On March 19, I helped my oldest daughter by staying overnight with her youngest while she managed a school camping trip. That was the first big day of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament. While Owen was doing homework, I tried to find tournament games on their TV. Since they were not subscribed to a cable TV provider, they had no local stations. I even tried to see if they were subscribed to Paramount+, but had no luck.
They did have a Netflix account. So, I did a little surfing and found a show that sucked me in. Not quite binging, I stopped before the fourth episode. Even nicer, their subscription was commercial-free.
Through my life, I’ve only paid for one streaming service, two separate months of Peacock to watch the 2025 Tour de France and La Vuelta a EspaƱa. Getting home, I had to see how the series ended, and I was sucked into a month of Netflix.
Peacock was nice with their “cancel anytime” policy, and it was easy. I paid for a month up front, and the cancellation went into effect 30 days later. I’m wondering if Netflix will be the same.
Watching TV used to be less complicated. In the 1960s in Salt Lake City, we had a rooftop antenna and four channels: 2 – KUTV (NBC), 4 – KCPX (ABC), 5- KSL (CBS), and 7 – KUED (PBS). We had to change channels and volume by standing up and walking to the set.
I first heard of cable TV in the late 1960s on a visit to my grandmother in rural Pennsylvania. She had a few more of the 12 channels being used.
Back in Virginia, I had the first opportunity for cable TV in 1980 when it came to Triangle, Virginia. The monthly bill was less than $10, unless we wanted that premium HBO channel. We were still restricted to 12 channels controlled by the TV tuner. Being frugal, I didn’t pay for the premium channel.
In an effort to sell more programming, cable companies developed set-top boxes that controlled the channels and fed into Channel 3 of the TV tuner. And the set-top box had an infrared remote control.
Around this time, rumors began that sports programming would no longer be free. Though limited, most major sporting events were free. Well, now that I have cable, it is included.
Recently, I heard that to watch all 162 New York Yankees games, you need to pay $ 1,200 for subscriptions. Unfortunately, they are spread out in a way that requires you to maintain all streaming platforms for the full 6 months.
Over time, the number of stations expanded, and TVs became cable-ready to eliminate the set-top box. High-def programming was available at a premium for those high-end TVs.
In 2005, Verizon introduced a Fiber-Optic cable service called FIOS. I was an early adopter. There was a return of a set-top box to control programming. In addition to TV service, my cable modem was replaced with the FIOS feed.
20 years later, after moving twice, Verizon required me to change to a wifi system to connect to IP devices. HD programming became standard, with some SD options available. I broke down and bought a couple of smart TVs, which made access to streaming services easier.
In the early 2000s, the Discovery Channel broadcast the Tour de France to promote its sponsored team. I became hooked, watching for an hour after running early each morning in July. Over time, the programming continued to NBC Sports, NBC Universal, and then USA. In 2023, they broadcast the first week on USA, then the last two weeks on Peacock, but delayed overnight on USA. In 2024, they broadcast only on Peacock with the delay on USA. No luck in 2025; it was 100% on Peacock. I broke down and paid for one month with the lower fee that included advertising.
Taking advantage of the month, I started watching a few shows. Unlike network standalone episodes, the shows are binge-designed. Though you don’t have to binge, you have to watch the entire series to complete the story.
CBS and Paramount try the same concept of sucking people into the pay version, Paramount+. They’ll start a show on over-the-air CBS, only to finish the storyline on the plus.
The Paramount Channel is part of many cable systems, including FIOS. They have started at least four serials there with the intent of completing them on the plus. Those shows are written in a binge-intended format.
I have 12 more days left in my Netflix month. I finished the first show, watched Homeland Season 8, and have another 32 episodes of another series. That’s only 3 episodes per day.
It is nice how the commercials have a timer display. They seem to go faster.
Once I’m done with Netflix, I may finish those four series in a month of Paramount+. I might be in the subscribe-binge-cancel routine.
They must have seen us coming.