Et tu, History Channel?

            I don’t watch much television. I really don’t. When I drove semi for 10 years, I got more into listening to talk radio. Watching television is what truckers who had “nothing better to do” did. I always had something to do, somewhere to go. I got out of the habit of watching television and to this day, I really don’t miss it. However, there is one channel who has shows that I can become addicted to, and it’s the History Channel.

            I used to purchase cable, mainly for the kids. It became too expensive and I shut it off. There were too many garbage channels to be paying that kind of price. The History Channel was showing their videos online, and with my high speed connection, it worked well for me. For the past several years, I get all my television enjoyment from watching a couple of shows over on the History Channel website. That is – until recently.

            I also used to watch Deadliest Catch on Discovery.  They don’t show their videos online, so I have lost touch with the show. I don’t miss it. Will you find me buying their merchandise? Why would I? I have no connection to the show now. However, I have stayed in touch with the shows on the History Channel, and I would purchase a “Choot ‘Em” sticker for my pickup if I ever came across one. (I like Troy Landry!) I have noticed that starting this spring, History is putting everything of theirs behind a quasi-paywall. If you don’t have a cable provider, you’re out of luck. I guess it wasn’t good enough that I sat through all of their commercials while I watched the shows. I can’t tell you how many times I watched Eddie Money sing, “I’ve got – two tickets to paradise!” in his fictional travel agency. It seemed to be one of the more popular commercials shown on the History Channel.

            This has disappointed me a lot. I cannot lie. However, I got weaned off of Deadliest Catch, I’ll wean myself off of the History Channel shows as well. I mean this with true sincerity. I thought the History Channel was better than this. Maybe they faced pressure from the cable companies who said, “Hey – by you guys showing your content to anyone – we can’t make money here!”?

            If History ever reverses itself, I may come back – that is – unless I get to the point where I don’t care anymore. It’s quite human to learn to live without something after awhile. It’s also quite human to know when someone is jerking your chain – and not wanting to go back to them after that.