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Cable TV vs Free Antena TV

Discussion in 'Living in Sin (City that is)' started by tominiowa, Jul 29, 2019.

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  1. Mitkraft

    Mitkraft VIP Whale

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    I'll tell you one of the things that really pisses me off about xfinity. NASA not available in their 3 lower tiers. NASA TV is free to the cable and satellite providers so charging me extra to get something my tax dollars pays for really pisses me off!!
     
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  2. tominiowa

    tominiowa High-Roller

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    Update: I cut the cord a few days ago and am getting along fine. Actually so far I have only missed not getting sundance channel. I get most of the channels I was watching on cable , now free. Still learning all the channels and sorting the ones out I will never use and the ones I probably will be watching. I am in the centennial hills area and get 96 channels free. The guy at Mr Antenna was very knowledgeable and explained things well. My cost will be recouped in less than 4 months. I am happy.
     
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  3. pirviii

    pirviii Degenerate

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    I have a fire-stick and I found Pluto TV has some pretty good stuff for a free streaming service. There's even a sorta guide like cable. You can check it out from your browser by visiting https://pluto.tv/
     
  4. deansrobinson

    deansrobinson VIP Whale

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    We have Pluto, in addition to Crackle & Sling. Only during NCAA Football do I have the Sling Sports Pack. Once the season is done, I cancel it. There's a whole lotta tee-vee out there, more than we can consume.
     
  5. h0llywood

    h0llywood VIP Whale

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    I have directv and realized I don’t watch it enough to justify the $200+ price per month.

    Probably going to cut it down by going Roku Live for around $60
     
  6. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    (I'm cutting and pasting what I wrote on a local board about two weeks ago on this very topic ...)

    I would **LOVE** to "cut the cable" and get rid of one major annoying bill! The problem is that I'm so addicted to a few stations, and I enjoy occasionally watching some others, that just don't seem to be on any of the streaming services. Things like (yes, the Evul Librul) MSNBC and such. [​IMG]

    One of the neighbors across the way did cut the cable a while back and they love it! I know they use Roku and antenna, not sure of anything else. The list of what they (say they) get over the air is below, but this is what they sent me a couple of months ago, so it may not be accurate today. Keep in mind that we are about 1/3 of the way between Omaha and Lincoln and up high in the hills, so we can get most of the Lincoln stations. YMMV elsewhere in the area.

    There is an old pre-cable antenna in the attic with a jack in the living room, and one thing I want to (try to) do is run a cable, somehow so it does not look wonky or become a trip hazard, to the new TV in the bedroom and see what I can get, mainly so I will have some TV when the cable goes out, which seems to always happen as a storm is approaching! [​IMG]

    The new TV (Samsung, less than a year old) does have streaming built in and it works quite well, even on the Rube Goldberg end-of-the-line tin-cans-and-string Wifi that we have out here in the toolies.

    I don't subscribe to any streaming service, mainly 'cuz none of them seem to have any of the channels I like. They seem to be mostly things like kids' channels and bottom-tier movie channels and the like. (LOL, anymore I seldom have the time to sit and watch a feature film from beginning to end!)

    What I do enjoy watching on occasion, and I know this sounds silly, but the local news broadcasts from the higher-tier markets. WCBS (NYC) starts their local news at 3:30am our time, which is about the time I often get up, and I'll just leave it on while I get ready and such, and sometimes when I get home in the afternoon as well. On the weekend mornings I'll often tune in to KYW (Philadelphia) as well. The thing is, the local news here is soooooo incredibly lame that it's almost painful to listen to, let alone watch! (I must admit that KETV is the least-lame of the bunch, but that outsourced excuse for local news on KPTM is so bad that to call it "lame" is to compliment it!) [​IMG]

    When I want a quick news recap, I'll tune in to Newsnet, which is streaming only (and low-def) which is kinda like the old Headline News used to be when they actually did news. It's a 30 minute "wheel" rotation and free to watch.

