This always confuses me. In Australia we have Free to air TV, which is TV stations that are free. Most people just have this.. I think its like 20 channels or something. Then you can get pay TV like Foxtel.
In the US do you pay for all TV? How does it work?
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I have no idea what you can get for free these days... I've been paying for cable/extra channels for years!
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I pay for all tv. I don't even think you can get local channels for free anymore? I'm not sure though.
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@MamaJ: I think you can, the same channels you used to be able to get if you had rabbit ears. Now they have something built into TVs, rather than an antenna, that gets those channels. I think the basic networks are free - CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, etc.
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SO there are free channels but nobody uses them? Are there not any good tv shows on them?
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@IRunForFun: ah ok. I remember when everything went digital or whatever and I wasnt sure if it was possible after all that happened. Good to know!
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@Mrs squirreld: You still get those same networks if you pay for cable, too! And lots of good shows are on them! I am sure plenty of people don't pay for cable and just get the main networks.
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How much does pay tv cost? Hardly anyone has pay tv here, basically cause its crap, same shows over and over again.
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My parents still get free TV (this is in Canada though). I think it's only 6 channels though.
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@Mrs squirreld: It depends on what type of cable you get, there are different providers. There are a couple of satellite TV companies, and then there's regular cable transmitted through lines buried under the ground, there are several providers for that as well. Then you can choose if you want basic, digital, premium (you get movie channels and such), etc. As an example, we have digital cable with a DVR (so we can pause, rewind, fast-forward, and record shows) and we pay roughly $70 a month.
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We get the free basic channels but if we want the really good stuff, we have to pay for it. We just use the free TV and pay for Hulu and Netflix subscriptions. Cheaper and has the shows we watch anyway.
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@Mrs squirreld: The major stations with all the big Prime Time shows are free. ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC... etc but the rest is mostly in spanish or vietnamese here. If you want stations like TLC or Animal Planet or even Nickelodian or Disney you have to pay a cable provider and there are so many with so many price options it is hard to give you a single price. It is all overprices IMHO but I know one day we will cave and pay for it.
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We pay around $12 for the local channels, but only because our internet would cost $10 more if we didn't have cable. Otherwise, I think we would have to get a receiver or something for the local channels.
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We can get free basic TV using our TV antenna
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We also just use free basic TV, neither one of us is home enough to justify having cable or satellite. I'd love to watch TLC though. We have an HD tv but we still have to use an antennae, we don't get all the major stations, maybe 5 channels.
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