I'll open up with a few thoughts.

A few years ago I experimented with not using any DirecTV and seeing what I could find online. I thought I got maybe 60% there. News is no problem at all. CNN, FOX and all the broadcast networks are online all the time. I use my big screen TV as my computer monitor so pic quality is important to me. If the online video isn't up to the standards of a cable/sat picture then what's the point of having a good quality big screen any more?

But lately things are much better to the point that good YT vids are full hi def and look great and so do the online news shows.

The big problem is still live sports. Baseball, the NFL and NBA are all locked up and not available via live streaming for home games from what I can tell. If you're not with a big provider it's the radio or nothing.

Then I found out about Windows Media Center, and using a cable card along with an HD HomerumPrime 3 tuner box going through my computer. I dropped DirecTV, switched to Verizon (for their cable card) and saved about $30 a month. Not a lot but I had unlimited storage on my hard drives and no DVR to mess with or pay for.

Now I have Win 10, MS killed Media Center so I'm back with Verizon, (now Frontier) with the usual DVR set up.

Like everybody else I only watch a few shows but I'm paying for all the stuff I never use so "cutting the cord" is very appealing.

So, what's new in this area?

Bob

Great topic.

You already taught me new things, Bob. I think someone would have to be in a more urban area than I am to even have choices.

A month prior to the Olympics, NBC announced their affiliate stations were permitted to broadcast ALL of NBC's Olympic coverage on secondary channels. Concurrently, ChannelMaster reported a sales boost of 1200% for outside antennas to receive over-the-air (OTA) broadcasts so obviously many people want to watch sports for free.

In 2006 I spent about $200 for over the air antenna components and my wife and I assembled and erected the 30 feet high antenna system. During NFL football season I can watch OTA games in three markets (Carolina Panthers, Washington Redskins or Atlanta Falcons). Without using the rotor my system receives about 27 secondary channels; using the rotor that number rises to over 50.

My satellite provider, DISH, had a receiver that include space for an optional, built-in over-the-air tuner. The over-the-air channels are intermingled with the satellite channels so secondary channels can be selected as well as satellite channels. Unfortunately DISH's program listings do not include OTA secondary channels. DISH is having a contract dispute with Tribune Broadcasting so DISH is not rebroadcasting the FOX network affiliate. That dispute does not affect my ability to receive the station over-the-air.

Free over the air broadcasts is alive and well for those willing to invest in an antenna system. My experience is an antenna system is well worth the investment.

Unfortunately, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) appears to be intent on eliminating or minimizing over the air broadcasts. The frequency spectrum space for UHF channels 50 to 75 has been reallocated from broadcasters and is being sold by auction for other uses. The FCC has issued an advisary notice that it is evaluating reallocating the frequency spectrum space allocated for channels 36 to 50.

Yes wonderful topic Bob.

I was paying 185.00 for internet and TV we rarely watched. We cut everything but internet, which saved us 100.00 per month. We went to Apple TV (it was a Christmas gift)then subscribed to Netflix and Hula both run around 30.00 combined, added a 30.00 indoor antenna for local channels/news with no monthly cost so combined savings is around 850.00 per year.

I have also learned a lot from your post Bob.

Thanks again,

PS: I found I now watch shows I never new existed i.e. many of the music documentaries on Netflix and Hulu.

Yes, there is a lot of cool stuff online. I find myself watching YT more than anything else right now.

BUT...for me I'm a big Lakers fan and now that my original hometown team, the LA Rams are back in town I'll be watching them too. Live local games are blacked out from any free services whether it's OTA or online. That's how the big sat/cable companies are fighting the cord cutters. I have heard a few rumblings that may change but I'm guessing if it does, the cost of local game packages will be pretty high.

Bob

I'm not saying I know of any current operational sites (but I DO know they exist) but fans of team X do watch a game(s) together virtually.
One member has cable/dish and he shares the link to his slingbox or web server or whatever. If he gets cut off another member sends a new secure link.
All the while everyone can chat online during the game ("can u believe that call?? We got robbed").

