TV in other countries

[Beleriphon]

Hello all,

I was wondering what you all watch on TV, and how many import TV shows you get at home. I'm personally from Canada so I tend to get a lot of American TV on most channels, with smatterings of British TV on the more expensive cable services as well a the CBC (that would Canadian Broadcast Corporation). Also for fun do you prefer home grown programming or international programming? You don't have to give a specific reason, but I'm curious.

In addition what do you use for your TV viewing, not so much the set itself, but rather do you just get a general signal and use rabbit ears (the set mounted antennae) or do you pay for your service like folks do in the US for cable. For me I can get all of 3 channels where I live without paying, but I do pay for digital cable, so I get 150 or so channels and a bunch of niffty extras like a built in guide that I can use to flip channels or create reminders about when a show starts.

One more name your favourite locally produced show, and your favourite import program. For residents of Canada its going to be hard to separate but I'd say that my favourite Canadian produced show is Puppets Who Kill, and my favourite import would be Myth Busters.

[Spit_Dog]

I'm from southern Ontario like you, Beleriphon, but being deep in the country with no cable and the satellite receiver down, I am relying on the antennae for reception.

We get about 15 channels, about 10 of them from local Canadian stations - - the remainder are Western NY affiliates of NBC, CBS, ABC, etc.

The vast majority of American programming that I've seen does not seem to interest me whatsoever, with the exception of PBS and a few individual shows that I've listed farther below.

The Canadian shows I enjoy are:


Trailer Park Boys (when I've seen it on cable)
This Hour has Twenty-Two Minutes
Corner Gas
HNIC (let the non-Canadians puzzle that one out ;) )

My favourite imports would have to be:

Jeopardy!
The Family Guy
NFL Football
Any and all Brit-coms

Cheers!

Edit: The first in each list is my favourite, in accordance with your request.

[LooseCannon]

I'm from Nova Scotia, so I guess this isn't about other countries yet. I watch a lot of Spike TV (Star Trek and CSI, anyone?), a lot of Space, and a lot of CBC for HNIC...currently following World Cup, too.

I'd have to say my favourite import? Tough call. I watch Python's Flying Circus on PBS every weekend, though.

[Beleriphon]

Actually Spit I'm more central Ontario, so I get the local CBC affiliate, a terribly signal from Global and TVO. I became addicated to children's programming at 1pm when I was out of work. Nothing beat watching an animated show about squeeking monkeys with no discernable plot or characters, that looked to be made in Mexico from the end credits.

[Tom_Violence]

That's a lot of questions. Lets see if I can pick through them.

I'm British, but for the last year up at university I've actually been without TV (too cheap to pay the licence :P), but wait, I still have a point! Right now I'm back at my parent's place for the summer and they do have TV. The terrestial channels mostly just show domestic programs, expect for the occasional American show that can't avoided, such as The Simpsons, Friends, CSI, etc.

Personally, I'm a comedy fan myself and for the most part I prefer the UK stuff over American shows. Things like Gervais's The Office and Extras crack me up pretty consistently, as well as Green Wing, Black Books, and even older stuff such as Blackadder. It might simply be that we don't get too many foreign shows but they don't really make up a big part of my viewing, though Family Guy, Futurama etc. are the obvious exceptions.

[waspsmakejam]

Another Brit.

We get mostly UK produced things, some US shows (but a lot at prime time), a smattering of Australian things, and very occassionally programmes from elsewhere.

Here in York we get 5 free terrestial channels. Plus York TV,which barely counts.

We've also got digital tele, I don't know how many channels that is but many of them are rubbish.

Personally I'll try any cop or detective show going, I don't care where its from! US shows are as likely to appeal as any other.

Sci-fi is another thing I'll try no matter where its from. But US sci-fi is generally way too serious for my tastes and doesn't engage my interest for long. Quantum Leap is the only one I'd buy on DVD.

I go out of my way to watch US-made fantasy shows, like Buffy, or (years ago) that thing with the lion headed blokey down the tube, or mini-series from the "Tenth Kingdom" people.

Australian drama mini-series are often superb, more like very long films, but I don't like their soaps.

My favourite UK produced show OF ALL TIME is Doctor Who. I am also addicted to a cop soap thing called "The Bill".

Currently my favourite imported show is a cop thriller series from France called Spiral (Engrenages). Very chic!

[Jack Squat]

hmm, first yank on here 8)

We get mostly homemade shows. We get a few british shows here and there, mostly on BBC America.

I can't say it's fair to say that I like my own countries shows better, since there isn't too much variety :-/

I really like Doctor Who, Stargate, Mythbusters, and stuff on History. You'd think I like Battlestar Galactica, but I never got into it. I also hate just about everything on our standard channels (Jerry Springer, the various Judge shows, etc).

