“How’s this for a deal: Pay less than $50 now to save $1000 or more each year,” Edward N. Albro reports PCWorld. “That’s the kind of savings you could reap by ditching your cable or satellite TV service and using an HDTV antenna instead.”
“And you needn’t conjure up scary images of clambering up on your roof to mount a skeleton of aluminum bones,” Albro reports. “In many locations, you can use an unobtrusive inside antenna and still receive dozens of stations with, in some cases, a crystal-clear high-definition picture.”
Albro reports, “I tried five leading interior antennas, ranging from one that resembles a sheet of paper you stick to a wall to one that looks like it should be receiving signals from distant planets.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
Sweet! Dexter, True Blood, and Boardwalk Empire … OTA! Awesome!
Sweet! Antiques Roadshow all day long! No cable bill!
That’s rather preposterous. OTA alternatives to cable have always been around, but one of the primary reasons to have cable in the first place is to have access to a multitude of channels available in no other medium. Additionally, cable companies also serve as ISP, and if you call your cable provider about ditching TV and going to straight internet service, you will find the price break is not all that great.
WRONG
I ditched cable and sat years ago and I’ve saved a ton of money. I pay $30 a month for Internet through the cable company. That’s going to go up to about $50 in about a year. When it does I might just switch back to DSL. I’ll see what kind of specials they’re running when the time comes.
However, even at $50 it’s still a good bit cheaper then cable, Internet, and phone combined (I use Ooma).
Aside the fact that this makes NO sense for anyone who watches primarily non-OTA channels, WHAT THE FUCK DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH APPLE?!!!?
Your message would still make sense if you eliminated the foul language. Your capitalization already gives the impression you are angry so give it a try next time: use polite language.
Yes, we here at MDN are oh so polite…
Agree with 313 ….. You must have some issues if you need to express yourself by “coloring” your “text” ….
Or to say it another way – One you will no doubt relate to …. STFU unless you can speak without shouting and using foul language ….
And then you go and put Shut The Fuck Up in your post?
Nothing like arguing with a moron.
That’s playground language, or haven’t you heard?
Why are you so afraid of language? They’re all just words, and sometimes nothing captures the moment quite as well as a ‘What the fuck?”
Folks need to lighten up.
Lighten the fuck up.
This doesn’t make sense for someone who lives in a city with only 5 English-language OTA stations.
Or pretty much anyone who lives in mountainous areas where tower/antenna line-of-sight is minimal
I agree with half Brainless, what the hell does this have to do with Mac or apple news? And please no one say the imaginary and totally not going to happen apple tv set top/television.
Like VoIP is killing the home phone, Internet provided tv services (illegal and legal alike) have killed cable and most chances for any company to revolutionize the set top box market, even apple
I’ve been off the grid, OTA, for three years… except for football season. So many games now on ESPN, and except for a few games available on ESPN3.com, the only way to get them is cable. During the 4-5 months that I have cable, I notice what a vast wasteland the cable landscape is. I would be perfectly happy with OTA plus just a handful of cable-only channels (ESPN, Discovery, Palladia, etc.). So if Apple can pull this elusive rabbit out of the hat, I can’t wait to get on board.
For those of you asking “What does this have to do with Apple?”… you need to realize a few things.
1) Apple sells a device called Apple TV. A competitor to cable.
2) Apple sells TV content. A competitor to cable.
3) MacDailyNews wants your eyes. You are the product. You all fell for this by coming to this article page.
4) By posting “related” content, they reach a wider audience in search engine results. Someone just found this page by searching for “digital TV antenna”, and now maybe they are off to buy an Apple TV instead. And MDN got the hit. It’s a smart strategy.
Apple TV is not a competitor to cable – yet.
It is, but for a very select subset of cable/satellite offerings: on-demand and pay-per-view. And both are in competition with Netflix.
Good article. I don’t want to pay for cable, so I use one of the flat, square antenna that it recommends. Works great. All the OTA channels are now HD, and I use a cheap Elgato EyeTV on my Mac Mini to “Tivo” any program I want. (And/or save permanently to my iTunes library. Can’t do that with cable.) For the best reception, the key is to know what direction the signals are coming from (using a site like: http://antennaweb.org/ ) then place the antenna in front of a window (not a wall) facing that direction, to capture the most signal. For the very few cable shows that are worth watching, I just buy through iTunes.
Build your own! Search for Gray-Hoverman antenna. The one I built for $10 outperforms a $200 antenna I had on the roof and the gray-hoverman is in my attic!
Cool, I might build one just for fun.
tried the “Terk Amplified HDTV Indoor Antenna” and it sucks a**.
I will wait for Apple to bring the shows on Apple TV.
No espn. No thanks. And apple tv is not a competitor to cable unless you’ve been brainwashed by Mdn. Back to no espn.
for those of us who don’t pay $1000 a year to watch overpaid boys chase a ball around, apple tv is a conpetitor to cable.
Right. Before ESPN, my father told me, real men had to suck on rocks.
I gave up cable a year ago. I decided to move my $ to other things. So, i have subscriptions to mlb.tv, mls soccer, and nhl online. I get to see tons of games each week. I do miss most in-market games (cable protectionism), but I hate the LA teams, generally, it’s good for me. For movies and most cable shows, Netflix and Hulu plus. Between those payments, i am knee deep in sports, movies and dramedy series, and still save 55%. Time Warner Cable can suck it.
