Category: Music

Tonight I was dumbfounded when a friend asked me what was my favorite television program. It is not that I don’t watch TV; I do. But I don’t have a program that I would classify as my “favorite.” My television habit has severely curtailed in recent years. It is not that I don’t watch television, but it isn’t that important to me anymore.

I subscribe to DirecTV Now, an internet-streaming service. It costs $60 a month. They stream most of our local over-the-air channels, as well as the YES Network, SNY, MLB Network, MSG Networks, Fox News, USA Network, TNT, and a good assortment of entertainment networks (most of which I don’t watch). At $60, it is a much more comfortable cost to watch TV when compared to DirecTV’s (satellite) regular $130 a month charge. DirecTV Now doesn’t have a DVR, but with on demand, I guess I can say I don’t want to pay for a DVR.

Overall, I watch more sports than I do anything else. For instance, as I type this, the MLB Network is on showing the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. St. Louis Cardinals game. Right before, the New Jersey Devils’ game was on. And now as I type that previous sentence, that game is back on with the locals leading the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The last TV show I watched was NCIS: New Orleans (watched it on demand via the CBS All Access app). This morning, I watched parts of CBS 2 local news, Fox News’ morning program, including the last ten minutes of their 5 AM show, and some infomercial promoting the My Pillow Topper. At around 6:40 AM, I turned the TV off. And 14 hours later, I turned it on to watch the Devils, New York Rangers, Nashville Predators game in Washington DC against the Capitals, and baseball on the MLB Network.

I like dramas more than comedies. Documentaries score high on my list.

But a favorite show? I don’t have one. The last television show that I considered my favorite? 24 on Fox. Before that, The X-Files, also on Fox.

And I like to read, mostly mysteries and thrillers outside of religious-themed books. I like the Kindle more than the iPad to read, but actually holding books have come back into fashion with me. Listening to books is OK, but not great – listening to them makes me tired, especially religious-based books.

I like reading newspapers – on my iPad. The New York Post, the New York Times (the subscription is part of a deal that ends in May), the Wall Street Journal (also part of subscription deal) are part of my morning newspaper routine. The Bergen Record, our local newspapers, is delivered, but at $38 a month, it is very costly and is really not worth the monthly price.

I listen to the radio. Apple Music and iHeart Radio and Radio.com and Sirius XM, all streamed from my phone to Apple’s HomePod, though Apple Music’s integration is perfect with HomePod and the others is a little clunkier. I like the playlists on Apple Music and their “radio stations” have gotten extremely good recently. Favorite music genres? Country, Christian Contemporary, Chill (especially piano), and some modern pop.

And look at that – the Devils beat the Maple Leafs and are heading to the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Though a Rangers and Predators’ fan, I’m happy for the Devils.