[Pop Goes the Weasel]

Hello. My name is Pop, and I'm a TiVoholic.

Seriously, I barely watch live TV anymore at all. I follow several weekly shows, usually watching them the next morning. I really like Lost, Supernatural, Law & Order (as well as SVU & CI), Without a Trace, Family Guy, Futurama, American Dad, Two and a Half Men, and How I Met Your Motherr.

To fill the rest of my TV time, I record reruns of Will & Grace and Friends. I also watch whatever's on Comedy Central, especially if it's stand-up.

[bosssmiley]

UK - cable-box TV, which I actually watch very little. About a 1/3rd of our programming is import (US, Aussie and some Canadian), the rest domestic :-/

Fave home-grown TV: Top Gear (http://www.topgear.com/) (the BBC's weekly car show and about the only reason to pay the license fee). Gotta love a car show that reviews the handling of a new car by trying to get missile lock on it! ;D
Fave import show: CSI (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/) with the blessed St Gil (although Deadwood and Firefly are close seconds).

[InaVegt]

I'm dutch, we've got a lot of american and english programs, and a few german, dutch, belgian and french ones too. We pay for it, though I don't know exactly how much. My favourite dutch show is Testcase on discovery channel while my favourite international one is mythbusters on discovery channel

[Dispozition]

We in Australia actually get alot of homebrew stuff. A fair bit still comes from overseas, like America and U.K., but most of it is homemade. Kinda surprising really.

@V, yer, that community channel scares me sometimes... :-/

[Pagz]

Yer good ol' Australia

we get 5 channels, down in Melbourne we have a community channel as well (i dont know if other states do)

unless you have foxtel or "cable", then you have a lot more

[Pelziges_Ohr]

Mhhh... Greetings from germany.
I hardly watch any tv. In the next days I'll watch some football games from the world championship. Normally I watch tv while I'm eating dinner or when something really interesting is on the tv, like a great movie.
In our flat we get analogical tv by satellite. This means a lot of programs... that you don't need :P
I think most people watch in Germany Pro7&RTL2 which are private broadcast stations.
I'm not sure which station is the most famous among the public broadcast stations, but I think its ARD with their famous "Tagesschau".
Before we moved we got cable analogical tv. You have to pay for it, you receive public&private broadcasts, but you don't have all these crappy programs that you don't need if you got tv by satellite.
My grandma has got digital tv via DVB-T. With DVB-T you have access to a few public broadcasts, but you cannot watch private broadcasts, unless you pay for them.

Anyway, I prefer my computer.

[The_Librarian]

^Ditto, I spend way more time playing on the 'net than I do watching TV.

I'm a Brit, and currently addicted to a daily show involving candid cameras and a great deal of analysis of the day's footage.
Not Big Brother, Springwatch :D (For those who don't know, it's hosted by a British comedian called Bill Oddie and is all about watching wildlife)
Other than that, I watch the Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle, Firefly (just discovered it and loving it), and my local news (am amused that the UXB under our city turned out to be a lump of concrete).

[Beleriphon]

Interesting. Our British friends keep talking about a the licence. What is this? You have to have a licence to watch TV? Or is it more like some kind of extra tax on purchase or on invoices for service providers.

[Tom_Violence]

The laws on the 'licence' are a strange thing, to say the least. Everytime I speak to someone about it, including offical people, the story seems to change. In its most basic form though, if you have a TV in your house and you use it to watch programs (not just DVDs etc.) then you have to pay for a licence, otherwise they give you a big ugly fine. The licence costs about £130 ish, I think, and god only knows what horrible amount the fines are.

[anphorus]

As far as I know the license fee is used entirely to fund the BBC (which is why it doesn't have any advertisments). It can become a hot issue for debate sometimes, usually when it goes up.

[waspsmakejam]

The license fee isn't weird, unless you're North American.

There are lots of countries that follow the UK pattern - a public service broadcaster funded by an hypothecated tax in the form of a license fee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence has more details, also an interesting explanation as to why Canada and the USA don't have license fees.

[waspsmakejam]

... that thing with the lion headed blokey down the tube ...

I am reliably informed I meant "Beauty and The Beast".

[CaptainSam]

I am reliably informed I meant "Beauty and The Beast".


Starring Hellboy and Sarah Connor!

Gawd bless the digtal box! Now we can get a whole load more channels with nothing on! Except for BBC3 which has Doctor Who Confidential and Little Britain and The Smoking Room. But it also has Grownups, which is rubbish.

[Gary_Howard]

Japanese TV's nothing but shows of celebrities eating food.

UMAIIII~!!!!

Unless Bakuten's on. Or that show where celebrities watch badly dubbed Dateline episodes from the 80s, then HG puts a guy in a box and jumps on the box for a while.

In which case, FUUUUUU!!

