Free to air television

The regional and rural areas are those most needy of Free to Air. These are also the customers getting the worst NBN outcomes.

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Foxtel still does satellite entertainment services. At one time you got free setup dunno if so now.

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A post was split to a new topic: Auntie Under Attack

It’s NOT free. You are paying for the amount of data you use to download things. Also there often is no subtitling (which means us deafish people can’t follow the program; this is also becoming a problem on the supplementary channels, even ABC and SBS’s sub channels.) I agree they are trying to force us to watch pay tv: good shows are not shown on fta, and the inability of commercial stations to stick to timetables means it is very difficult to tape entire programs, even if you allow extra time. It is not unusual for reality programs to run 20 minutes over, so if you tape something after them you miss the ending of the show you want to see. I am becoming convinced the commercial channels do this deliberately to make us give up watching rival programs. Is there no legal requirement for them to follow program listings exactly? They can do it – the programs preceding news broadcasts always finish on time! They could cut out some of the self-promoting station ads and previews to achieve accuracy.

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The perfect business model for the media may be zero free?
The current FTA Tv stations are struggling. Their principle revenue stream is advertising. On line advertising is effective and taking the revenue stream. Google knows who you are, where you live, and lots more from all those cookies you eat!

There is a reasonable prospect your observation will come to pass, and all current Tv will move to online delivery. Paid? Well if you have the NBN you will pay. If you have the faux NBN you will still pay, but miss out?

I note that even SBS requires you to create an online ID to access their catch up and world movies. I wonder why?

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Something that not many people know is in Australia FTA is the best in the world
Why? Because many Pay TV or cable shows can be shown on FTA.Other parts of the world FTA can not show any cable shows at all.In Australia we are very lucky thanks to the government.Personally i do feel sorry for Foxtel as they don’t have that exclusive programming they could have.Anyway so next time you think their is nothing on FTA to watch your really being treated very well

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It’s worth hearing our FTA is not so bad after all.

Common commentary around here is that there is nothing worth watching most of the time on FTA. It must be really dire elsewhere?

It would be interesting to be able to compare with the help of frequent travellers different experiences from other countries.

When visiting our Brother-in-law in Italy some time past he had nearly 100 stations to choose from, including some from France. Some might not have received Papal approval for public viewing. Comedy, Political, religious or risqué. Language is not always a barrier to entertainment. I suspect much has now shifted to the internet for delivery?

FTA in Australia may be on it’s last legs, before it becomes FT-nbn. Which will be sort of still free?

Is the great unknown whether the same level of content diversity can be protected given FT-nbn will on the same platform as Foxtel etc?

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I love our ABC and SBS, the other channels I am somewhat indifferent to, because advertising in primetime seems to have become more frequent, and for longer periods. I could be wrong, perhaps I have just become so t’d off at ads they all seem too long and loud. However
 I think if I did not have access to streaming
 I might feel differently.

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This is problematic for me. I’m not deaf, but I like to know every word that is said in a movie and my wife has super-hearing - thus if I want to watch a video while she’s in the other room I use subtitles to know what’s going on.

(I suspect I got to like the subtitles when I ordered a particularly inexpensive box set of Bond movies over a decade ago, and they all had subtitles stuck to the ‘on’ position.)

I heard something said by Noam Chomsky a while ago about the print media. He said that it relied upon the advertisers rather than the readers, and news articles were always placed after those important ads. In other words, nothing has changed - our eyeballs are still the end product, not really the ‘subscriber’ after all.

So why are we unable to watch the local one day internationals against India on FTA? (I mentioned this in another thread - it seems that anti-siphoning laws will only stand up when the industry is prepared to compete.)

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Because basically FTA were not interested in televising it.So it went to Pay TV

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Nine further cuts back its “pretend” TV local news bulletins.

It will probably make little difference as they mainly consist of reading stories out of the local rags with archival still images of the location of the court house, police station, hotel or whatever in the background.

It is amusing when they have persons who have never been to FNQ reading the “news” as their pronunciation of local place names are a dead giveaway.

“Raven shoe” instead of “Ravens hoe” for Ravenshoe.

“Kur run dah” instead of Kur rand ah" for Kuranda.

“Cairns’s” instead of "Cairns’ ". Yeehaw. We’re in Kansas.

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The only solution is not to watch it.

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I don’t watch it but happen to overhear their puerile drivel when my wife does and I walk through the room.

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That’s the beauty of the English language. Which ever way you accent or pronounce a word, it’s bound to be correct in at least one regional version.

For those following the norms for place names as spoken in the UK there is scope to vary. EG How we say Castle and Scone comes to mind.

For place names derived from French or more importantly Australian Aboriginal language.

Some can only be properly pronounced using the original language of origin.

Ypres and Amiens are found as street and place names in Australia, spelt as for French. Ask someone of French origin for the answer. It may vary though just as for English depending on where and when they grew up!

Some other local place names I know. Allora and Gheerulla and Kuranda are all of local indigenous origin. Although somewhat corrupted by simplification from their original phonetically correct spelling or pronunciation.

Wikipedia sometimes has answers.

The ABC one of the last icons of FTA TV, (Am I back on topic?) has a guide on how words should be pronounced. The ABC even considers the need to better pronounce local language, and hence place names.

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One classic is Mackay.

Even the locals are divided.

I used to watch FTA local news when it was local. That is, not owned by 9. After 9 bought NBN3 (Newcastle) it went to hell in a handbasket. Now, there are other sources instead. My local member posts on facebook if theres anything worth (or needing) knowing.

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My local member post on facebook too. His page is barely coherent. Amongst other gems he speculated whether Black Lives Matter followers are in favour of full term abortion. He has no shame.

This is not party political lobbying (not mentioned) but a reflection on the poor quality of our leadership and the need for a strong independent news service. A democracy requires accurate information to function, beware of those who do not want that.

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Watching that drivel is its own punishment.

Ahhh. Sonia is a sensible woman who works hard for her community.

An article regarding something that was on Nine News this afternoon.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-weather-taree-bride-trapped-in-floodwaters-on-nsw-mid-north-coast/b2f8ed66-3d39-434a-825a-f428a488f682

I happened to walk through our lounge room this afternoon when it was being broadcast and the “presenter” referred to the helicopter as a Bell 47.

A Bell 47, a piston engine bubble helicopter as seen in MASH. Perhaps they have been watching too many old TV re-runs or they did not pay attention at school?

You have gotta love the pretend news on commercial TV.

NOT,

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