Sunday, May 15, 2016

Can I "demand" some changes?

Probably not. TV providers don't respond well to demands...or requests...or suggestions...or pleas.

Verizon FIOS has a decent selection of On Demand programming that, to a less demanding soul, might be a great added-value proposition. To me, it's often a big pain in the booty.

NFL Network only offers its shows in standard definition right now. I hate to be an HD snob, but why the heck is this the case? It's bad enough NFL is so stingy with its original programming, but when it puts up a few things I'd like to see, it would be nice to see it in high-def. The NFL is number one in many things--fan support, TV revenue, dangerous concussions--but it looks pretty backwards sometimes.

Meanwhile, Turner Classic Movies On Demand gets smaller and smaller each month. Looking at the TCM message boards, this issue is not isolated to FIOS. There are currently two movies available, when in the past there was almost always at least a dozen.

Is this a deliberate strategy to push people to Watch TCM (which remains active with a bunch of cool films for viewing; oh, how I'd love a Roku version)? Is it foreshadowing of what will happen when Filmstruck launches? Or, as we can agree is most likely, is it simply just another thing designed to irritate ME?

You can do better, On Demand! Much better.

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