If you search you can find them. I ain't interpreting the law here, just sayin'; it's not THAT hard to see the games online if you are determined to .. I had to travel during a couple games. Good luck finding a Lions game on TV when you are in Packers/Bears area .. unless they are playing each other, even then the commentary stinks.
<grin>

FOOTBALL!! That's what keeps me on the wire....



A lot of bitter folks still coping in St. Louis on that one..... Luckily I'm a Dallas fan.





I grew up in NW IL, complete 50-50 Bears/Packers fan base. Yucccckk.

Oh, boo hoo, they can cry me a river. Those lucky $**&%@! got the Rams best years in decades.

Bob

A Dallas fan, sorry . . . I will keep you in my prayers, LOL!

Laster,

Awesome! You had Dickerson though....





Yeah, Romo down for the count again, broken bone in his back. It's the new rookie Dak show now.....

Here's something that's interesting for sports fan cord cutters:

http://www.cutcabletoday.com/sports/nba/lakers/

I specifically searched for the Lakers but it sounds like all the other NBA teams are part of this too. Not 100% of the way there but it's closer than I thought.

I'll see what I can find for football.

I don't have to be able to watch every single game plus I go to friends houses and sports bars too. If I can get a decent percentage for 20 bucks a month plus a few other subs I just might be there.

Bob

Thanks Bob!

I end up going to local sports bars for some Cowboys games since they are not on STL TV very much.

This may be a good alternative.

On their main page you will find all of the sports that you can watch:

http://www.cutcabletoday.com/sports/

Unfortunately for me my Buffalo Sabres (NHL) are not listed

Thanx Bob for bringing this to our attention.

There's a similar thread to this on Keyboard Corner and several guys have tried Sling with completely different experiences. A few said it was good while a few more say it was almost useless. Depends on your internet service I guess. One potentially big deal is one guy said his problem was "Inability to record and a terrible user interface". Lots of things we take for granted with our TV viewing have to considered here.

One thing for sure I learned from my few years with Windows Media Center, you have to be a bit of a nerd to work with stuff like this. Willing to accept tech challenges and work through them. Once I went to Win 10 and lost WMC, I admit I felt some relief at the dead simple reliability of my Verizon (now Frontier) STB. But the cost still really bugs me...

The quest continues.

Bob.

Hey Bob, after researching Sling from my side on Dallas Cowboys football, I found that I cannot view their games from St. Louis. Fox has regional networks for its sports and Cowboys are part of Fox Sports South or South West. I'm in Fox Sports Midwest. As a result looks like that option is out. Looks like I'll be at the sports bar this coming Sunday.

Yeah, and speaking of football I was excited to see the first LA Rams game in 20 years and they stunk up the place losing 28 to ZERO on Monday night. ZERO!? Couldn't even manage a field goal? There's always next week...

Bob

Cord-cutting is a bit of a taboo topic for me since I used to work at one of Canada's top telco companies. I always got a bit weary in the meetings when they said prices were going up up up, so I understand people's dismay with TV.

That being said, TV has its usefulness in some regards (live events, etc).

Canada's a bit limited in our cord-cutting options since Netflix's content is a bit lacking (they just cracked down on people using VPNs), and Shomi is now out of the picture. Unauthorized streaming hasn't been made illegal here yet, but you can bet something's going to happen there pretty soon.

I hope Google will negotiate to have an on-demand service for YouTube soon. If anyone has the infrastructure for it, they do.

I still keep reading articles about this but nothing that gets my heart started yet. The holy grail of cord cutting is to have the companies drop the gazillion channel bundles and just sell us whatever we want ala carte. Everything I read about that business says they would go out of business if they did that but that's only because the network broadcasters charge them so much.

Everybody knows that all of us DVR everything and skip through commercials yet the networks still charge huge money for ads on their shows. It's a dirty little secret in that business that nobody talks about. They're all tiptoeing past the graveyard. Because of that they can charge the sat/cable companies big bucks to carry all that content which forces them to force us to eat these huge bundles of channels we never watch. Eventually all that is going to collapse and a whole new model emerges. Maybe.

