge watched that and didn't even know there was a new season coming. So I haven't seen the latest of it yet, but it was good timing on my part 🙂

Ah, got it!

Yes, we watched Justified "live" and enjoyed it immensely. Kinda on the fence about this season, tho....

I guess I may be a bit of an outlier here, as I usually tend to prefer consuming shows in bigger batches. So I tend to wait for the shows I watch to either have finished a season or at least for a bigger chunck of episides to be available (even if I get them easily on streaming services).

I'm also still a huge fan of the DVD or Blu-ray set and even recently got a region-free player, so I can get my shows from the US even without a UK/Europe release.

The reason is probably the way I approach fanfic-writing these days. Even though most of my ideas ultimately end up being canon-divergent, I tend to prefer knowing what the authors did, regardless of whether I agree or not. Or maybe it's because RL gives me little time for fandom these days, so writing one summary post before the squeeing and the speculation is easier than writing 3+ posts *heh*

It's a sad thing that we even still have region-specific hard copies. Ridiculous that studios and distributors had to be almost forced into making content available nearly simultaneously across different areas of the globe. So many reasons that copyright is a problem...

I tend to prefer that most of the show has aired as well, though for financial reasons. Since we rotate streamers every few months, I prefer to be able to get through all of a season in that time. So right now we've got Paramount until next weekend and I'm trying to finish up various shows.

It's a sad thing that we even still have region-specific hard copies. Ridiculous that studios and distributors had to be almost forced into making content available nearly simultaneously across different areas of the globe. So many reasons that copyright is a problem...

Agreed. I mean, you'd think they'd see the merit in a genuinely global market, but I guess then quality would reign supreme and there might be less money for producers that way (*cue cries of woe*)

I tend to prefer that most of the show has aired as well, though for financial reasons. Since we rotate streamers every few months, I prefer to be able to get through all of a season in that time. So right now we've got Paramount until next weekend and I'm trying to finish up various shows.

As prices are increasing here, too, I'm also thinking of switching to partial rotation, especially since Netflix is leading the price explosion while having markedly less interesting content.

We have so many streaming apps now, but even at the cost approaching that of cable, we can truly choose what we want. The closest to cable is the SlingTV, and we use the DVR on that quite often. I like being able to access cable news this way, without paying for 15 channels that run in a language I don't speak (more power to them, I'm glad they're available, but they're not meant for me so why do I have to pay for them in a cable package?) We have Hulu+, Netflix, Disney+, Starz, AppleTv+ (currently paid for by my phone company), Paramount+, Peacock...everytime we think, "We could drop this service..." something lands that we want to see.

So mostly streaming. I found the third option difficult. What constitutes "at a time"? Me on one device and him on another watching different things but together? Or how many shows I personally am bouncing between? I went with the second there. I am revisiting old shows available on Hulu, plus keeping up with weekly drops.

You guessed right -- how many different shows are you watching in, say, a given month.

We tried out Sling early on and it's well priced but it just didn't carry some of the channels we wanted. For example, we watch a lot on PBS, but only YouTube carried it. That's by far our priciest subscription though and the costs just keep rising. When we first looked into it it was $60 a month but those cable alternatives keep getting pricier.

ah yes, PBS. I did pony up for our "Passport" so I can stream it on their app through the Roku, or I can actually get our OPB (Portland PBS) over the air, too. I wanted MSNBC for certain and Sling did that for us.

We used Passport for a year, but I suspect content offerings vary depending on local station. I found it frustrating because it looked at first that a lot was available, but then when I'd click it turned out that most content listed was only available for purchase.

And content rotated off very quickly too -- an episode was generally available for less than a month when a show was currently airing. Some content was available for several seasons, such as Nova, but if, say, we were watching something on Masterpiece Mystery, if it started at the beginning of August the first episode would no longer be available before September came around.

There were shows available that could be gotten through streaming only, usually non-English series. Those seemed to be available on a much longer basis but, even then, not permanently.

This was some years back now so it's possible it's changed. But I find it more reliable to just record the content via YouTube TV, which will keep it for nine months, and it records automatically so we know when something has started up again. Otherwise we often didn't know a show had returned until it was too late to watch the beginning of it.

I DVR my favorite shows and watch them at my leisure, never when they actually air so I can fast foward thru all the commercials.
I binge watch shows on Amazon Prime and Netflix.
I binge watch entire seasons of shows my hubby has recorded onto a thumb drive for me.
I watch shows On Demand from Verizon FIOS.

The summer:
I've gotten caught up on my DVR'd shows: Magnum PI, The Rookie, The Rookie: Feds, Will Trent, NCIS Hawaii
Binge Watched reruns of: Castle, Bones, Criminal Minds, NCIS LA
Binged: Sweet Tooth Season 2
I've watched all of: Star Trek's Picard, Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks
Star Wars - Mandalorian, Boba Fett and Obi-Wan
Just started watching the latest season of: Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime
Want to watch the current season of: The Witcher

Edited 2023-08-16 21:47 (UTC)

Yeah, I never watch live. Even if it's something like the Oscars, I'll wait until it's half over or just watch it the next day, so that I won't catch up to commercial breaks. That's one of the great things about recordings and streaming, you can also forward through parts that don't interest you!

I think if every show were released all at once, I'd probably still rotate between 2-3. But especially with seasons being so short now, it's very easy to binge an entire season in less than a week.

I expect to be completely caught up on Picard and ST:SNW by the end of the month. I've been less thrilled with each season of Mrs. Maisel but given it's ending this season I will likely watch it just to complete it.

I'm not so sure about The Witcher. I watched S1 because a friend wanted to watch it, and I watched S2 to discuss it with her, but I think it will depend on how much else I want to see the next time we subscribe to Netflix.

FWIW, I thought the final season of Maisel was quite good and a good end.

That's encouraging to know!

I most often watch shows through streaming, and the second most often way I watch shows is having ripped the DVDs. I'm taken to understand this isn't quite the same as putting in the DVD, though.

It's certainly a good idea to have that content saved though, especially the way things are going.

TV Tuesday: How do you watch?

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