Q. I am starting to believe that DIRECTV will never make a deal with Tegna to bring my channel 9 back. So I am starting to consider other options. Tell me more about antennas. Do they work? Will I be able to get channel 9 or will it be a fuzzy picture? I would just cancel DIRECTV but I am in a contract of course. — Phyllis, Alexandria, Virginia.
Phyllis, DIRECTV and Dish both lost a significant number of local channels last week due to fee fights with their owners, and there’s no indication this morning that either are close to a deal. I will continue to monitor these disputes and report back here if anything interesting occurs. But until then, it might indeed be time to consider some alternatives.
Update: DIRECTV & Tegna sign new carriage pact.
On Tuesday, I published an article on the pros and cons of getting Locast, the online streamer that offers local channels for free in 25 markets. And today, by popular demand, I will examine whether getting a TV antenna is the right choice for you.
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Pro: Free Local Channels
Yes, your local channels (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS, Univision, etc.) are available via a TV antenna, and they are free. Not only that, they can deliver a better HD picture over an antenna compared to cable or satellite. The latter tend to compress the signals of local (and all) channels, which tends to dilute the picture quality. The TV providers do this for several reasons, including creating more system room to deliver more channels. The signal your antenna receives directly from the local channel is purer (layman’s term, folks and therefore a better one.
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Con: No Basic Cable or Premium Channels
If you get an antenna, you won’t be able to watch ESPN, TBS, E!, CNN, Fox News, HBO, Showtime, or your favorite regional sports channel. The TV antenna will only pick up signals that are distributed locally, and that does not include the basic cable or premium channels that are on many viewers’ list of favorites. (If you do have a decent Internet connection, you can purchase some of these, such as HBO and Showtime, separately online.)
Pro: Antennas Are Not Expensive
The TV antenna, whether it’s indoor or outdoor, costs less than $100 with many indoor models well under $30. With local channels free, that’s a great deal for consumers looking to cut expenses. (Note: The outdoor antenna can normally pick up more channels than the indoor one. But indoor antennas are becoming more efficient every year with new models and new technology.)
Con: The Antenna May Not Work at Your Location
Before you run off to buy an antenna (and drop your cable or satellite service), you need to know that depending upon the location of your home, your antenna may not be able to pick up the signals of all your local channels. You may live too far away from the channel’s tower to get a decent signal, or you could have a major obstacle in the signal’s path, such as a high-rise office building or mountain.
Also, since the nation’s transition to Digital TV in 2008, many antenna owners complain that it’s been more difficult to capture local signals. Unlike the old analog signal, you need a perfect connection to capture the digital signal or it will not display on your set. There is no middle ground. You either get a digital signal or you don’t.
So how can you tell if an antenna at your home will receive all your local channels?
AntennaWeb.org, a web site co-sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association and the National Broadcasting Association, offers an easy-to-use guide to determining what kind of antenna you would need — and how many channels that antenna will pick up. You type in your address, zip code and whether the antenna will be 30 feet or higher above ground level and then antennaweb.org will display a list of stations that you probably will be able to receive.
I say ‘probably’ because until you actually test it at home, you can’t be 100 percent sure. Antennaweb.org might say your address can pick up all four major broadcast networks, but the site isn’t aware of that group of large trees that surround your home, or that high-rise building that sits all too inconveniently across the way.
The good news here is that antennas are inexpensive so you could buy one to test without spending much.
Pro: You May Get Some Bonus Channels
In addition to the major networks (CBS, etc.), there are numerous independent channels that broadcast locally. Some feature old movies and TV shows while others specialize in niche categories such as religion. If your antenna signal is strong, you’ll get more programming than you might have expected.
Pro: The Technology Is Improving
As noted earlier, in the last few years, the antenna companies have done a great job of beefing up their products, offering indoor antennas that can pick up signals as far away as 75 miles. Yes, indoor antennas. If you had a bad experience with an antenna several years ago, you might be pleasantly surprised at how far they have come.
Phyllis, hope that helps. Happy viewing!
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Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvpredictions.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
You must know that most tv stations, add video sub channels, that does take bandwidth away from there main HD channel. In this area some stations cut their data rate to as low as 5 to 8 megabits per second, instead of 19.2 megabits per second as allowed for the main HD channel. This results in lower video HD quality
Also, at least in this tv market, the local cable co. preserves the original data rate, as broadcast OTA but converts it to the QAM 256 cable standard that preserves the original broadcast video quality.
