Today I went to the markets hoping to find an old gem to play with and I spotted a pile of 1950s to 1960s TV guides , I have been after some for awhile to put on top of my old TVs for a bit of fun , so I bought 2 off the the stallholders , one with johnny o Keefe on the cover and anther with James bond. As I read through the 1962 TV week I saw there was so many great shows on that I still love to watch today . movies too, often 3 per day and it was all free to watch , not like now its all crap on TV and very few movies ,just sell sell sell,,,,,,,,,pete

I don't bother at all with TV these days.

No, me either, I like to play the old TV shows on my old TVs , what's on air now is just brain deading

All five major networks broadcast about 90% crap in my opinion and the more channels they open up the more crap that gets broadcasted. For those that are unaware, the Nine Network has just dumped one of its regional affiliates in a hole because a rival came across with an offer of 50% of advertising revenue. To be fair, both Nine and WIN have been fighting over affiliation fees for a few years though I take WIN's side of the argument. Paying through the nose for programming that doesn't rate as well in rural areas as it apparently does in Sydney.

To keep WIN on the air, they have signed an agreement with Network Ten to carry their signal so effectively both WIN and Ten's previous affiliate, SCN, will do a signal swap which I think will take place at midnight on the 30th June. This will take place everywhere except Northern NSW and the Gold Coast in QLD where there is a separate broadcasting area and the Nine Network owns the station broadcasting its signal there.

I think signal aggregation in Australia, along with allowing the networks to have more than one channel has been a dismal disaster. Local content is a thing of the past. Regional news bulletins (those that still exist) are mass-produced in studios nowhere near the viewing area concerned. Rural TV stations have closed and news crews just send stories with raw camera footage over the Internet to be spliced into the reports seen on the news each night from the one central studio. And as per the original comments here, whilst the number of channels has grown quite markedly, quality has fallen through the floor.

Timing is another issue. Programming often starts later than the advertised time and programmes are often shifted to different timeslots with no warning and for no apparent reason.

I have one more gripe and I am fairly confident that most will share this: Where the hell are the FHD channels? Each network is supposed to be broadcasting at least one FHD channel but this is not the case for some. In addition, the government allows televisions with UHD (4K) and 3D capabilities to be sold in this country and not one single channel broadcasts in either of these formats. So we are buying products that do not operate as intended and are wasting a lot of money in the process. The other issue with the current 3D format is that people with monocular vision cannot watch - they can only see one 'side' of the 3D picture.

I could go on all night about the problems we face with television broadcasting but it is a case of who in government would bother listening?

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

I sometimes watch eps of old TV shows on YouTube.

I have given up on "Free to Air Television", and now, most of what I watch is either the programs that I time shifted via my V.C.R. or, I watch box sets of my favourite shows. Either way, I hold the remote control, and I eliminate the mind numbing ads about insurance and superannuation.

Wayne.

Haha, well we all agree TV is not much good. Funny I'm a TV collector and I have vintagevtvs right through the house ,but never do I watch main stream television, its always DVDs , I use to love SBS ,but even that has gone down hill . PS Brad , I have tried getting the government to listen to me on anther topic a few years ago , no chance ,pete

I started the self-serve telly thing years ago when Mash came out on disc, though it was out about five years prior to that on tape and was probably one of the first programmes to be released that way. I probably have sufficient material to enjoy watching over about a three year cycle as there's no benefit from watching repeats less than 12 months apart.

To be honest I don't understand how the networks can afford to operate their multi-channels. I realise they carry their own advertising campaigns though they always seem to be crying out for more revenue.

Mind you, television is not the only form of media that is wanting for improvement. Radio is also in dire need of a makeover. Recently, Fairfax purchased the Macquarie Radio Network and how a left-wing media outlet will manage operating right-wing radio stations such as 2GB is something I am yet to work out. Then there is 2SM, owner of the Super Radio Network which consists of dozens of rural stations. It isn't to my liking though someone listening in for the first time probably wouldn't notice what I and other listeners of these stations (2TM in Tamworth is one) were more accustomed to.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

I can't understand how the local TV networks make any money at all now, because nobody watchers television anymore .the younger people watch everything on line and many people now have cable and bypass the local stations . I think though my age also has a lot to do with not liking what their broadcasting ,I'm 48 and I guess their programs are aiming at the younger generation , but either way I think local TV is fast becoming obsolete. On top of that there is no film industry here anymore compared to years ago

When one of these Free-to-Air (FTA) nostalgia stations starts running an old show you like, you just know it will be "too good to last". Then sure enough, they pull it off the air. So you lodge an email complaint - only to end up on their email subscription list! Happened to me!

I remember back in the 1990s when Network Ten was broadcasting re-runs of Prisoner I had to tape each episode daily and watch it after work because back when the show was made the number of ads permitted were less than what was later allowed. To fit the show in they had to run it at 04:00 each morning when running fewer ads was not a problem for the budget.

If, on the other hand, you watch Mash on Channel 1 (a Network Ten multi-channel) you can't help but notice several minutes cut out of each episode to fit in today's LARGE number of ads.

Speaking of ads, all the commercial networks now run so many ads that they seldom bother with station idents anymore.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

I would just rather listen to my old radios tuned to 2ca on Saturday nights playing the classics that used to be new when I was a kid. As for TV well its my kitchen rules , Master chef , X factor or any of the reality collectable shows on 7Mate ( my wifes choice ) or any of my 400 plus dvds I have in my collection. None of the other rubbish like Home and Away no thanks.

I've also pretty much given up on TV. Don't have Foxtel (couldn't see the point of paying for the rubbish). Hate reality shows (Masterchef, MKR, renovation makeover, The Voice, I'm a celebrity get me out of here, blah blah).

So I limit myself to the News, Star Trek, Pokemon, Aircraft crash investigation, and the various Car Crash shows.... and the occasional movie.

For whatever reason channel 73 Mate has no sound, so not much incentive to go there. I guess I'm supposed to upgrade my equipment, but why should I? If they want me to watch they have to make sure it works.

I notice that TV4ME has closed down, it won't be missed, one less crap channel.

Then there was the debacle of TVS channel 31, the govt said it had to switch to internet broadcasting, and then the Libs canned the NBN 100mbs to the door, so how are you supposed to get a good stream? Duh.

The ads are so bad now (especially the amount of Insurance and Car ads), that I'll often just use the VCR to record it and when it finishes, then I can play it back minus the ads.

I agree, when everything went "Digital" nothing got better, just more crap and more ad's more 3rd rate American rubbish... I'd rather TV shows on you tube, even download them to my computer with the Youtube Downloader, especially music clips!
If only I could use an old TV as a monitor, somehow convert the digital HDMI output back to analogue, personally I've never liked widescreen TV's it's really "Short screen"!!! Give me an old set any day...

QUOTE: All five major networks broadcast about 90% crap in my opinion and the more channels they open up the more crap that gets broadcasted.

Same thing here in the USA. It's said that most programming is aimed at 12 year olds... When I was around 15 years old, I switched from TV watching to radio listening (rock and roll, top40 and some progressive "classic rock). As I though the TV shows (this back around 1969) became unwatchable).