As for Over the air? We are lucky in LA. Just point your antenna towards the hill above Pasadena, since all of the stations come off of mount wilson. I get some 50+ channels (yes, some in Spanish, Cantonese, Tagalog or Armenian, but so what? A lot of it is subtitled). Rarely am I longing for a cabe show? pay HBO for their programming? I can wait, thank you. Cabe news? Only the owner of MDN watches Fox News, near as I can tell. CNN is crap.
Oh well, OTA works for me. Happy New Year!
I cut the cable cord over a year ago, used the savings to buy an HDTV, antennae and an Apple TV. I don’t really watch TV, so this set up more than satisfies my requirements.
The only thing the cable company reams me for is the internet connection. Haven’t figured out a way around that yet…
I wanted to ditch my cable and try OTA HD so I went to best buy to look at some antennas. I asked the clerk which ones worked best, and how many stations I could expect to get in here in Miami Beach, and he gave me a blank stare and said “I don’t know, I don’t use one” Then walked away.
I found the article useful. Funny how few people question the relevance of political hit pieces that MDN post in order to get hits and in fighting
I hate the cable companies as much as the next guy, but the thought of going back to rabbit ears and tin foil is more than I can bear. Apple needs to eliminate the cable companies by negotiating contracts directly with the networks. Whether they can pull that one off without the unsurpassed negotiating skills of Steve Jobs is another question.
Cable TV prices have gone up again recently and I’ sick of paying $60 a month to watch about 6-7 channels that are worth a crap. I just cancelled the “standard” portion of my bill. Bought a Roku box. LOVE IT. “F” cable TV, I’m tired of being ripped off.
When I had cable I had PBS plus 200 channels filled with stupid stuff. I canceled cable and bought an antenna. Now I have PBS plus 13 channels filled with stupid stuff, and $1000 a year in my pocket.
I hadn’t heard of the Gray-Hoverman antenna but Googled it. One of the ugliest antennas I’ve ever seen!
I’ve tried a variety of indoor antennas – a variant of the old Silver Sensor, three Phillips of different designs(one is OK, the others were pretty bad), a bow-tie UHF from my old 12″ portable TV, and a simple wire with an RF connector that was intended for FM use. I have several stations within just a few miles, but their towers are not in the same direction. I make do, but continue looking for something simple, discreet, and effective. I may try the new Mohu Leaf.
I wads pleased to see all the responses to Digital antenna use.
I am currently getting basic TV via Comcast (rate increases every six months), internet and telephone service, and pay $148 per month. Every six months or so I complain and I’m given a “special” rate, that disappears after six months. It isn’t the amount I pay, its what I get for that amount. I watch more on Netflix (AppleTV) for $8/mo. than I do on all of the channels basic service provides. I used to watch sports, but without ESPN, have found that calling a friend and going to a sports bar is much more fun (and social).
Magic Jack is going to replace my telephone service (no telephone number change). The only thing I’ll retain from Comcast is internet, and for that I’ll grind them on cost. I figure I’ll save at least $1,000 per year.
The problem with the cable companies is that they are,also, now the providers of our Internet services. Our family ditched cable 2 years, ago. However, in our area/district (W. Ma.), we are pretty much stuck with Comcast as our Cable and ISP.
When we cancelled cable they made sure to make up for it by charging more than they should be for Internet access.
So we are not saving that much. But, as a result, with Comcast ISP, a subscription to Hulu Plus and Netflix via Wifi access and a media streaming box and DTV, we’re still paying $60/mo., but we have access to a larger variety of programming. We live Ina very rural area, so our DTV channel choices are extremely limited
@jjjjjj,
How much are you really saving on your TV by ditching cable? I know for a fact the sports subscriptions to MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL are NOT cheap! Add in the costs for Netflix and Hulu Plus, I would think you’d still be paying between $75-$90/mo. Sure, like me you’re getting better programming, but the costs are still fairly high?
Also, while I am on a rant, iTunes is no bargain, either.
With their single rent/purchase model, even with HD and no commercials, if you watch a lot of movies an TV, you’re going to spend a lot more money watching content from Apple than watching content from monthly subscription sources like Hulu,Netflix or even Crackle.
I had a tenant who made his own HD antenna. It cost me his tenancy.
He met a girl with cable, in a condo across the street, and despite (because of?) his antenna, he kept going there to watch TV. He soon just moved in with her.
I still occasionally see him, and I’ve never since heard a single word about OTA HD antennas.
I purchased a MOHU Leaf from Amazon. All the reviews said it is fabulous. The included instructions directed me to a website that let me know I was in an area that didn’t receive any OTA channels. Their customer service rep was fantastic. They sent me a return number right away. Good company.
I may have missed it, but I didn’t see any mention of the fact that any old analog TV antenna works just fine with HD digital signals. I’ve had a big mother of 1970s design in my attic for 25 years. The HD signals it picks up from OTA TV are crystal clear. It saves me from paying DirecTV for the local stations. However, the only thing we watch on network TV is the occasional sport, mostly pro football. Otherwise, as generally barren as non-network TV is, it’s still better than network trash. So, my antenna saves a few bucks a month, but there’s no way I’m limiting myself to OTA.
Cable TV is capitalism at its finest…Provide mind numbing brain washed advertisement based television content and also charge premium prices. Not only that but charge an extra fee to provide local HD channels and keep it all a secret that anyone with a living brain cell could get this for free. I despise my $100.00 a month cable bill but my spouse insists we have cable for the convenience. Before I was married I did not have cable and went to friends houses to watch the bowl games like they were meant to be watched…with friends.
acewingman,
Oh, so friends had to pay for cable so you could come over and mooch the bowl games off of them…there’s always one in every crowd.
Boy I love the “why should I pay for something when I can come over and have you pay” friends.