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Over-the-Air TV Catches Second Wind. Are you using an antenna? (1 Viewer)

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Kevin Collins

I have been using an antenna to get HD content since 1997. I've used an antenna for a variety of reasons, being blocked from local stations on satellite, to not receiving certain local stations on any format other than OTA.

We reported on this at CEDIA 2011 by covering Richard Schneider from Antennas Direct.

A recent report in The Wall Street Journal states that many are moving to OTA because they are getting content online, via streaming services like Hulu and Netflix. Richard states that Antennas Direct sold 70,000 antennas in January and he expects to sell twice as many antennas this year as last year, which would amount to 1.2M. Walmart, Best Buy and Costco are now carrying some model of antenna from Antennas Direct. The article states that consumers save around $96 a month by "cutting the cord".

For those that are in areas that are challenged to get a signal a new company called Aereo is now selling an online service that will stream all local channels for $12 month.
 

Steve Tannehill

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I have two HDTV's but only one has a cable box. The other uses an OTA antenna. The cable box is a DVR, and I use it for cable and network programming. The OTA antenna was just fine when I watched the Superbowl, and will be just fine when I watch the Oscars. I have an Apple TV on this set, so I can pick up streaming programming, too.
I should take the time to route the OTA antenna to the TV with the cable box, for one more viewing option.
 

AndyMcKinney

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I've always used an outdoor antenna (with booster), despite whether I had anything else or not. I currently use the antenna for all my locals, and have Dish Network for "cable" channels and East/West out-of-town affiliates (via All American Direct).
I've never paid Dish for my local stations, especially as the ones on the antenna are free and have all the digital sub-channels you don't get on Dish (two of my local stations have added MeTV and AntennaTV to their digital sub-channels in recent months, for instance). Saw no reason to give them $6.00 a month for something I get for free already (I have the out-of-town East/West locals mainly to cover pre-emptions in my local market, and to sometimes resolve programming conflicts).
Also, having OTA locals is a nice "insurance policy" as they're not as prone to the weather as Dish channels are.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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When the local Fox affiliate got into a pissing match with FiOS over subscriber fees for the new carriage agreement, it was blacked out for three or four days. I grabbed an old VHF-UHF antenna sitting in the basement since the 1970s and got a perfect picture in crystal clear HD with no problems. ATSC broadcasts definitely changed what broadcast TV means.
 

Al.Anderson

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I've been strictly OTA for about 8 years now. I miss sports a bit, but it gives me an excuse to go to the local sports bars.
 

ManW_TheUncool

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Heh... I apparently didn't check well enough before posting this in the software section:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/326032-thoughts-on-aereo-for-streaming-local-broadcasts/

So anyone here get around to trying out Aereo? Sounds like they've changed their pricing into 2 tiers based on amount of in-the-cloud DVR service provided (and lowered the base price to $8/month).

I don't really need it for our household -- been fine enough w/ just OTA reception -- but my mother could use it, if it's reliable enough, since she's (over)paying Time Warner just for basic service (for local broadcasts). I just started the 1-month free trial, and it looks promising enough though no idea how good/reliable it'll actually be for replacing her basic cable service on a regular basis...

_Man_
 

Chris Gerhard

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I am interested in following Aereo and other similar business plans, just to see how well this works or doesn't work. First I can't really understand how it is a good thing to rely on internet bandwidth for something we can get with basic cable or an antenna on the roof. I cut the cord in 2009 and use TiVo with an antenna on the roof, along with Google TV and Roku as my cord cutting solution. Adding local channels from a cloud DVR to my internet bandwidth usage would likely bump me over the 250GB monthly limit so even if Aereo does expand and is offered locally, it would be a terrible choice for me.

The Boxee TV cloud DVR died a quick death as I expected. Local storage with a DVR just makes so much more sense to me, why rely on internet bandwidth for a service that is more efficiently and better provided by local storage? Over the long run the additional cost for using local storage can't be much and if using the cloud results in data usage charges, local storage might even be less expensive.

Will Aereo ultimately prevail through the court system, establishing it as being a legal service? I can't even answer that question.
 

jcroy

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Chris Gerhard said:
I am interested in following Aereo and other similar business plans, just to see how well this works or doesn't work. First I can't really understand how it is a good thing to rely on internet bandwidth for something we can get with basic cable or an antenna on the roof. I cut the cord in 2009 and use TiVo with an antenna on the roof, along with Google TV and Roku as my cord cutting solution. Adding local channels from a cloud DVR to my internet bandwidth usage would likely bump me over the 250GB monthly limit so even if Aereo does expand and is offered locally, it would be a terrible choice for me.
Will Aereo ultimately prevail through the court system, establishing it as being a legal service? I can't even answer that question.
(Unrelated to the services directly).

The main thing I like about services like Aereo, is that it is giving the middle finger to the entrenched incumbents and daring them to cross a red line. :lol:
 
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I really wanted to switch to an Antenna system. But the problem in my house is location. We live thirty miles outside Bakersfield. I can live with the fact that their local stations generally suck, but their signals are all very weak and unless you use an outdoor antenna, you only get one station really well, two if you fiddle with your rabbit ears every time you change channel. So I ended up with Dish, which I'm generally happy about.Why not install an outdoor antenna system? Well, I'm 60 and not in the best of health and my roof climbing days are over, along with doing anything much with tools thanks to some other issues. I attempted to find someone who would install one, but nobody seems to do that kind of anything anymore. I do believe if I was young and in good health, I would start such a business in a place like this. There are lots of small towns in worse shape than this one, and as cable prices keep going up for crap you mostly don't watch, streaming and over the air become more and more tempting.But my dish contract is up in April, so maybe I'll try again then.
 

schan1269

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Clyde's Place said:
I really wanted to switch to an Antenna system. But the problem in my house is location. We live thirty miles outside Bakersfield. I can live with the fact that their local stations generally suck, but their signals are all very weak and unless you use an outdoor antenna, you only get one station really well, two if you fiddle with your rabbit ears every time you change channel. So I ended up with Dish, which I'm generally happy about.Why not install an outdoor antenna system? Well, I'm 60 and not in the best of health and my roof climbing days are over, along with doing anything much with tools thanks to some other issues. I attempted to find someone who would install one, but nobody seems to do that kind of anything anymore. I do believe if I was young and in good health, I would start such a business in a place like this. There are lots of small towns in worse shape than this one, and as cable prices keep going up for crap you mostly don't watch, streaming and over the air become more and more tempting.But my dish contract is up in April, so maybe I'll try again then.
Every independent Directv installer is required, under the rules of Directv...to also install antennas.
 

Jerome Grate

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I use an indoor HD Antenna and I get 24 channels from it. I have DirecTV bu it does not have Me-TV nor does it have some of the sub-local channels that I like towatch sometimes.
 

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JoeDoakes said:
I got an antenna so I could get ME-TV.
I don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth but.......

Me-TV was added to our local lineup on Direct recently. Tons of good shows....all edited from what I've saw. I turned on The Beverly Hillbillies the other morning and in addition to sub-par picture quality (yes, I'm spoiled by the new release on DVD I guess) they were the same cut episodes TBS, WGN & TV Bland have ran for years.
 

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