At least the Rams made a big comeback from that first game...

Bob

In Canada, the CRTC (Canada's FCC) has called for change in the Canada cable industry.

In March of this year, it was determined that cable companies had to have a "skinny basic" package ($25 limited TV option) and smaller bundles (more choice for the customers. More choice unfortunately causes more confusion though).

By December of this year in Canada, cable companies must have a plan in place to sell channels à la carte. The problem with this method though is that yes, you can order the channels you want separately, but how much will it cost? More choice doesn't necessarily mean cheaper bill. Do you need to have a minimum of the $25 package? Will equipment be free like it was before (Probably not)? Etc. There's a lot of factors that go into it.

Shaw, for instance, did not allow you to get sports channels on that $25 skinny basic package except for one package that did not have the two sports channels that people absolutely wanted.

The long story short is that à la carte is coming but I personally don't think it's going to fix anything, and will probably just cause more issues.

Live sports is the big anchor that most of us can't let go of. I lived in Calgary for 12 years and I became a hockey fan fast. Unfortunately for the Flames this was when Gretsky was earning that statue in Edmonton...

I would go for a basic, basic package plus sports but like you I doubt that's gonna happen or if it did it would be as costly as the full boat packages are now.

Bob

I think the best way to lower prices is to have other cable companies compete for your dollar. Were we live we can only have one cable company, Time Warner or whatever it is called now. Our government should break up these large cable monopolies and allow competition. Dish and Satellite TV are not equal competition here as snow and rain will mess up the signal.

I agree that competition is good. We have a couple Telcos here in Canada that are competing for your hard earned money, but the problem is they're also undermining their loyal customers. They will bend over backwards for new customers, and will try to show loyalty to customers who have been with them for a long time, but this also causes a bad thing in that customers will often switch back and forth every few months to get the "new customer promotion".

Shaw's doing something right in adding exclusivity, but the prices are way too high. For Internet 30, I have to pay $73 dollars per month. That is atrocious, especially when I started work there a few years before it was $55 for Internet 25.

Infrastructure costs a lot of money, but the prices are getting so high that eventually no one will be able to afford it and it will crash. Internet is definitely something everyone needs, though.

The problem is all the carriers now use fiberoptic cables in all the metro areas and fiberoptic carries everything. Your internet, TV and phone. It's the same infrastructure costs which is why the bundles are cheaper than trying to separate internet from TV from your landline phone. I'm sure that's not true everywhere but for the most part it is.

What that leaves for us wannabe cord cutters is to dump all of it and just try to find the cheapest internet and live with it. Or not.

It's really ridiculous now with all the consolidation. Here in the States Verizion Fios was the big dog and they just sold out to Frontier. Verizon is only wireless now.

Time Warner just sold out to Spectrum right when I was going to see what I could do with TWC vs Frontier. Seriously, it's like we can't move fast enough to try to get anything cheaper.

I'm sure you're too young to remember the classic Bob Newhart comedy albums from the 60's. This was long before he became a TV star. He had a bit about low cost airlines. It was about taking a flight with the Mrs Grace L Ferguson Airline and Storm Door Company. That airline was a little light on amenities like seats...

It was hysterical and that's about what I'm feeling like now.

Bob

Wow. I barely finished writing the above on Friday when the news says AT&T concluded a deal to buy Time Warner for almost 85 billion.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/10/22/at-t-time-warner-deal-start-new-media-industry-consolidation.html

I kinda doubt for that kind of money they're going to separate all this stuff out to make it more affordable like we've been talking about. Who knows though? This article talks about it's a way to consolidate because of all the younger cord cutters who want to watch streaming content on their mobile devices.

Bob

Haha yeah I heard about the TW acquisition, and thought about this e-mail thread!

A la carte won't happen in the states unless enough people get the FCC to change the rules. Unfortunately, we won't go into the whole idea of lobbying as we know what's going on there.

I hope things change over there as well.

Didn't Time Warner merge with another large cable provider earlier this year?

