Cartman as the Bounty Hunter

I had no clue who the hell he was supposed to be...I don't watch that stupid bounty hunter show on A&E.

On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 18:44:53 GMT, Nobody wrote:

Yeah. I didn't see the dog weesperer, but I could still understand the reference. Most shows are pretty predictable

I rehabilitate dogs, I train people. I am... the dog weesperer.

"Nobody" wrote in message news:[email]...

I had no idea either, but after getting a rough idea from some posts here and a quick search, I found out that it's on pay TV here in Australia. I was going to have a look at it, expecting the worst, but I forgot. If any Aussies want to have a peek, it's on Fox 8 on Friday at 8:30pm. I may or may not be joining you.

On the subject of pay TV, we have 3 pay TV companies here in Oz (excluding obscure resellers): Foxtel, Optus Vision and Austar. They all broadcast identical content at identical times, the only exception being that they each have their own weather channel. In fact, Austar only has a weather channel. They all broadcast Foxtel and Optus content, seemingly providing no competition in the programming department whatsoever. There's a pool of channels, and they all show all of them.

Is Australia the only place where they pool everything into one big bucket and let everyone sell the same thing? It makes sense not having to duplicate everything but I'm used to different companies providing a different product. For instance, GM and Ford don't have a pool of cars and just stick a badge on them as they pass by on their way out of the showroom.

On the flipside, I suppose it's good not missing out on something because I went with one and not the other.

Anyway, does the US have different content from different providers? I can understand that there may be a pool of channels, but I'd also expect each provider to broadcast their own exclusive content as well (other than their own weather channel). Can anyone fill me in?

"Wog George" wrote in message news:Dmi%g.52099$[email]...

I don't watch it regularly, but from what I've seen of it there are far worse reality tv shows on American television than Dog the Bounty Hunter.

There is little exclusive content provided between different cable and satellite providers, even if some cable providers (like Time Warner Cable) have a sister company in the television industry. The DISH Network satellite provider has a few obscure channels which seem to air on their service almost exclusively, but I don't believe the DISH Network plays any role in producing these channels. What you describe in Australia is pretty much the norm here in the U.S. as well. Programming providers that don't provide all the major cable channels just aren't going to be competitive. The differences usually are in the less er channels, and there are a fuckton of minor cable channels available in the U.S. Literally in the hundreds (although a large portion would just be different regional sports networks and assorted premium movie channels with thoroughly redundant programming; there are like twelve different HBO channels, for instance).

What's more, while you can get service from either of the two major satellite providers anywhere that you can point a satellite dish to the south-southeast, in any given area, there is usually only one or _maybe_ two cable providers. I'm not sure how that works but I believe it may be that cable providers will get an exclusive contract within a county or city to provide their service. They still have to compete with satellite providers Direct TV and DISH Network, and if they also provide internet service they usually have to compete with other ISPs, and also these companies would have to compete with each other to get a contract with the county in the first place, so they generally have to live up to a certain standard when it comes to their programming, but usually the consumer will not have a choice when it comes to what provider to use for terrestial cable.

I hope that made sense.

"Bean Fried Pork" wrote in message news:4Vi0h.361385$[email]...

Perfect sense. Thanks.

Your affection for cheese has been noted as well.

"Wog�George" wrote in news:Dmi%g.52099 $[email]:

The U.S. has about 10 or 20 times as many people as Australia.

Your 2nd statement belies your 1st. I don't watch Dog either, but I surely knew who the hell Cartman was parodying.