TV abroad for expats

When you live abroad you may want to watch TV in your free moments. Going out in Moscow (depending on what you want to do), can be very expensive . If you have kids, you will be stuck at home most nights. In my country, we have the main channels which are the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and a host of others.

We used to have just three channels back in the distant 1970's but now we have many more. It's almost like the US where 90% of the channels are crap but at least we now have a choice of crap. Reality shows, talent shows, shopping shows, game shows, celebrity reality shows, life style shows and others of a similar vogue and quality.

In Moscow, we chose a TV package called Kosmos (see link) There are others available. We pay 600 Rubles per month for a basic TV package. The main things we watch are Nickelodeon (see link) as it has some harmless shows for little kids such as 'Sponge bob Square Pants' and others like 'Dora The Explorer'. These shows are educational for small kids and teaches them colours, counting and are interactive. We also have BBC World. I only watch BBC World for the news and for the travel shows.

In Moscow, we have BBC World, CNN and RT. I do not want to offend any Americans and I openly admit that many British TV shows and British presenters are highly annoying and bad but I cannot stand to watch CNN or RT due to the 'Americaness' (Not a real word but my word, meaning American in style). However, I do not just target Americans as annoying in their language and TV style. On CNN, there is a British presenter called Richard Quest (see link). He has the kind of movie English accent that I think many Americans like and that they actually believe to be 'typical' English. He is their Dick Van Dyke (see link) although Richard Quest is a real and genuine Englishman rather than a Dick Van D, (although he is a dick). He sounds nasal and very annoying, he wears elastic braces on his trousers and stripped shirts with cuff links.

I think the producers at CNN, saw him as a typical 'limy', clapped their hands together and said to their PA's 'hire him darling'. There is also Becky Anderson, (See link) another Brit. She looks slightly masculine and reads the news in a tone as if she really couldn't give a shit and would rather be at the hairdressers. She reads about natural disasters with a cold neutrality, then smiles as she links to the weather man. As for the American presenters, they sound so annoying that CNN is unwatchable for me. They speak as if they have come from a cliche example of a fake news channel, from a bad American movie.

Then in Moscow we have RT (See link) Russia Today. They have a mixture of nationalities presenting and reporting. Russian, American and British. One female British reporter, cannot pronounce Russian cities or names correctly and she has the look of not caring either, much to annoyance of her British anchor colleague back in the studio who can pronounce Russian correctly and who clearly practices before the show goes on air. While at the other extreme on RT, there are a few Russian presenters who sound more American than the worst American actor on a fake news channel, on a cheesy American movie! They pronounce Moscow making the ending of the word (cow) to sound like the animal and say things such as, ten after nine, instead of nine ten or ten past nine. They use the word 'fall' which I think is Autumn? I don't know what they sound like this? Maybe it's becuase they lived in America or have had coaching to sound like that or think it's cool?

Despite these annoyances and my criticism, RT is generally a good news channel but it all depends on what presenters and reporters are on duty and on the day or time you watch it. I am sure RT and CNN are loved by many but not by this guy. I am not saying American English is better than British English but the two are different. Russians should not try to sound American.

I download a lot of movies and TV shows for free. I know I shouldn't do it but I just follow the crowd since everyone is doing it these days. You can also easily (and without the threat of arrest), buy copied pirate movies at many of the markets in Moscow. The sound quality is not always good but you can see many of the latest movies for about 2.50 euros. I also subscribe to a TV package that shows British TV channels. This service offers many proxy server IP addresses (Internet provider).You just log on, select a proxy and can watch any show via streaming, directly to your home computer.

When you live away from your country, it's important for your sanity to have the option to watch shows from your home country to maintain a common link to you your homeland. It makes being abroad less isolating and is an escape from the reality of being abroad, vital in a place like Moscow.

Note. I like Americans but my rant here is aimed at American news channels (and American style news channels) and non Americans trying to sound American.