Is pay TV dead?

[Matt Gruber]

with free over the air HDTV and lots of new channels, pay TV could not start from scratch(except in rural areas).
Are they here FIRST like newspapers?
Destined to decline over time?
Or will cable and sat users simply pay the bill and refuse to hook up an antenna and try it out?
.
A side Q: anyone try HD radio? Can it compete with Sirius/XM?

 

[Eric G]

I built a copy of the Channel Master 4221 uhf antenna using a 3 foot length of 2x4 lumber,8 coat hangers and a piece of masonite covered with tinfoil as a reflector.I hung this contraption from the living room ceiling and to my surprise I pull in around 30 HD channels.Sooooo I called up my satellite tv provider and canceled the service.I'm saving myself $68.00 a month....I never used to watch half the channels I got with the satellite anyhow,they had a really screwy way of bundling their programing I'd like one channel and have to take 3 others that went with that bundle even though I'd never watch those channels.

Eric

 

[wasp]

I built a copy of the Channel Master 4221 uhf antenna using a 3 foot length of 2x4 lumber,8 coat hangers and a piece of masonite covered with tinfoil as a reflector.I hung this contraption from the living room ceiling and to my surprise I pull in around 30 HD channels.Sooooo I called up my satellite tv provider and canceled the service.I'm saving myself $68.00 a month....I never used to watch half the channels I got with the satellite anyhow,they had a really screwy way of bundling their programing I'd like one channel and have to take 3 others that went with that bundle even though I'd never watch those channels.

Eric

you never heard of fta...free to air sat?
i stopped paying 4 cable tv...still receive it though...70ch and digital music
savings...600/year
satellite get more than 2000ch
savings...1200/year
internet was 100mbs now 150 for free
savings...600/year
phone is majic jack
savings ...priceless

 

[Matt Gruber]

Hi Eric,
Good for you!
I'm using the same $19.88 RShack antenna (from 1989), in my attic. ~30 channels, Now i get MAKE, and NHK World and Scully etc.
MAKE had wild custom bikes yesterday. also on the web google makezinetv

 

[julesa]

Is pay TV dead? If not, I think it's dying, unless you consider Netflix streaming to be "pay TV." I bought one of these to put next to my TV for $400 on sale:

http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/dell-studio-hybrid/4505-3118_7-33184329.html

It doubles as a DVD player, has a wireless network card built in, and comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Now I pay $8.99/mo for an unlimited streaming Netflix.com subscription, and download most of the TV I watch over my $40/mo internet connection. I grab some other shows with Miro (http://www.getmiro.com), and pretty much everything else gets downloaded from one of these web sites:

http://www.hulu.com
http://www.southparkstudios.com
http://www.thedailyshow.com

Picture quality is fine unless the network connection gets bogged down. Verizon's just installed FIOS down my street so I will probably upgrade to that sometime soon, it's only about $10 more per month than I'm paying now. I also plan to buy an HDTV receiver to get local TV news and events, but haven't yet because I haven't had time to watch anyway.

 

[Eric G]

you never heard of fta...free to air sat?
i stopped paying 4 cable tv...still receive it though...70ch and digital music
savings...600/year
satellite get more than 2000ch
savings...1200/year
internet was 100mbs now 150 for free
savings...600/year
phone is majic jack
savings ...priceless

Yep...I've heard of fta,My sister's got a Viewsat receiver and dish setup.She was actually paying somebody $25. each time the receiver got zapped.I showed her how and where to get the updates/fixes from the internet and onto a usb key and then into her receiver.It took a bit but she's got the hang of it now.
For myself,the local programing from an antenna is enough plus I download whatever movies I want,put them on a rewritable DVD and watch that on my TV.
What I want to eventually do is get an older computer with ~160gig HD,put a ATSC TV tuner card in it,hook that up to the internet and that into my TV,a home made PVR so to speak.

Eric

 

[Greywolf67]

you never heard of fta...free to air sat?
i stopped paying 4 cable tv...still receive it though...70ch and digital music
savings...600/year
satellite get more than 2000ch
savings...1200/year
internet was 100mbs now 150 for free
savings...600/year
phone is majic jack
savings ...priceless

Pardon???? Did I miss something? How with the free net already?