Jim, this from Wikipedia...

Time Warner was formed in 1990 through the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications. The current company consists largely of the assets of the former Warner Communications, as well as HBO (a Time Inc. subsidiary prior to the Warner merger) and the assets of Turner Broadcasting (acquired in 1996). Time Warner currently has major operations in film and television, with a limited amount of publishing operations. Among its assets are Home Box Office, Turner Broadcasting System, The CW Television Network, Warner Bros., CNN, DC Comics, and as of August 2016, it owns 10% of Hulu.

In the past, other major divisions of Time Warner included Time Inc., AOL, Time Warner Cable, Warner Books, and Warner Music Group. All of these operations were either sold to other investors or spun off as independent companies between 2004 and 2014.

On October 22, 2016, AT&T announced its intent to acquire Time Warner for $85 billion.

Here's very interesting article about how ESPN just lost 650,000 subscribers:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-29/

Parts of this is pretty technical but there's good tidbits of info here too. Like HBO is now selling their service separately for $15 per month and it talks about some other services too.

Bob

I get a "page not found - 404 error" when I tried the link.

Hmm, so did I just now. I just did a search using "ESPN loses subscribers" and it popped up again.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-29/hbo-killed-cable-bundle-and-espn-latest-victim

Moving on to something else I just found this:

https://www.playon.tv/

I just read about this on PC World. It looks pretty slick as far as replacing a cable box DVR is concerned. I had initially talked about using Windows Media Center as my DVR which is no longer available in Win 10. Playon might be one good way to get that functionality back.

Bob

I suspect this will be big.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/7/13555490/directv-now-att-apple-tv

Good one, thanks Janice!

Bob

has anybody mentioned this yet?

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/muvibox-launches-streaming-device-eliminating-the-need-for-subscriptions-300336810.html

This is very interesting, read over their website, still have a few questions. I would suppose streaming quality is dependent on your internet speed, bandwidth, and router capabilities (QoS, MIMO, MMS etc). I'm still confused on how they make money. Other than the cost of the unit itself, they apparently have no revenue stream. Who is paying for the access fees?

Jeff

"Who is paying for the access fees?"

Interesting question. I can think of lots of ways it *could* work, but can't really think of one that would meet the intent of laws .. I suppose finding a loophole may work for a while.
Still, I am intrigued ..

I used MajicJack to replace my land line.. paid a one-time fee for the device, and I've had free phone service for the past 4 years... including long distance calling. I have to assume that their income stream is for the device itself.

Likewise, there are apparently laws that treat streaming differently than downloading. If you search for something on the device, and it can find it and stream it to you.. there might not BE any access fees.

My concern is that I'll spend the fee for the device, then some law will change and it will become a useless hunk o' junk. It would have to be viable for quite a while to offset the price of Netflix or Hulu.

But... it's the ONLY solution I've read about that includes sports, and pretty much everything else.

Muvibox sure sounds like the old Napster. The key is what's the source of the programming? No way it could be legal. How could they possibly tap into the Discovery Channel or the NBA's live stream and just reroute it to you for free? I mention those two specifically because recent Discovery Channel shows or live home games are not available legally anywhere.

Seems like there needs to be a third party pirate hiding somewhere...or it's not really free.


Bob

Here's something from Sling:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/sling-tv-cloud-dvr-announced/

Bob

Wow, things are moving fast. This is about AT&T's DirecTV Now service.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2016/11/29/review-at-ts-directv-now-not-ready-for-prime-time.html

Bob

I cut the cord about a year ago. I had been paying AT&T U-verse $150/month for about 200 channels of crap and I could never find anything I wanted to watch!

we also have AT&T for internet - I increased our download plan to 50Mbps and dropped UVerse, bought an antenna to pick up local broadcasts, subscribed to Hulu and Amazon prime and I'm still saving nearly $100/month!

there are some things that we miss, but not enough to pay $100/month more!

Yep, that's where I'm at now with Frontier, $158 a month. The new year is coming and something is gonna change, just not sure what yet.

