keira-2007

I want a bit of a head start. You know normally when you move somewhere new it takes weeks to settle in and start feeling at home. Well luckily hubbie has already moved in and bought a telly, and other useful bits and pieces... but what will really make me feel at home is knowing i can switch on a decent channel thats LIVE and informative. You know something like "This Morning" or "The Wright Stuff."
When I visited Chicago recently the only channel I found I was watching was the "Weather Channel" for some strange reason. I think it was because it was LIVE. All the other channels struck me as not very current, or just VERY American (you know, screechy voices that don't sound genuine.)
So can anyone tell me THE main channels to watch. (Oh and I might add I will be wanting to watch American Idol when it starts, so whatever channel that's on will be important!)

(Oh I know, sad cow, you're all thinking - but if I can't work for a while, and there ain't a whole lot else going on in my area, what else do you expect me to do!!!)

vegas

American Idol is on Fox starts in January. I personally watch about 60% UK tv via downloads the rest is Programs I DVR so I dont have to watch the annoying adverts.

keira-2007

'Scuse my stupidness - whats DVR? Do you have anything like SKy Plus over there, where you can pause live telly and go interactive with the red button?

Jerseygirl

Yes it's the same.

I watch CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, TNT, FX, HBO, BBC America to name a few. This time of year is when most of the new series start...not like the UK when it's usually the new year. Trouble is you get about 3 episodes than 3 re-runs...this usually continues until the series come to an end in May.

another bloody yank

I'm not the person to answer TV questions, but are sure you weren't just watching the Weather Channel just so you'd get first warning of any Hurricanes/tornados heading for Chicago?

penguinsix

A DVR is a digital video recorder, and yes it is the pause and what not feature. There is no interactive feature on most tvs as there are so many different carriers it is hard to do.

One of your first questions to answer is whether you will get cable (land line television via coaxial cable) or a satellite (very similar to Sky). Debates go each way--whichever you choose though, see what options you can get for free (like first 6 months of all the movie channels or something on special offer). Our cable (Comcast) has ondemand which means you can order several hundred movies and tv shows pretty much whenever you want.

You'll also get a good dose of HDTV (High Definition TV) which will require a HDTV television and a HDTV cable box. Has to be seen to be believed if you haven't seen it already. You'll end up watching documentaries on penguins in HD instead of regular programming in standard definition.

Duncan Roberts

Try CSPAN, however if you don't like politics you will hate it!

angelman

there is no good tv here.. just throw the stupid thing out the window.
Better still subscribe to netflix www.netflix.com and get movies that you want to see when you want them. Get rid of the ripoff cable subscription and spend the money on a nice big flat screen or something. There are various places you can find on the web to get UK tv programmes. www.guba.com video.google.com and other nefarious locations. Basically if you thought tv was bad in the uk you aint seen nothing yet.. its more or less unwatchable. If you thought UK adverts were bad and annoying... When I went down I actually spent some time just watching the UK ads and marvelling at how great they were. Looks like someone actually spent more than $10 on them and spent the money wisely too

Maz

Shit I just realised with all the arrangements being made for my new job I've missed 30 out of 40 mins of Coupling on BBC America! :curse:

BBC America, Sci-Fi, Comedy Central (sometimes), NASA Channel (geeks only need apply ), History Channel, National Geographic Channel, and PBS - channels 11 and 20 in Chicago. Channel 20 has 30 minutes of yoga every day at 3 pm.

keira-2007

Bugger! Sussed out!

Hubbie has already gone out and purchased the 42" HD ready plasma TV! (And he was supposed to only be getting essential items!) Apparently the house has cable connected already - but hubbie said the channels differ from day to day. He said he would ring comcast to find out how to get the "Good" channels.
(And no I ain't talking about no mucky filth! )

Cheers Maz. All sound good to me. By the way, what about childrens channels? Will we have to subscribe to get Nickelodeon? (My daughter won't be able to settle unless she can watch Spongebob Squarepants twice a day!!!)

tonyghiggins

comcast hd dvr and platinum package, plus internet phone, plus cable internet costs around 160 a month, l watch fx, fox sports world, bbc america, espn(alot of hd sports like poker )

5 main film channels plus lot of others, then there is on demand, as mentioned above, HD is great, I also have a 42 inch plasma, unreal quality, I would watch a chick flick in HD rather than a nice gruesome horror in standard

keira-2007

That sound good. Internet phone - is that like a mobile phone? And does the $160 a month include all calls? And can you get Nickelodeon with this package? (Not for me! Honest!)

tonyghiggins

nik is included, we got a 2 1/2 year old, so the dvr is really useful for recording dora and maisey the mouse etc etc
Plus PBS has 1000s of hours of nice stuff for kids to watch anytime you turn the tv on

http://www.comcast.com/

Enter your zip of where you will be living and check out the channels.

Internet phone is just like an ordinary phone, but its voip, or voice over IP, or basically just travels over a different wire, but what it means is, if your internet does down, your phone will too.

Its called the comcast triple play, phone, internet and cable tv. Should be able to get a decent deal, I'd say its more expensive than satellite, but I think its ok.

If you hubby is into football, get the sports package that includes gol tv and I think fox sports world, I think its like 2.95 a month. Lots of premiership stuff.

keira-2007

Thanks Tony - that's great info! Yep hubby is very much into football (big Liverpool fan) and golf (he worships Tiger Woods) and I love watching tennis! So will definitely want the sports package!

Jerseygirl

My hubby is a big Liverpool fan too...I'm saying nothing about any sports package.