 

[morph999]

There came a point when I was watching TV that I said, " what the hell am I doing". It was around 2006. I just suddenly found tV to be so stupid that I couldn't even bare to watch it anymore. It disgusted me. I don't know what happened. Maybe it was the internet that influenced me. I cancelled my satellite TV that week and have never looked back since. I can't stand to watch it anymore it's just so retarded. The "news" isn't real news. The "discovery channel" shows aren't real discoveries. National geographic is okay I guess. Does anyone understand what I'm saying? The "mythbusters" show isn't real mythbusting. NONE OF IT IS REAL. Sounds cliche but it's kind of true in most instances.

 

[TPA]

Yea...The Learning Channel is all about clothing fashion...Biography is only modern pop culture celebs...Modern Marvels are not so marvelous.

I can learn anything I want, anytime I want with a few clicks.

BTW there is no ebike channel, so TV is useless.

 

[wasp]

you never heard of fta...free to air sat?
i stopped paying 4 cable tv...still receive it though...70ch and digital music
savings...600/year
satellite get more than 2000ch
savings...1200/year
internet was 100mbs now 150 for free
savings...600/year
phone is majic jack
savings ...priceless

Pardon???? Did I miss something? How with the free net already?

wireless of course

 

[Link]

you never heard of fta...free to air sat?
i stopped paying 4 cable tv...still receive it though...70ch and digital music
savings...600/year
satellite get more than 2000ch
savings...1200/year
internet was 100mbs now 150 for free
savings...600/year
phone is majic jack
savings ...priceless

Pardon???? Did I miss something? How with the free net already?

What I wanna know is how he was getting 100Mbps service for $50/month...

 

[Eric G]

What I wanna know is how he was getting 100Mbps service for $50/month...

We're in Canada that's why
I pay $80/month for the same speed,I know I can get cheaper I'm just too lazy to change providers at the moment.

Eric

 

[deronmoped]

I'm getting free high speed internet. There are like 4 unsecured signals that I could pick up, along with a ton of others. I put a Wok lid and a USB WIFI antenna up on the roof, used a USB extender to get the signal down to my basement, and have been getting free service for 6 months now.

There is also Fonera. This is a service that has you install their equipment. If there is another signal in your area from someone else that has their equipment, you are good to go! They make their money off of temporary users of your signal, that do not have the equipment installed.

Why pay?

Deron.

 

[Matt Gruber]

be sure to watch RT.com
Russia Today, a bold news program that reports US news with a russian perspective.
Very Strange.
I get it on free PBS subchannel, along with
Drive it!
France News
Japan News
Al Jezera
Taiwan News
Europe Perspective
etc...

 

[yopappamon]

Apparently I just crawled out from under a stone. What is FTA? What are FTA files? What channels do you get?

 

[bigmoose]

When things went digital I built the GH6 Gray Hoverman antenna according to this web site http://www.jedsoft.org/fun/antennas/dtv/gh.html

I put it in the attic above my garage with a distribution amplifier within a meter of the antenna. I went from 3 over the air stations pre digital to over 35 stations post digital with the Gray Hoverman. Just about every guy in the lab that I told about it has built one, all with good results.

 

[Lessss]

I went to the link. It appears to be in some kind of foreign language! :wink:

 

[morph999]

I'm very happy with my over-the-air tv now. I use a signal amplifier to get all the channels, though. Without it, I'd probably only get half of the available ones. I got two music channels now. Fox just added another channel this year, too so I'm very happy. I'm just as entertained as when I had satellite. Even satellite tv would bore me sometimes so I figured that I might as well not pay for it. I've taken up Yoga and am trying to get into doing Karate if I still can at age 34. I hope to be able to kick at head height by my 35th birthday. I think I will be able too. It's been a long time going because my muscles were practically dead and were very inflexible when I first started. I find much more enjoyment out of my day by incorporating about 2 hours of yoga, stretching, and weight lifting.

 

[Harold in CR]

Anyone know if this works in other countries ?? Does it need to be near Metropolitan areas ??

Is there any way to check what might be available in other countries ?? Sounds like a nice DIY project, IF there would be suitable results. ??

 

[bigmoose]

Built a Gray Hooverman antenna about 3 years ago, now have over 20 channels, more than I need, and with digital, either I have them or they are gone... out here in the boondocks. I see no need for cable.

 

[Gordo]

I find some of the questions strange? How are people lucky enough to stumble into ES and not to have stumbled onto GOOGLE, some other search engine or WIKI ?

