Why People Miss Cable TV [Nostalgia 101]
Recently, I was in a situation where I was surrounded by cable TV.
I landed in the Hilton Hotel of Atlanta.
For some reason, I really wanted to watch Interstellar sometime during the trip.
Maybe at night.
I looked through the channels and there was no way to get YouTube.
So, I called the hotel and asked if they had YouTube.
The gentleman told me no and added a joke:
‘Most of the limited movies available make the hotel money. Oh yea, we have cable too.’
The movies that they had were being sold for $19.99.
Good options, but not Interstellar-level.
Okay, let’s see what cable was like.
I went through the cable options, and nostalgia was in the air…
My Experience with Cable in 2023
After a long fruitful day in my Atlanta trip, I finally came back to my place.
My legs were sore, and I was ready to lie down and turn my mind off.
When I turned on the cable station, I saw something I hadn’t seen in a while.
- TV Guide.
There was a button on this hotel remote called ‘guide’ specifically for that.
When I clicked the button, I saw a bunch of different show options slowly scrolling by me.
Nostalgia was at a peak now.
The first show I chose was Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives with Guy Fieri.
After watching the show for a while, it was The Office.
Then Friends.
A lot of the times, the TV shows played in the background.
Despite not watching the shows in-depth, it felt good that the TV was telling me what I was going to watch.
The Paradox of Choice
One reason that cable feels good for 90s babies is because it is nostalgic.
When there was cable, there was a centralized culture.
In 2007, it was easy to predict what someone watched.
We had options, but not that many options.
Nowadays, it’s different.
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to predict what someone is watching.
When many 90s babies think of cable, they think of being surrounded by their close crew as they all watched the same content.
In addition to watching the same thing, they watched it at the same pace.
No binge-watching.
Another reason that cable hits differently is because of the paradox of choice.
Humans act like they want choices.
But having choices comes with the responsibility of thinking things through.
When we have too many choices, we overthink.
The reason I liked having the cable on during the Atlanta trip was because of FEWER choices.
There were only a few channels I could surf through.
While on YouTube, I could’ve watched anything that I wanted.
YouTube sounds like the better choice.
“Watch anything that I want? Sure, sign me up!!”
However, after a long day, I just want my mind to be off.
I don’t want to be thinking about what I should watch.
Because when I have too many choices, here’s what happens:
- As soon as I finally choose a YouTube video after 15 minutes of diligent scrolling, I get another idea on something to watch.
- Then I switched to the new show.
- And then I want to watch the initial thing again.
- Rinse and repeat.
Too many choices gives analysis paralysis.
Is Cable Ever Making a Comeback?
I’m not quite sure if cable as we knew it will ever come back.
But I do see a lot of people missing it more and more.
Due to more & more people missing it, I believe more streaming platforms will experiment with a feature that resembles cable TV.
I find it fascinating that the media world is matching the dating world.
In 2008, to find a partner, you had to go to a social event and break the ice with them.
Or hope that your friends and family would introduce you to someone.
But nowadays, there are tons of choices.
All you need to do is swipe left or right and it soon becomes a numbers game.
Many love the choices.
While others hate it.
They are getting analysis paralysis.
Due to analysis paralysis, many are willingly asking for an arranged marriage.
Heck, Netflix made a show called Indian Matchmaking.
Arranged marriages are making a comeback, yes.
But it’s not like the arranged marriages of the past.
Before, there was no dating.
It was just a literal arrangement with little wiggle room.
Nowadays, arranged marriages come with a matchmaker who allows the couples to date and see if they vibe with each other.
So, arranged marriages of the present have a twist from the arranged marriages of the past.
Today, there is dating, while before, there was no dating.
Just like arranged marriages came back with a twist, I see cable TV coming back with a twist.
The twist most likely will be a feature within the streaming apps that allow for an “old school” feature.
Peacock TV has something similar to this.
They have a section where I can click ‘TV’ and it gives me that old-school nostalgic feel with the TV guide.
The TV guide slowly scrolls down as it shows me the limited options that I have.
In this case, limited is great.
You’re Not Alone
It’s been estimated that the average person consumes 5-7 hours of media a day.
Ranging from radio, blogs, books, podcasts, tweets, etc.
5-7 hours is a long time.
So, it’s not strange to question our media preferences every now and then.
In the era of the most choices, I see more and more people asking the question:
‘Am I the only one who misses cable?’
Nope, you’re not the only one.
I too miss cable.
As do many people.
Not only was cable very nostalgic, but it also served value because it took charge.
It said what we were going to watch rather than giving us too many choices.
In the state of limited choices, we were able to turn our minds off and relax.
For more breakdowns into storytelling, be sure to check out the Art & Science of Storytelling
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– ArmaniTalks 