[Beleriphon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence has more details, also an interesting explanation as to why Canada and the USA don't have license fees.

That about covers it for my end then. It doesn't make sense to charge people money to watch TV when the vast majority of TV stations are privately owned in Canada and the US. That being said the stations themselves are heavily charged for the rights to transmit. Good old free enterprise at work.

[Dispozition]

Japanese TV's nothing but shows of celebrities eating food.

UMAIIII~!!!!

Unless Bakuten's on. Or that show where celebrities watch badly dubbed Dateline episodes from the 80s, then HG puts a guy in a box and jumps on the box for a while.

In which case, FUUUUUU!!


Wow, I didn't think that the only thing on Japanese tv was really game shows. Looks like i was wrong.

Don't you have any other shows on? Ever?

[bosssmiley]

Everything I need to know about Japan I learned from watching "Takeshi's Castle". ;D

[Hallavast]

Heh, that whole licence thing wouldn't fly here in the U.S. ...

I usually watch a lot of cartoons... I also like Spike (ultimate fighting and star trek). I get mostly American channels, but I watch international-type things on them, like darts (I cannot grasp the concept that watching fat guys throw darts is so entertaining) It's kinda funny. I also watch the Olympics, of course (but I get bored if the U.S. isn't winning). I hate about 90% of all anime that I see...

As for sports, I watch the olympics, darts, UFC, NFL football, poker, and NBA basketball.

[Kishkumen]

A couple of BBC-produced shows I've seen have had subtitles when someone's talking in a Cockney or Scottish or Welsh accent. I'm assuming this is for American audiences who can't understand them (I can't, either).

Is this common in other countries? Does an American character with a thick Brooklyn or Southern accent get subtitles in other English-speaking countries?

I enjoy Bad Lads on BBC America and Jaimie's School Lunch Project on TLC (though produced by BBC, I think). Those shows and Supernanny often have subtitles when specific people speak.

[Gary_Howard]

Wow, I didn't think that the only thing on Japanese tv was really game shows. Looks like i was wrong.

Don't you have any other shows on? Ever?


Sure.. there are dramas featuring the latest middle-aged Korean housewives' heartthrob**, Bleach on Tuesdays at 7, Naruto on Wednesdays at 7.. Once I watched Legally Blonde - actually an interesting movie dubbed. Probably because you can't do a Valley Girl voice in Japanese. And there are usually some fairly good dramas right as you have to leave in the morning. The nice thing about Japan is that most dramas have a set end date - 13 or 26 episodes. If they really catch on, there are sequels, but it does at least mean that you don't get much "Jumping of the Shark" (as it were). And crap, do they ever love the news.

But mostly, it's celebrities eating food and gameshows centered around people trying to remember how to WRITE THEIR OWN GODDAMN LANGUAGE.

(And I just get the latest Doctor Who.)

I should mention that I'm in the States right now, but that I'll be heading back in about a month.

At least the NHK weathergirl is really cute.

Has anyone here lived in France recently? Is Big Dil still on? Do they still fail to edit out any outtakes, and does the host still put clothespins on his nose?

Edit: ** the heartthrobs are Korean. Not the housewives.

[Iroll20s]

hrm, being that I spend most of my time on my computer and my computer is in front of my tv... i watch a lotta tv :P

fav shows are Family Guy, House, Rove Live (aussie thing) and probably Boston Legal

unless you actually subscribe to Sky (Cable or Satellite service provider for TV) you dont get many channels which is QQable

[Tom_Violence]

Oddly enough, I'm actually very grateful that we do have the licence fee over here. Its so much nicer to have a few channels on which you know that if you sit down and watch a programme or a movie you'll be able to see the entire thing through without being bothered by a single advert.

[Beleriphon]

Oddly enough, I'm actually very grateful that we do have the licence fee over here. Its so much nicer to have a few channels on which you know that if you sit down and watch a programme or a movie you'll be able to see the entire thing through without being bothered by a single advert.


That is a bonus. Forunately for me I get a wonderful channel called TV Ontario (my previously mentioned TVO) that is a public broadcast station, is commercial free, and shows some of the best movies ever made. We're talking classics here. Otherwise I just suck up and watch the advertising, or flip channels when its on.

[Dispozition]

The only think i can complain about is the lack of good anime. Sure there's all that American cras like pokemon and dbz, but what I want is some good Japanese stuff. We only get 1 episode a week normally, and now because of the football, we don't get any. :'(

[Windwalker]

Yank here.

When I had cable, my favorite import was Top Gear. The race of new Ferrari vs Commerical Airliner from England to Eastern France (I think?) was great.

As for local, Spike TV (Star Trek, MXC) and the Discovery Channel (Mythbusters). Comedy Central for stand up and Cartoon Network for Adult Swim.