Anyone have parents who have cable but still watch 3 channels?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

My mom and dad have cable, but only seldom do they venture out to any other station - maybe when ice skating is on ESPN.

They absolutely, positively love Bob Shiefer on CBS. I think it is the old school mentality going back to Walter Cronkite. The staid, wise, trustworthy anchor. You can trust what people like Walter and Bob say.

I think CBS is making a huge mistake. My parents like Katy too - but for light morning fare only.

Now, Bob is light years away from me on the spectrum, but it is a sad day that they are getting rid of him due to his age. They do not realize that that is what many seniors love about him. And seniors are probably the only people left watching network news !

[LSparkle]

1. Yup

My parents used to watch Brokaw, then went to Jennings and now watch Schieffer but then they also watch Lehrer on the NewsHour. (Any bets when PBS decides to boot him in favor of Gwen Ifill, a right-leaning black woman?)

Young people don't watch the evening news! They're on the 'net, they read blogs, they watch cable. I agree that CBS is making a huge mistake, especially since their demos skew older for their entertainment programming. I predict those seniors will turn to (ironically) NBC's Brian Williams, since he'll now be the only male solo evening anchor.

[rpgamerd00d]

2. My 75 yr old mom - watches Food Network 24/7 - Nothing else.

I kid you not.

[LSK]

3. yeah same here - my sister and her family too

They go get DirectTV and they still watch the big 3 during primetime. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[Blaze Diem]

4. ya, Whatever channel airs..

W-H-E-E-L O-F F-O-R-T-U-N-E

I'm so sick of that show! But you're right, seniors are loyal to their network news.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

16. Oh my god, me too. If I am talking to her on the phone, she has to hang

[IsItJustMe]

5. I know an old couple that has every fancy thing that satalite has to offer

I'm talking about HBO, Cinimax, and the works. All they watch is the local news.

I think it's what's called a good salesman.

[TAPat]

6. We got full blown cable for Grandpa (91)

for Xmas - now he watches 3 channels, but they are different than they were!
Fox News! (Yea for him, not us...) Hallmark! (can't necessarily complain about that...) and any channel showing any baseball of any kind - Martian baseball is fine with him.

[EstimatedProphet]

7. Yeah, my mom's like that

Only watches the big 3 networks.

[BiggJawn]

8. Parents?

My ESSO watches Food, BSRNC, and TCM. Maybe AMC once-a-while.

I'm into the Weather Channel. Mmmmm...Vivian and Kristin!

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. AMC? Since they started putting commercials in their movies

and showing low-budget fare from 1999 as 'classics'?

Bleah.

[NYCGirl]

15. I hate what AMC has become. But I LOVE TCM! NT

[Atman]

9. CBS has had a marketing problem for years

Seniors.

Seriously...CBS is the "old" network. And when chasing the almighty dollar, old people simply don't buy stuff. They have acquired everything they're going to acquire. They'll keep the old 'fridge running until one or the other of them dies. They simply are not a money-making demographic, at least, not on the multi-billion-dollar scale advertisers are looking for. It is CBS's own doing. For years, their signature shows were Matlock and Murder She Wrote. Even their most recent Mega-hit, Everybody Loves Raymond, centered around the meddling mother and cranky father as much as the title character. They built an audience that loved them more than they loved their audience.

Bob Schieffer is the last of CBS's "grey" era. They're now doing perv sitcoms like Two And A Half Men, which appeal to a younger crowd with it's ribald story lines and in-your-face smuttiness. They don't give the shows away free, they have shareholders to answer to. Good or bad, they are making a business decision. Katie Couric has cross-generational appeal. Dirty Ol Grandpa thinks she's 23-skidoo, while those in the prime spending demographics have grown up with her cutsie-pie bubbly personality smiling at them over their Pop-Tarts every morning.

Personally, I don't mind Katie. She is cute, she does great cooking segments, but she has no business anchoring the evening news. Now, put her in a mud-wrestling pit with Paula Zahn, and you're talking RATINGS, baby!

[Dulcinea]

10. Sure.

My dad watches the History Channel, ESPN & the Big 3 evening news.

My mom watches American Idol & the Big 3 evening news. She likes Today & GMA.

Wonder what they'll think of Katie on in the evening instead of all perky in the morning? Uggghhh. I hate perky in the morning!

[NoPasaran]

11. You're talking about my folks, aren't you?

Whenever I mention something that's on another channel, the usual response it "I don't think we don't get that anymore."

[Laura PourMeADrink]

17. haha. When I do it, I get " ohhhh, I don't know" with a scared

sound - like surfing would be much too bold and brassy

[NoPasaran]

18. It might cause a fire! n/t

[Lisa]

13. Yes. My parents. The same people who ...

... when using a spreadsheet on the computer to do their income taxes, NEVER use formulae to add things up. They input the numbers, then use a calculator, and type the result into the appropriate square, manually.

I can't recall a time since I left home, when I've gone back there and the TV hasn't been on either CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) or TVO (TV Ontario, the provincial educational channel). Oh, or the Buffalo PBS station. I suspect they don't know about the extra cable channels (though we've had cable since the 1970s, because the TV reception in our part of town is lousy).


If I bought them a cordless phone, I suspect that they wouldn't leave the kitchen when talking (because that's where the phone has always been, in our house).

I love them dearly, though!

[noonwitch]

14. My 43 year old brother doesn't have cable or satellite

My mom has cable, so does my 92 year old grandfather (he loves O'Reilly and watches FOX news most of the time).

I haven't been to my dad's in a while, but last time I was in Florida, he didn't have cable. He says he's too busy. He's busy with his post-polio therapy and his volunteer work-he mentors small businessmen and helps people fill out their FEMA applications after hurricanes.