The Fabulous Flea Market of Streaming Channels

As I’ve said before, when I am sketching, I like to have noise in the background which is sometimes music but it’s usually the TV tuned to something that doesn’t require my strict attention. Trashy television shows and B movies tend to fit the bill, but on the ordinary streaming channels that usually means a lengthy and laborious search. Looking for something that is tolerable even on the streaming stations I pay to use can eat up a lot of time.

There are a number of ad supported streaming channels, but the commercials are frequent and annoying. It would be all right if the advertisements were just trying to convince customers to buy a product or service, but they seem to be desperately foisting their wares as a lifestyle choice sort of like a modern but hackneyed variation of I’d like to buy the world a Coke. Selling sugar water is not enough! They feel as if they are trying to build a consensus rather than trying to separate consumers from their cash. This is the current normal. Don’t you want to be a part of this current normal? Either that or it’s painfully unfunny comic actors selling insurance. It’s not at all what I wanted.

Then I found what I wanted. More than what I wanted. With WatchYour.TV, I’ve hit the mother lode!

It is the flea market of streaming channels, and just like truly great flea markets, it’s full of unexpected treasures. It’s like cable television in that there are a bunch of channels beneath the umbrella of WatchYour.TV, but it’s a lunatic version of what used to be called pay television, and it’s free. It feels as if I am in the ’80s with a huge, possibly illegal satellite dish capturing oddball UHF stations from all over the country. I’ve watched old TV shows, movies, bowling tournaments, ancient talk shows, 50 year old boxing matches complete with commercials and cartoons I forgot existed. The graphics are terrible, but I can’t hold that against them. Being that flea markets, thrift shops and dollar stores are my speed, high quality graphics don’t really matter. I can’t tell what half of them are supposed to represent. I never know what I am getting. Clicking on one of these sub-channels is like a low stakes Russian Roulette with a happier ending. I click on the icon and see if what is playing is halfway interesting. Generally, it is.

It is ad supported, but unlike a lot of the streaming channels, they don’t beat the viewer to death with them. I’ve only noticed ads at the beginning and end of shows and they are usually for prefabricated metal sheds, security systems or online college degrees. It’s pretty painless.

There is an online guide that shows a grid of their programming. Check it out! You may see something that piques your interest. The channel is available for all of the various streaming boxes including the Roku.