DJariya

I know not everyone here has cable or can afford to pay for additonal premium channels. But for those who do, which ones do you think are worth the money?

Currently I have all of these premium channels, but year round, I think HBO and Showtime are probably worth the monthly fees. Although Showtime is a little weak during the summer with only Weeds and Episodes.

Not counting the movies, Here's some of the most notable current content airing right now.


HBO: Game of Thrones, Veep, Girls, True Blood, HBO Sports, HBO Go, Boardwalk Empire, Treme, HBO Original Movies, Documentaries, Boxing, Newsroom (coming soon)

Starz: Boss, Spartacus, Magic City

Cinemax: Strike Back, The Transporter (coming soon), Banshee (coming soon), Hunted (coming soon) Femme Fatales, Cinemax After Dark Movies and Series

Showtime: Dexter, Homeland, Californication, House of Lies, The Borgias, Shameless, Nurse Jackie, The Big C, Episodes, Weeds

Multiple choices are allowed.

superdeluxe

Showtime and hbo are worth it. I notice that Cinemax and starz has better movie options, but sho and hbo have better original programming

davidh777

My cable bill is already too high even though I'd love to get HBO. That's the channel I buy most on physical media, plus occasional Starz or Showtime purchases.

My Other Self

Cinemax if I went soley based off of movie. HBO for original programming.

DJariya

Cinemax has only recently branched out into original shows with Strike Back and now The Transporter coming soon. Honestly, I should have cancelled Cinemax after the 1st season of Strike Back ended and just waited until it premiered in August to re-join to save a few bucks per month. I do watch it every now and then for a few movies and I check out Maxgo.com. But, the new season starts in about 2 months and then The Transporter is expected to start shortly afterwards, so I'll hang on to it for awhile.

Deftones

HBO and Showtime most definitely. Cinemax is now getting there, with Strike Back and all the new shows coming soon. I don't watch anything on Starz, so I don't care about that channel. I'd get rid of it, but since I have the highest package on DirecTV it sort of tags along for the ride.

PopcornTreeCt

HBO most def.

dolphinboy

HBO by a lot and even thought I do like Dexter, Homeland alone vaulted Showtime way up in my opinion. Not close to HBO, but as high of a bump as you can get from one program, Showtime got that from Homeland.

Red Dog

I rotate through them (frequently getting 2 for 1 deals) so it depends on the time of year. I don't think they are worth having year-round.

Frankly, HBO doesn't offer much for me anymore -- Boardwalk Empire is the only show they have now where I would go out of my way to order the channel.

Goat3001

HBO is worth it year round. There is always something worth tuning in to.

I like to cancel Showtime after Shameless and Californication are done and start it back up again when Dexter and Homeland return. This time though Time Warner had a deal going where I could get Showtime for a year for $5 a month. Figured I might as well keep it year round for that price.

Geofferson

In recent months, I've kept HBO, SHO and Starz in my lineup. I've had HBO and SHO for a while and only recently kept Starz since they've upped their original programming game.

DJariya

Okay Rockmjd23 (I know you never comment in this forum)....But, I would apprecicate a little insight why you feel that way (if your being serious)?

Have you even attempted to watch any of them? I thew that option there on the Poll, but I didn't think anyone would actually click on it.

Who the hell doesn't like at least a couple shows or miniseries that HBO produces old or new? Band of Brothers, Deadwood, The Sopranos? Boardwalk Empire?

Better yet, Homeland on Showtime was probably the best new show this past season on all networks.

Cardsfan111

I don't watch many cable shows--if I hear rave reviews, I might check some out on DVD. For movies, I'm not sure it's worth it to pay the monthly rate. There are enough free weekend previews, times when I'll record 20+ films and then watch over a period of weeks and months, that are enough for me.

Eddie W

HBO & Showtime are definitely worth it just for the original series. Movies are just time filler at this point.

I wish there was a package though just to group all the premiums together as one package and bypass the basic package. It irritates me to no end to have to pay $65 for a basic package full of commerical infested dreck just to get to the premiums.

barelypure

With the wife home 24/7 I'm pretty much stuck with subscribing to everything. I only recently got her to agree to drop Cinemax but I had to have her keep track of the channels she watched to show her that she didn't watch anything on it.
And, yeah I'll miss Strike Back. Transporter, is it supposed to be good as the Transporter movies were mostly crap, IMO.

islandclaws

HBO

I could live without the rest no problem.

leacha

I hate movies that are not shown in OAR. So I think none of the channels are worth it.

WallyOPD

Is this a serious question? On DVDTalk?

DJariya

Oh shit!!! I thought he meant over the air...my bad!! I'll delete my OP.

Mike86

HBO is my favorite by far. Boardwalk Empire, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Game of Thrones, Life's Too Short, The Ricky Gervais Show, and Real Time with Bill Maher are my favorites currently. Not to mention all the classic shows they've aired in the past.

Showtime is okay but I don't like it quite as much. Dexter is the best thing they've got going for me. I've heard Homeland is good but haven't bothered watching it yet. Shameless looks okay too but I've only seen an odd episode here and there.

Dragon Tattoo

Starz is the only channel that seems to get good movies, anymore, other than Cinemax.

I'd get rid of HBO and Showtime altogether were it not for their original shows. I guess since they have great shows now they don't feel the need to air any decent movies anymore.

fujishig

HBO is the only one I currently subscribe to, and did so just recently because of Game of Thrones. However, HBO Go is impressive enough, and streams well enough from the 360, that I rarely watch the actual channels. I could see just subscribing for a few months out of the year and catching up via Go (once I catch up to all the stuff they currently have on there that I missed previously).

When they had the Cinemax free weekend on DirecTV, it seemed like most of the movies were ones that HBO showed in the previous month.

coli

I don't even watch movies on HBO, Showtime, Cinemax or Starz so their Original Shows are what make me keep them every month:

HBO is always worth it from The Sopranos to Entourage to Curb Your Enthusiasm and now they have me locked up for years with Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones. Plus Real Sports (every month) and their Sport's Documentaries (2-3 a year) are always great.

I have never been a huge fan of Showtime Original Programming but Homeland is a great show, so I will keep this channel through its run.

I don't believe Cinemax has any original programming, and I have never watched any show on Starz either.

candyrocket786

I would pay for HBO and only HBO

This guy has the right idea.

http://www.reelseo.com/hbo-cost-cabl...-hbo-responds/

madcougar

I like some of the stuff on HBO, but I'm not paying for HBO. Not nearly enough bang for the buck for me.