There is a huge, boring battle going on in Canadian television. Basically, the networks want carriage fees from cable and satellite distributors for all local stations. This, they say, will allow them to continue local programming. Of course those folks maintain that they are adding value for the collection of local ad revenue as a local signal can be picked up and carried country-wide. There have been attack-type commercials for months now. I think the general public finds the debate uninteresting and the prospect of higher fees to cable or satellite companies untenable. What neither side is considering is that the whole discussion could someday be irrelevant.
I now rather prefer watching episodes of TV programs via
www.hulu.com. Although the satellite picture is a smidgen better in HD, too much effort must be taken to skip through the commercials. Hulu has
limited interruptions and some of their public service clips are quite interesting. Furthermore, It's just as easy to pause the playback as it is on our Bell PVR. Each program stays online for at least a month, so viewing when I have time is possible just like with my HD receiver.
I am beginning to contemplate dropping $50/month satellite and relying on an HD antenna plus Hulu for my entire TV-viewing experience.
