One has to wonder if one lived overseas, is there a channel you would pay $15/month to see?
I got to thinking, if I were to move out of the US what channel would represent the US... Well I am stumped... I do not think that there is or ever was a representative channel.
I guess if you grow up in these countries with one TV channel for 30 years then move you kinda miss the old single choice.
Several of the foreign channels are government owned and are definately price gouged to bring in income for the government, some of the channels inflate their prices for the US market, and then there are also US Government fees to import some programming.
Some of the basic US cable channels (Hallmark, Discovery, CNBC, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, CNN, and ESPN) are available globally or have "localized" versions (IE: CNBC Asia) and are either FTA or are a very small fee compared to E* prices. Most DBS and Cable Companies carry them in an English package along with British and Australian channels for about the same price E* charges for 1 channel. There is also WorldNet which is FTA, owned by the US Government and has programs from PBS and A&E.
A friend of mine in Palau gets Hallmark(Pacific), Discovery(Asia), CNBC(Asia), MTV(Asia), VH1, Nickelodeon(Pacific), CNN-Int, ESPN, CNN/FN, Fox News, BBC World, ABC (Australian Broadcasting), ABC NBC CBS FOX (all tape delayed), TBN, EWTN-World, and 10 Asian channels and 5 other foreign language channels on their basic cable. They pay $25/mo. They could also get HBO, Showtime, Cinimax, and some foreign movie channels if they wanted.
If your lucky enough to work for the US Government, the Armed Forces, or the Peace Corp you can fet the AFRTS satellite service for free which has Spectrum (Movies), AFRTS-Sports, AFRTS-News, Prime (selected programs from ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, & A&E).
