The day has finally come when my cable television company has, in effect, announced, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
In other words, they are dropping Turner Classic Movies from my subscription, and if I want it back, I must pay another $12 per month to subscribe to another tier of "service."
My company is Spectrum, but this obviously is not an uncommon event and many of you have already experienced this disappointment, or perhaps have never even been offered TCM as part of your package. I've enjoyed the channel for over twenty years, at least, and it has made a great difference in my life and in the writing of this blog. I'll miss it very much.
I do intend at some point to "cut the cord," as they say and find my way to cheaper, possibly better, service. But at present, that's not possible. I care for my older sister at home who has a number of serious medical issues and she is used to her own favorite channels (she watches far more TV than I do), and changing to a completely different setup would be too disruptive and confusing for her. I can live without TCM for a while; there are certainly other outlets to enjoy classic films, and like many of you, I have a number of favorites on DVD and VHS that I continue to enjoy.
But it is something of a milestone for me, that I cannot help but look upon with some wistful remembrance.
Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. and Movies in Our Time - Hollywood Mirrors and Mimics the Twentieth Century and Hollywood Fights Fascism. Her latest book is Christmas in Classic Films. TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.
4 comments:
I'm so sorry to read that you're not able to get TCM on your cable service any more, Jacqueline. I remember when they made that change here, through Comcast cable -- they looped TCM with a SPORTS PACKAGE, of all things. I paid the extra until the whole thing got to be just too ridiculous and I finally cut cable. What a racket. (It was so funny when I called to cancel, though -- they offered me everything but a shiny new Benz to get me to stay! It was so satisfying to just keep saying, "No. Thank you, though.")
Thanks, Karen. Hmm, I wonder when it's time for me to drop them, if they'll offer me a shiny new Benz?
I am so very sorry, Jacqueline! Spectrum did the same to us. What we did is drop cable entirely and subscribed to Spectrum's streaming service. We get fewer channels, but they are all ones we watch and one of them is TCM! An added bonus is we are no longer paying for channels we will NEVER watch (*cough* Fox News *cough*). Of course,I don't think that would be a solution for you, as I suspect your sister would find a change to streaming only confusing. Anyway, again, I am very sorry!
Thanks, Terence. I'll find my way back to TCM and somehow disentangle myself from cable someday. I can certainly do without Fox "news" as well.
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