    Anyway, here are the channels that they are getting on the air in the Gretna area:

    KMTV (3.1 CBS, 3.2 Laff, 3.3 Escape)
    KSNB (4.1 NBC, 4.2 MNTV/MeTV, 4.3 Ion)
    WOWT (6.1 NBC, 6.2 Cozi, 6.3 H&I, 6.4 Ion, 6.5 Start TV)
    KETV (7.1 ABC, 7.2 MeTV)
    KLKN (8.1 ABC, 8.2 Grit, 8.3 Mystery, 8.4 Laff)
    KOLN (10.1 CBS, 10.2 NBC, 10.3 MNTV/MeTV)
    KUON (12.1 PBS/NET, 12.2 World, 12.3 Create, 12.4 PBS Kids)
    KXVO (15.1 CW, 15.3 Charge, 15.4 Stadium)
    KYNE (26.1 PBS/NET, 26.2 World, 26.3 Create, 26.4 PBS Kids)
    KOHA (27.1 TMD, 27.2 NCN/Ind., 27.3 Daystar)
    KAJS (33.1 Court TV, 33.2 Bounce, 33.3 Grit, 33.4 GetTV)
    KPTM (42.1 Fox, 42.2 MNTV/This, 42.3 Comet)
    KFXL (51.1 Fox)
     
  7. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    You can review all this advice....

    But the best advice is to spend the $50 and see what YOU get. It is well worth it, even if you stay with Cable/Sat. You will now have an option for local TV if their service is down.

    Really - just do it and then decide what you will do going forward.

    By the way, sometimes a simple METAL paperclip will pick up a few channels.
     
  8. runningonthehub

    runningonthehub VIP Whale

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    I had a similar situation with Comcast. One of my favorite channels is TCM. TCM came with my package. But Comcast decided to make TCM a "premium" channel. They made it available with a sports package that I was not interested in. They wanted an extra $10. Pissed me off..
     
  9. Ten_On_The_End

    Ten_On_The_End VIP Whale

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    Norman Rockwell painted this in 1949. We've gone full circle. BTW my new over-the-air favorite is Decades channel.

    A1FzadImAqL._SL1500_.jpg
     
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  10. 44inarow

    44inarow VIP Whale

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    I actually truly love local news, and have never been a big fan of the big markets like NY or LA where it's basically just national news with a different accent. The hyper-local stuff is my favorite. Back in NYC, that was NY1, which featured a segment called "In The Papers", where Pat Kiernan would literally go through the newspapers and read the stories he finds interesting. In Vegas, nothing ever really happens, and so the local news is 25% weather, 25% traffic, and 50% discussion of the anchor's cats (he once set up a webcam to see what time of water bowl they liked best, and they kept cutting away to it). On another station, the two lead anchors are married and there's usually at least one reference a day to whatever fight they had the night before. And let's not forget "The Rant", in which probably-drunk people leave angry messages on a voicemail line.
     
  11. Kisby

    Kisby High-Roller

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    Go to a website called suppose.tv . It will help you get all the channels you want and suggest a cord cutting option. We did this and saved hundreds per year!
     
  12. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    Okay, I'll bite ... ... {click-click-click} ...

    My "best fit" is missing things like The Weather Channel, which I need. Only one that has all I selected is some Youtube offering which is in the same order of magnitude as what I pay now with Cox!
     
  13. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    I surely do not know your situation and "need" for the weather channel - but none of the apps will work?
     
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  14. Kisby

    Kisby High-Roller

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    The weather channel also has a separate app for cord cutters. Feel free to send me a PM
     
  15. Kisby

    Kisby High-Roller

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    I went from over $250 per month on satellite TV down to $60 per month cord cutting. All the same channels, and actually a couple more. My wife and daughter almost rebelled when I suggested cutting the cord, so I agreed to a one-month trial during which time we had both satellite and cord-cutting service. Within a week, they stopped using the satellite! They much preferred the cord cutting. For one thing, almost all their favorite shows were available "on-demand" instead of waiting for the shows to air and catching them on the DVR.
     
  16. JosieCat

    JosieCat VIP Whale

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    I cut the cord several years ago, and have Netflix and Prime. I did go back to Xfinity as they came out with their Xfinity App, to stream local and antenna channels. This was running me about $12 more a month than what I was paying for just internet $67 to $79. I really liked it as living in an apartment, my antenna reception is iffy at best. My last bill, they jacked the price up to $110 a month. So basically $43 a month for what had been $12. I don't think so. So, now I'm back to an Antenna. Oh well :).
     
  17. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    I'm old and set in my ways. I don't want an ap! I want to just click on the remote (in the perfect world, there would be only one) and have it pop in!

    The supposed savings even on the so-called "best fit" are not enough to overcome the inconvenience of switching.
     
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  18. Kisby

    Kisby High-Roller

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    I understand. :D My grandparents are the same way. For most of us it is a great way to keep all our channels yet save money. For me, about $2000.00 per year in savings that I take to Vegas! :headbang:
     
  19. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    My total cable bill for one year is not nearly that large.
     
  20. Kisby

    Kisby High-Roller

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    I hear you. Our problem is that we have a big house with about a dozen TV's. Satellite makes you pay extra for multiple TV's!
     
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