Bob

Just discovered this chocked-full thread. Very timely for me as I've just started a three-pronged experiment in cord cutting: 1) Bought Tivo OTA refurb at half price, 2) signed up for the new DirecTV Now service, and 3) will begin 6-mo "vacation" from DISH at end of cycle (leaves dish & receiver in place - just not working).

The Tivo deal is still on in case anyone's interested: Tivo.com. $200 brings the dvr box and a lifetime guide subscription (hope mentioning price is OK..sorry if not, but wanted to pass on what seems to me to be a great deal).

The DirecTV Now pkg is loaded with channels including ESPN and ESPN2 and all news channels. Grandfathered in to the 2nd highest tier- they say - at $35/mo as long as I keep paying monthly.

Just a few days into this and still getting the hang of it. Tivo functionality may end up being even better than locals on DISH. DirecTV Now is a little quirky, but improved over a few days. No DVR on this one and that may be its achilles heel, but I think it will be OK, especially when I consider I'm paying $35/mo instead of $100 (if you don't count the intial $200 investment). Anyway, time for a paradigm shift, and I can always go back to DISH after the "vacation" if it doesn't work out.

PS: Just wanted to say thanks to so many posters for all I've learned, and continue to learn, on these forums. I'm not new to BIAB, but I've also not used it for several years and was never that accomplished with it or other DAW related software. So, learning, re-learning, and getting re-acquainted with the only bandmates courageous enough to sit in with me, those fantastic players in the box!

I'm aware how accomplished many of you are, musically and technically. Hope you don't mind a duffer/hobbyist in your midst.

Thanks for this info Nozart. I may jump on that Tivo deal too.

Bob

I've been reading all about Directv Now. Here's a good article:

http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/30/13788934/directv-now-att-internet-tv-service-questions-pricing-channels

In addition to this I heard on he news yesterday that they've reached a deal with CBS but it's not linked up to the service yet.

For me this channel lineup is impressive. Everything I usually watch is there except for the Lakers and I've decided I can live without that, I have other choices to watch them.

The one thing that might bother me is picture quality. In my case my 60" big screen is my computer monitor so I'll be running this through my PC so no streaming box required and this article says it's "mostly" 1080P. My Frontier Fios is the best you can get right now and my pic quality is great, I'll just have to see if the pic quality is good enough or not.

Oh, there is no cloud DVR yet but it's supposedly coming and right now that $200 Tivo shows out of stock.

I'm going to sign up for this (and keep Frontier for now) and I'll report back how it's going.

Bob

It's the combo of the Tivo OTA and the DirecTV Now that was the tipping point for me. When I looked over my DISH recordings I was almost surprised to see that about half are OTA even though I watch virtually no prime time shows. Morning and evening news, network & local, all the late night shows, and many PBS shows. I then pick and choose bits and pieces. For instance, I might binge "best of" late nite interviews/monologs totalling an hour or so on weekends. Even though the Tivo OTA is out of stock, the deal is still posted, so I'd presume it can still be back-ordered at half price.

OTA PQ is of course the best available, and PQ on the DTV Now surprised me by looking 1080-ish after a minute to stabilize (and unfortunately sometimes a stutter-buffer or frame freeze in the first couple of minutes). After that, good to go. Don't forget to set 1080 in prefs. My guess is that this is the kind of thing that's likely to improve.

The smooth functionality of DISH's STB is what's likely to be missed most here. But I like the tradeoff.

I will also follow up after I've had a chance to watch more..no time here since Tuesday.

That's what it boils down to, isn't it? That $35/month deal is temporary. The regular price for everything will be $60/month and another fiver for HBO if I want it. I know that when I drop Frontier my internet by itself will be $60. Call it $100 per month with the special deal or $120 without it. So I'm saving about $40-50. The Frontier DVR is a 3 tuner and works perfect. If I manage to get that Tivo it's about $17/month for the first year. For what I do it's beginning to look like minimal point shaving. It's not like I'm broke and simply can't afford it. Hmmmm...

