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Kill your TV

2012-01-06 · review / recommendation · Hank · 3:37 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: Everyday life, Pop culture) · mode: Advice & reviews · tags: self promotion

Formerly titled Death To Cable!.

Hank, back in front of cable TV after ten years, rants about slow channels, ad-filled guides, NBC at 712 and ad-heavy paid cable, argues online video and Netflix are better value with far fewer ads, and urges everyone to cancel cable.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting via ones and zeros; why are we still doing television; last had cable in 2002

  • ★★★ Hank says that in an age when video reaches us instantly anywhere as ones and zeros through copper and glass, the obvious question is why we still do television at all. — 00:00:11
  • ★★ Hank recently sat down in front of a television; he last had cable at home in 2002, so ten years of changes hit him at once, and it 'freaking sucks'. — 00:00:16

00:00:27 — Cable annoyances: five-second channel gap, ad-filled guide with unwatchable channels, NBC at 712, SD vs HD

  • ★★ Hank complains that channel flipping, once a joy of television, is no longer possible because of a five-second gap between pressing the button and the next channel. (playful) — 00:00:27
  • ★★ Hank says the cable guide is hard to reach on the monolithic remote, makes him scroll past one advertisement for every four channels, and lists channels he cannot watch. (playful) — 00:00:39
  • ★★ Hank objects that NBC sits at channel 712; a friend explains HD upgrades include both HD and SD NBC, and Hank asks why he would want the SD one. (playful) — 00:01:03

00:01:30 — Content: YouTube has crap too; Finding Bigfoot ads on Animal Planet

  • ★★ Hank won't dwell on TV content, since YouTube has crap too, but is frustrated by ads for Finding Bigfoot on Animal Planet, a channel meant to be about animals, not fake animals. (playful) — 00:01:30 · YouTube

00:01:52 — Value: 7 of 130 channels, $130 a month, $8 Netflix without ads, 36% ads and 4.5 years of ads in a lifetime

  • ★ Hank says that when he finally finds something to watch it is invariably in the wrong aspect ratio. (playful) — 00:01:52
  • ★★★ Hank says there is plenty of good television, but it is on about 7 of the 130 channels; four of those come free by antenna, so he pays $130 a month for three channels. — 00:01:56
  • ★★★ Hank contrasts cable with Netflix: for $8 he gets some of the best television ever and never watches an ad because he pays, whereas cable charges and still shows ads. — 00:02:11
  • ★★★ Hank says an average hour of television is about 36% advertisements if product placements are included. — 00:02:21
  • ★★★ Hank says the average American apparently watches five hours of television a day, so will spend 4.5 years of their life watching advertisements, by his own math. (hedged) — 00:02:27 · United States

00:02:37 — YouTube's pre-roll is 7 times less advertising; online video is better; cancel your cable

  • ★★★ Hank says a 15-second pre-roll on a four-minute YouTube video is seven times less advertising than on television. — 00:02:39 · YouTube, online advertising
    • a number in question (doubtful): "7 times less" — check against the recording
  • ★★★ Hank thinks online video is generally more engaging, more likely to be what you want, more convenient, a better interface, better for discovery and more rewarding. (hedged) — 00:02:47
  • ★★★ Hank, 'possibly the first' to say it, tells everyone to cancel their cable subscriptions, assuring them it will be okay. — 00:02:58

00:03:06 — Six videos a week on vlogbrothers, SciShow, Crash Course (Jan 25), plus HankGames and Truth or Fail; thanks to pioneering viewers; sign-off

  • ★★★ Hank says he and John offer at least six YouTube videos a week across vlogbrothers, SciShow and Crash Course (launching January 25), more than doubled with HankGames and Truth or Fail. — 00:03:06 · John Green, Vlogbrothers, SciShow, Crash Course, HankGames, YouTube
  • ★★ Hank thanks the world of online video and its 'pioneering viewers' for making the transition from TV not just possible but necessary. — 00:03:21
  • ★ Signing off, Hank says 'I will see you on Tuesday' sounds so weird, reflecting the new twice-weekly schedule. (playful) — 00:03:29 · John Green

In the description and comments

  • ★★ Hank calls cable television an industry not just ripe for, but in great need of, revolution — and supposes that is what he and John are doing with their online channels. — video description
  • ★ The dog at the end of the video is Sam, belonging to Hank's friends Heather and Dave, who own the TV; Sam had just had a bit of surgery but is doing fine. — video description

Humor (significant)

  • Complaining that a five-second gap now separates pressing the up button from the next channel, Hank stops mid-sentence and waits out a full five seconds. — 00:00:33

    “and when the next channel comes up.”

  • Hank discovers that NBC, which should be channel 4, 5 or 6, is at channel 712 in high definition. — 00:01:08

    “NBC is supposed to be, like, 4 or 5 or 6. It's NBC. Why is it 712?”

  • Hank protests that Animal Planet, meant to be about animals, advertises Finding Bigfoot about a fake animal, then corrects himself. — 00:01:43

    “insane people wandering around in forests are technically animals too.”

  • After praising ad-free paid Netflix, Hank imagines being told that cable is paid and still has ads. — 00:02:17

    “You have to pay for cable and you still get advertisements? Great.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Projects: Crash Course · HankGames · SciShow · Truth or Fail

Works: Finding Bigfoot

Organizations: Animal Planet · NBC · Netflix · YouTube

Concepts: online advertising

Places: United States

Only in the description or credits: Dave (friend, mentioned from 2012) · Heather (friend, mentioned from 2012) · Sam (dog)

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