We will be moving into rented accomodation soon and we have the option of subscribing to cable.

Having been on the Shaw digital basic with movie pay option in the current rental I'm living in, I can't seem to find anything that grabs or interests me. There seems to be a lot of channels about nothing with lots (and lots) of ads although I suppose we knew this when we came anyway.

The point I'm trying to make is whether it's worth getting a TV at all in the new place ? I think it would work out at $60 a month we'd save NOT getting a TV/Cable, or maybe you have to pay hugely per month before you get something interesting to watch ? Has anyone else felt this way about TV here (Vancouver) and done with just having the radio ? How did it work out ? Did you go crazy with the silence of no TV in the background ? or does everyone think the TV here is good ? Am I missing something here ?

(ps. Was there a thread on how to get UK TV channels 'leagally' on here ?).

We have a bundle with Telus, which costs around $130 a month.
We're actually just in the process of scaling back the TV package, but it really is abysmal. Like you say, LOTS of commercials and LOTS of re-runs of the same shows- CSI, etc.
We've found ourselves downloading quite a lot of stuff and watching it on the computer instead- movies, UK shows/documentaries. The Canadian stuff we'd want to watch is on the "basic" cable anyway.

we lived in vancouver a few years back and had basic cable. while i admit it wasn't great and the frequency of ads was pretty annoying. but i only watched it for about and hour or two every evening before bed and always found something to keep me interested. couldn't have lived withouth tv all together though!!
if you could only take sky tv from the uk with you!!

We recently moved and couldn't get the TV hooked up for two weeks. It was WONDERFUL, didn't miss it one bit, read lots of books and listened to a lot of CBC (until we got sick of the constant Swine flu talk lol). Now we have it and hardly watch it, we only really have it for Setanta, the rest of it is rubbish mostly.

I'd give it a go being TV-less for a while, see if you REALLY need it.

We currently have Shaw and my biggest gripe is you cannot surf with them (important for a man ).

I used to have Rogers in Ontario, Rogers would let you chose any channel and it would give you a message if you haven't paid for that one. BUT if you surfed (up/down channel keys), it would only go to channels you could see.

Sasktel, highlights the ones that you have paid for and acts the same as Rogers when surfing.

Shaw, flips you to EVERY CHANNEL, which means you have to wait for the failure to connect and get the message you have to contact youir provider BS.

Hate it, after 4 months I still don't really know what channels I can see as its frustrating and you have to remember. (The basic channel list is less too).

There is a favourites function on the handset , but no instructions in the book or online, I can't make head or tail of it.


I will be changing to Sasktel.

I believe you can pick channels up with a good old fashioned arial too in Vancouver.

(back to cable) Although you get quite a few channels, you'll find its the same programs virtually on every one (talking entertainent ones here not speciality).

They also have an annoying habit of changing day and times on a program you like, after 6 or 7 episodes they suddenly show episodes from last season etc.. TV here is rubbish.

We have Rogers HD here in Ontario and I also bought a DVR, without this I would find live TV boring.

TVO is the best channel followed by PBS, Discovery,History,CBC, Bravo and Showcase. We do a huge amount of recording and the pause button on the DVR allows us to cut out any adds on live TV.

Our total Cable/phone/Internet cost $120/month, we don't own or need cell phones, although I did actually have one (pay as you go) for a couple of years, but rarely used it.

Try the antenna if you have a TV with an ATSC tuner built in. Unlike the UK there is free to air HDTV here. We get about 15 channels in Toronto. A couple of the American ones come and go, but decent overall and totally free. The HD quality is awesome and actually better than you would get through cable (so I believe).
I bought a little Mac Mini and EyeTV which turns it into a PVR/Tivo. This also works with a VPN for UK TV and with iTunes for renting/buying stuff. Makes a decent media centre.

Love free HD!

BTW We use this antenna:

http://tv.about.com/od/accesspries/g...1indoorant.htm

You will see fancier looking ones in shops, with dials and boosters and stuff. We tried one and it didnt work as well. I learned about this one from various forums on the net and it consistently rates well. It might come with different brand names but the same design. About $30.

There are five broadcast channels you can pick up in Vancouver with a set top aerial.

As for the rest, you have to put a bit of effort into it but you can find decent programming. Knowledge and KCTS are the best source for intelligent British programs. (Channels 5 and 27 in Vancouver).

Any hope of watching premier league games on Canadian TV? Or cable? Not that it's that essential, but you know ...
Ta (smiley face icon; can't do on blackberry)

Any hope of watching premier league games on Canadian TV? Or cable? Not that it's that essential, but you know ...
Ta (smiley face icon; can't do on blackberry)

On cable for sure. SportsNet and The Score both carry live and tape delayed games (2 or 3 a week). These are included in many cable packages. TSN carry Champions League games.

If you want to shell out an extra $15.00 a month then Setanta carry all Premier League games.

How does that work, out of curiosity?

In the UK I used to record using the VCR and just before commercials, depending on which channel it was, that little thing would appear top right and then you'd get the caption of the program.

Then, when the break was over, there was a discernible pause before the caption would come back and you could carry on recording.

There's nothing like that here; sometimes when it's a break you can't tell immediately if it's an ad or a scene change and then the program restarts with no warning at all.

So what is this pause feature on a DVR?

Actualy there's somethimg like that here you just can't see it on your set.

Upper right hand corner of the screen a little white box will appear just prior to an upcoming commercial.

For those complaining about the number of commercials on Canadian TV, the average 1 hour U.S./Canadian show runs about 42-43 minutes if the commercials are edited out, the average 1 hour UK show with commercials runs 45-46 minutes with no commercials.

Whose set is it on then?