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Cable TV A La Carte?
Anonymous Coward writes "According to this BusinessWeek article you can now get your MTV a la carte. I having been waiting for years to buy my cable by the channel, and this article indicates that my cable company is now legally required to let me. I am going to call Time Warner tomorrow with my list just to see what they say. Anyone out there doing this now?"
The headline and description are totally wrong. The rule says that a Cable company must allow you to buy HBO/Showtime/Cinimax/TMC without signing up for premium cable. So this means if you don't like watching MTV, Discovery Wings, or other non-Basic cable channels, but you watch HBO, you can drop Premium cable, but still keep HBO.
Come play Heroes of Might and Magic Mini online.
Our local cable company offers the ability to buy individual channels from the packages they offer.
However, unless you are buying less than 5 channels you'll spend more money than the package.
Since most people want at least MTV, TWC, CNN, DISC, CC and SCIFI it's kind of a moot point.
Taken from RealityWorldTV.com:
The second season of Trading Spaces has seen some pretty dramatic room makeovers, as well as homeowner reactions. None more memorable than that of Pam Herrick, who had to leave the room and cry, after the reveal of her new dark brown living room. She tells EntertainmentWeekly.com that she "felt violated." Meanwhile her husband says the "Trading Spaces crew is sloppy, unprofessional and unsafe when it comes to the makeover process. Our home was left a fire hazard and in violation of local building codes." Meanwhile, a couple weeks ago, TLC aired an episode in which designer Hilda Santo-Tomas glued straw/hay all over a couple's living room. In case you were wondering, it took 5 adults (including the neighbours who glued it on in the first place) 17 hours to get all the hay and glue off the walls, after the show had left. As the unstable bookshelf that Trading Spaces installed became a hazard for their young children, the couple removed it from the room. In addition, they paid $3000 for a new mantle, to replace the one that Hilda removed. So much for that $1000 budget.
Here is the article article about the hay incedent. The lady crying while on the episode is here.
You can also do a search on Google searches for Tranding Spaces hay, Trading Spaces cry, or Pam Herrick to find out more about the show.
Things that they don't tell you on the show:
You sign a contract stating what room is to be changed, what can NOT be touched (They ignore this), what you would like (colors, themes, etc). Trading Spaces then assigns a designer (none of which have any formal design education) to do what ever they want, not what you want. Most of the work is done off camera by the crew. Sewing done on camera is just for show...they have a crew to do that. Same with carpentry. The furniture is made super cheap...particle board bookcases come to mind on one show. I just got to the point where I started laughing at the shows. Some had interesting decorations, but most were a joke. You get around $1000 to change the room, but nothing if you don't like it. You are responsibie for carting away trash (they will pay the disposal fee, but it's just a hassle). You also have to put up with that annoying Paige lady. That would be the ultimate deal breaker for me regardless of the rest.