Last night, I was unable to watch the Fiesta Bowl. There are zero games being broadcast over the air networks on New Year’s Day. To make a long and increasingly absurd story short, that’s because I refuse to be mulcted by streaming services for lousy service and offerings in order to have the privilege of watching. In the new-and-improved fascism of the USSA, you see, the corporate powers have taken the NFL and NCAA football games hostage. If you want to watch them, you now must subscribe to a costly service which includes ESPN which has apparently captured broadcast rights to them all.
I recently dropped Hulu Live ($119/mo) - which includes ESPN and local channels we rarely watch, in favor of plain Hulu for $19/mo. I got a cheap antenna for OTA (off the air) local channels - whose pictures with NextGen (NTSC 3.0) are notably superior to all the streaming service I have seen. This saves me $1200/year. The live program guide, however, is poor. So, what is corporate America’s response to the availability of superior picture? To try to charge you more and force you to accept an inferior product, naturally.
There’s a double irony when it comes to college games. A large majority of funding for colleges and universities comes from the public. Might one think that for its generosity, the paying public might be permitted to enjoy free OTA broadcast of college football as has been the case until now. Nope. Screw you. Pay an additional grand a year if you want to watch college football.
My answer is easy. You take hostages? I find them expendable. Rather than submit to the moral equivalent of negotiating with terrorists, I will lose my former interest in watching NCAA football. My life will yet be full and satisfying. Bye.