EXAMPLE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-to-air

 

[AussieJester]

I'm very happy with my over-the-air tv now. I use a signal amplifier to get all the channels, though. Without it, I'd probably only get half of the available ones. I got two music channels now. Fox just added another channel this year, too so I'm very happy. I'm just as entertained as when I had satellite. Even satellite tv would bore me sometimes so I figured that I might as well not pay for it. I've taken up Yoga and am trying to get into doing Karate if I still can at age 34. I hope to be able to kick at head height by my 35th birthday. I think I will be able too. It's been a long time going because my muscles were practically dead and were very inflexible when I first started. I find much more enjoyment out of my day by incorporating about 2 hours of yoga, stretching, and weight lifting.

Morpheus Autobotious is BACK! you have the net again? Howz the weight loss going? ready for your first MMA event? beat anyone up when they pushed in front of you yet? details details details Morph!?!

I no longer have satelite free to air in OZ is decent enough have around 20 channels (including music and radio channels) handful of those at HD rest are digital...I rarely watch anything but the newz, footbal and cricket though, i download a handful of tv episodes and a couple of movies a day (when avaialable) via bittorrent. More than enough for viewing when relaxing after a day in the workshop and ad free!

KiM

 

[Harold in CR]

I have been to Wikipedia AND Google. Those of us that are NOT into the Communications Industry, OR Electronics Industry, just don't easily comprehend this technology stuff.

Less said it best. "I went to the link and it is in a strange language", or something very similar. I live in the mountains. Info I found says, 45 mile range on UHF. I HAVE VHF, now. All the info on the Channel Master Antenna, (of which I sold and installed for 7 years), says they are discontinued. That Gray Hooverman antenna, is all written in Greek, or some other language.

Not being an EE or whatever it takes to decipher this info, leaves one with the only option, and that is, ask for clarification.

 

[Gordo]

I have been to Wikipedia AND Google. Those of us that are NOT into the Communications Industry, OR Electronics Industry, just don't easily comprehend this technology stuff.

Less said it best. "I went to the link and it is in a strange language", or something very similar. I live in the mountains. Info I found says, 45 mile range on UHF. I HAVE VHF, now. All the info on the Channel Master Antenna, (of which I sold and installed for 7 years), says they are discontinued. That Gray Hooverman antenna, is all written in Greek, or some other language.

Not being an EE or whatever it takes to decipher this info, leaves one with the only option, and that is, ask for clarification.

Harold;
You can't get off that easy. The only difference with digital TV is the antenna is smaller. VHF and UHF are both line of sight. Curvature of the earth and so on. (Obstacale gain aside) Nothing technological or mysterious about it. If you are referring to FREE-TO-AIR (FTA), there are satellites above you, but the channels will undoubtedly be mostly in Spanish. A receiver is @ $200 with a dish antenna. With a compass and looking up on the internet where to point, from where you are, you can receive a limited number of channels FREE. If you wish to become a thief, you can load a program into this receiver, point it at a different satellite and get (pirate) 2000 pay-per-view channels. As someone pointed out, not worth the effort. Nothing electronic. No ohms law, watts, FETs or Lipo involved. No eBikeTV channel. Simply different methods of getting the same garbage. Continue to spend your time harnessing wind, water, solar and feeding the chickens. Much better life.
If you insist on being silly and want to become a thief, PM me and I will point you to the criminal sites. Not advised as many of them are also thieves who will take your money and not give you anything or they are Federal Agents who will put you on their bad boy list and make your life miserable, on your next visit to the free country of your birth. It is a very serious crime to steal TV and the authorities use a lot of effort to stamp this out with large penalties and long prison sentences.

 

[Harold in CR]

Gordo
Much better response, this time. No one said about stealing signals. I was one of the first to sell Dish network, in Florida, before the big dealer network got set up. I was using Direct TV-Sky, here. The commercials and repeat crap is why I canned it.

If you have a wife, you will know why some form of TV is necessary, to maintain peace. I agree with doing other stuff, instead of watching the tube. I only had that dish to watch my RACING programs. Only semblance of sanity I could find.

I have had many occasions to "steal" signals. That's not me.

I have been thinking, this FTA would be similar to the C-Band Satellite system. I know nothing about that, OR, how any of this stuff works. I buy, I install, it works, I got paid.

I would simply like to get American News program. The Internet is no better than MOST TV channels. It's the only form of English I can tolerate. None is easy to find, down here, out in the jungle.

Thank you for explaining this. Harold