Satellite providers on the other hand generally use a lower data rate of only about 2 to 4 megabits per second, and in my viewing experience satellite delivered video is generally of lower video quality then OTA or CATV
video.
CATV has much more available bandwidth then satellite and is is the differance
I lost my NBC &c BS through dish network I have an antenna hooked up plus I purchased an adapter to run it through my DVR that way I have the DVR record functions from the antenna I’m happy with it
Will you guarantee a 60 Mile range?
I was once an antenna installer and know it was improbable, to get good reception at a 60 mile range, even with an amplified mounted roof antenna, let alone, a indoor antenna,.
Their is no such thing as a miracle Television Antenna!
What is the noise figure of this antenna? Which has a lot to do with antenna sensitivity.
Spectrum says they will buy you out of your old contract up to $500.
will they give u $500 to swich
I think we should not have to pay out more money for antenna when we pay all this money for cable that’s there job.
More corporate greed.
Corporate greed.
YOU CAN’T GET NBC FOX AND CW WITH THE ANTENNA IN GULFPORT MS
I get fox and all the major channels .I would not ever use direct tv or dish. A smart tv use a. Antena and twelve bucks a month get netflix.
Dish came out no charge for antenna our signal too weak. They blame nexstar and mission companies and companies blame dish. We have one local channel .just like the govt. Each blames the other and us little guys lose.
Why do u play old movies all the time no update ?
Can’t update when there’s nothing to update.
Well they way I see it if you don’t have money to buy then you do buy simple fact. We need our stations back we need and update someone needs to get the lid out of their buts and get own the move . We need our cbs station back .
Dish sent me one of those antennas and set up an appointment time to come hook it up I never showed up when I call they told me I had to hook it up so it’s still not hooked up because I don’t know how to do it. And that was two months ago.
Directtv need to get my channel back the company wont to charge us but we need thoes channel back
It’s great that a lot of channels have apps that let you watch them Live, but you need a TV provider to do so, which makes their app pointless. If they would let you use their app without Dish or Comcast or whoever, just an internet connection, that would be great, and they would get more eyeballs, which is the bottom line for them.
I currently use FuboTV as my provider. They no longer have TBS, but I downloaded the TBS app and was able to sign in to Fubo and watch TBS live feed. But the next day Fubo was gone from their list of providers. So they lost 2 pairs of eyeballs to watch their commercials.
Wake up, channels!
Since we have a roku smart TV with internet I downloaded locast.org….now we can get all our local channels…but it didn’t work on our samsung smart tv….
Another benefit to adding an antenna is that ATSC 3.0 is coming and you will be able to get free 4K programming over the air along with Dolby Atmos if you have the system for it. Some cities are currently broadcasting. You will need a tv with an ATSC 3.0 tuner built in, there are some out there or a box or dongle to take advantage. These will be coming.
I called Directv to complain about losing my local channel 2, they sent an antenna. I hooked up the antenna no problem, the problem is I still do not get local channel 2. I called tech support, day 3 of waiting for a reply.
Posted this in a story here from a few days ago after I was directed there via a link, but it seems to be more appropriate here. Take note:
Yesterday evening, I just went ahead and paid the $5.50 to Locast, to watch my currently blacked-out NBC affiliate on the DirecTV receiver, without any interruptions form Locast to ask for donations. There may be a video hit after you activate it that sends the program back a second or two, but it seems to go away and after that, it’s basically like watching the satellite feed. For a month, it’s totally worth it. And since DirecTV is offering $10 monthly refunds right now, you’re actually coming out ahead. (and, as a bonus, you may be interested in some of the digital channels not available on DirecTV). Two words of caution: you must have a receiver current enough to activate the TV Apps (of which Locast is now a part). And I strongly recommend paying the $5.50 donation through PayPal. Locast indicates that it’s an ongoing, monthly fee — and provides a renewal date (in my case, January 10th), but you can easily just delete the account from PayPal the day before– assuming this ridiculous dispute is resolved by then. Cheers.
I should have added the tv markets (DMA’s) where Locast is available (sorry):
Atlanta
Baltimore
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
Houston
Indianapolis
Los Angeles
Miami
Minneapolis
New York
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Puerto Rico
Rapid City
San Francisco
Scranton
Seattle
Sioux City
Sioux Falls
Tampa Bay
Washington DC
West Palm Beach