RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — Living overseas has lost some of its luster for some people who have found they can’t log on to the Web to catch their favorite American TV shows.
Many would-be Web viewers are greeted with a message that indicates the program is not available in their area.
The Federal Communications Commission doesn’t regulate what people can watch on the Internet. But, according to officials with U.S. Army Europe’s 5th Signal Command, American TV networks don’t have distribution licensing agreements to show their programs over the Web outside the States.
Officials with the site Hulu.com said their programs on the Web, such as "Saturday Night Live," "Chuck" and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," are already available on some U.S. military bases overseas.
"We continue to work with content owners to make Hulu’s growing content available to all servicemembers, dependents and American civilians living abroad," Hulu spokesman Brandon Boone said via e-mail. "To accomplish this goal, it requires clearing the rights for each show or film in each specific geographic region, which will take time."
Boone said content providers to Hulu are already working to make their shows available over the Internet to a global audience.
Officials from ABC, NBC and CBS did not respond to requests for comment.
To satisfy their TV fix, some people have stayed tuned in by turning to other technologies while others sit tight until their favorite programs hit the DVD stores.
Tara-Rachelle Gurley, who moved to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, a few months ago, said not being able to click on and watch her favorite show — the hit "Lost" on ABC — was disappointing. She just became a fan of the program about airplane crash survivors stranded on a mysterious island before she left the States.
"I miss it because I was just getting to the end of the fourth season," Gurley said. "It didn’t really bother me that I can’t get ‘The Office.’ It helps me not sit at home."
Gurley said she marked the DVD release date for "Lost" on her calendar in December. But even the shows broadcast on American Forces Network need to be watched when they come out on DVD because the station is behind in the series it broadcasts and the episodes aren’t in order, she said.
Dianna Rait and her husband, Senior Airman Christopher Rait, have turned to Apple’s iTunes to download some of their favorite programs. But that costs money and the family can’t download some of their favorite shows from The Learning Channel, Dianna said.
"We are big TLC people," Dianna said. "I think we should have the [same] rights as everybody in the States (to watch American shows)."
After nearly two years of being based overseas, Tech Sgt. Brad Littlefield found a solution to his TV watching woes — Slingbox. The device beams cable TV over the net from his parents’ home in the States.
"I was kind of upset and angry," Littlefield said about being blacked out from American programming.
Littlefield said the solution to any broadcasting laws that prevents Americans stationed at U.S. Bases abroad from seeing their favorite shows should be to give them a password to identify them as U.S. citizens.
E-mail Mark Abramson at:abramsonm@estripes.osd.mil
Gas prices for most of Europe decline again
Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Saturday, October 24, 2008
For the second straight week, drivers in Europe can expect to see a massive drop in gasoline prices.
Regular unleaded is set to fall by 23.7 cents a gallon in Germany on Saturday, according to an Army and Air Force Exchange Service release. A gallon of regular will cost $3.12.
Added to last week’s 33-cent drop, that’s a savings of close to 59 cents per gallon for regular unleaded in the last two weeks.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday the national average for regular is just under $2.86, continuing the downward price trend. The $2.86 price is 31 percent, or $1.25, less than the mid-July high per gallon.
AAFES bases its prices on the weekly U.S. Department of Energy average, adding some 20 cents a gallon to provide the fuel overseas.
Also seeing huge drops from mid-July are barrels of crude oil, which were trading at less than $67 on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported. In mid-July, one barrel cost more than $147. Prices have dropped 55 percent and are at 16-month lows.
The 23.7-cent drop for regular unleaded is only available to AAFES customers in Germany. Mid-grade in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom will see a drop of 24.3 cents.
Prices in the Azores and Turkey will remain unchanged for all grades, the AAFES release stated.