Bob

Here's the latest from Youtube:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/apps/a25443/youtube-wants-to-sell-you-tv/

This article says it includes unlimited DVR functions presumably online. I wonder if that will include the ability to skip commercials?

Bob

Following your journey here closely Bob. I have both Comcast TV and internet. While I love the internet speed and reliability, the cost and my use of their TV services are becoming questionable, especially after they jumped my service from an introductory $90 a month to $160 a month for the same service.

Like you, I am seriously looking at cutting the cord on the TV side while keeping their internet service. Its definitely a trade off with other services, guess I've become addicted to what Comcast offers.

Did notice the YouTube announcement yesterday, searched, but haven't found any further details. This seems like it might be the one. With their backing by Google, they have a built in subscribed base. If this can be converted, it may just be the game changer.

Keep this thread going, I'm definitely following.

Jeff

How they got me is this. My favorite stations are not in the basic tier. However, the stations I want are not in one tier, so I had to buy 2 programming tiers. I am going to DEEPLY research the live sports thing though. Even though all I have is the Browns for my NFL team, I have the Cavs and Indians, so one champion and one that was an out away from the World Series last year. I do like my teams. If I can find them free, it may be time to cut the cord here too. My TV is about $159 of my total bill, bundled with internet it is almost $200. I have 70mbps down though and like that speed.

Believe me Eddie I've checked out the sports problem very deeply and so far, no good answers. If you haven't bought that package through the cable provider and you find the game somewhere, it's blacked out.

Here in LA the Lakers signed a multibillion dollar deal with Time Warner, now Spectrum and dropped all local TV broadcasts so I can't even put up an antenna and get any games. It sucks man. If you're a sports fan you're simply screwed. About the only thing I can say is there are so many (as in millions) of people in the same boat I've read about "possibilities" being considered to somehow get the sports ala carte. The big question of course is at what cost? If it costs us fifty bucks a month to get them then who cares?

After digging into this I learned it's the cable company sub fees that's funding all the leagues and paying the players salaries. Advertising on broadcast TV isn't even a drop in that bucket. It's all coming from us paying for those bundles.

Bob

Well, I'm wondering no more, here's the bad news:

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/04/12/youtube-tv-customers-will-be-forced-to-watch-commercials-on-recorded-shows/

It's obvious they're gonna get us one way or the other. Everybody hates commercials especially the ones on cable... "WAIT, there's more..."

I'd slit my wrists if I was forced to watch all that crap.

Bob

For sports, I've been hearing about this lately, though no personal experience ..
https://www.fubo.tv/welcome

Thanks but for for me this doesn't have Spectrum which carries the Lakers or TNT which handles the few times they're on national TV. I see it costs $35 and my internet alone would be $60. That's the same $95 with the new DirecTV streaming service. Add in a few subs like Netflix or whatever and I'm close to what I'm paying now but without the 3 tuner DVR capability.

I don't see any free lunches any time soon.

Bob

Hey Bob! Sorry for resurrecting this old post but I just got into the cord cutting game for the first time.

My experience is much like Beagle below in that I'm an AT&T cable and internet user spending about the same on the cable part.



In my case, I'm 10 miles out of St. Louis on the Illinois side. The first purchase was an indoor digital antenna that just hangs on the window facing the city. I get about 5 main channels and each one has 3 or 4 sub channels so that's 20+ OTA channels.

Another thing I had to figure out was multiple rooms with TV. I wanted to go with a new TIVO OTA DVR but they want you to buy more equipment with each room. Also, in 2 of the 3 rooms with TV, I have dumb (older, non-HDMI/USB port) TVs. My low-cost solution to that was to purchase two of those $39 Amazon Firesticks and plug those into HDMI-to-Composite(RCA Cable) adaptors for each TV. Now all TVs are set up to stream video.

Final step was to purchase a Tablo 4-Tuner OTA DVR. This one is nice since it just connects to my home network and digital antenna. I can stream live TV off the digital antenna on any TV in the house as well as record any of that through the Tablo. I can stream straight to my phone as well even away from home. I purchased an external USB drive for the Tablo to store recorded TV on, 4TB (excessive but $99 Amazon special).

