About a week ago, I heard someone mention a TV program that sounded really interesting, and it was airing on some obscure channel called LinkTV that I had never heard of before. As it happens anyone who has satellite (either DirectTV or Dish) gets it, so I was able to tune in.
I first turn the thing on, and much to my surprise I see Amy Goodman and “Democracy Now”. Holy crap – that program is televised?? I have heard it on the radio, but I am not often in the car when it is on, so I don’t listen very often. But on LinkTV, it comes on at 6PM Eastern, so I no longer have to watch Fucker Carlson while waiting for Keith to come on.
I have watched quite a bit over the past week to get a sense what it is all about. For one thing, no commercials. Not one. Nada. Nothing. Entirely viewer supported – sort of along the model of how PBS used to be before they got bought out by major corporate donors. This does mean that instead of commercials they beg for money every so often – I do not yet know whether this is something they do all the time, or I just caught them in the middle of a pledge drive. It isn’t as annoying as on PBS though – a minor annoyance in my eyes.
They tend to have lots of documentaries. They had one on Valentines day describing the working conditions of the workers who grow the roses that we all buy. And then the working conditions of the workers who grow the cocoa that goes into the chocolate that we eat, and finally a program about blood diamonds. There have been numerous documentaries about global warming and the environment. And there are other news programs as well.
No mention of Anna-Nichole that I have seen so far. If you had only watched LinkTV, you probably wouldn’t even be aware that she was dead.
Anyways, I figured that since I had never heard of this, many of the rest of you never have either, so I would mention it, and let others check it out. On DirectTV it is channel 375, on Dish it is 9410. There are a handful of cable outfits that also carry it, but not many.
Update: Their website is www.linktv.org. And the pledging isn’t all the time.
And here is an interview with the station manager:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15904547.htm