I also subscribe to Netflix and Hulu (about $19/month total). So between the subscriptions and local TV, I'm covered fairly well and bye-bye to expensive cable.

I just cut my cable also, as well as switched internet service providers at the same time. I had ATT UVerse, but switched to Cox hi speed internet (4 times the speed I had with ATT at a lower cost).

I get about 45 stations with my 45-mile range antenna mounted about 20 feet up. ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, PBS, plus a ton of independents.

I share Netflix with my son and HBO Go with my sister. I bought the TiVo OTA (one time cost, and you get the 2-week look ahead TV Guide without a monthly fee). It also has the HBO and NetFlix apps integrated. My wife loves it. We are definitely not lacking for content.

Based on what I was paying for cable, everything pays for itself in about five months.

Great to hear John! That TIVO looked like a really good box.

The Tablo I bought has a monthly/yearly guide fee but they also offer a lifetime guide fee that I used to avoid future charges on the 2-week look ahead guide.

And we found that most of what we watched was on the networks anyway, so we're not losing much without cable. We switched as the season ended, so we didn't miss any shows (the few we did, we just watched on-demand from the network web sites - I have an old laptop next to the TV plugged in via HDMI and a wireless mouse keyboard). We just reset season passes (TIVO calls it OnePass) for all the shows we want and then watch at our leisure. Also, the picture quality is better than we were getting from cable, since OTA is uncompressed HD.

Yes! I enjoy the sharp image.

Nothing to be sorry about Steve, I've been hoping this thread would be updated. My whole situation has changed. I've just retired and a house purchase came up suddenly that I couldn't turn down so now I live up in the mountains 125 miles outside of LA. Great area but no cable so my cord cutting options are limited. ATT is running fiber optic within 5 or 10 miles of me and I've been told it's coming into my community but not yet. For business reasons I must have internet (I'm now working part time as a tax consultant) so I just put in Viasat internet which works well enough and DirecTV as a bundle. Viasat is much better than HughesNet but it's no good for HD streaming so none of this cool stuff will work for me but maybe it will in a year or so.

Bob

Thanks for the update. So I wonder if a digital antenna will pick up anything from there since you have elevation? I think they work better with line of sight. You can use the URL below to determine if there's any local channels nearby that you could get with line of sight.

TV FOOL - Signal Locator

I used Antenna Web to figure out which stations were in range from my house and where they were located.

Alas, Antenna Web gives me zero stations.

At least you know.

It was pretty accurate for me as to what I pick up. I'm also lucky, in that the majority of the broadcast towers are along about the same azimuth.

I have found that you may need to use a couple of different sites to see all of the available free TV stations. Here are the three that I used.

http://www.tvfind.us/

https://www.tablotv.com/tools/

http://www.receptionmaps.com/Advanced-TV-Maps.html

Same here, the window antenna never has to move.


I agree, a second and third opinion may be beneficial.

I tried those already. Zero stations.

But, I just found out about a guy who lives 7 miles down the highway got Frontier Fios installed two weeks ago so it looks like both ATT and Frontier are closing in. Still, the community I'm in has underground wiring so even if the cables are on the highway which is about a quarter mile down a hill from where I'm at it could still be a challenge. We'll see.

I have to admit, I'm pretty happy with Viasat. I've run Speedtest 5 or 6 times over the last few weeks and I'm in the 24-30 mbps range every time. That's plenty for what I do but the only thing is when I'm logged into the office 125 miles away there's about a one second delay when I try to type something. Not a deal breaker but a bit annoying. But when I type something like this reply right now, no delay. Maybe I would still have the delay with the office even with fiber optic. Now, that would suck, after waiting for it to be available I go through everything to switch over and there's still a delay when I'm logged in remotely?

As far as cord cutting is concerned I'm still stuck with being a Lakers fan and no way to get those games live online. Cable only period unless I want to become a real hacker.

Bob