I added up the cost of all the streaming services I use and it’s $193.67 per month.
Granted, I am not made of money so I don’t actually spend that per month, because for some of those, I will continue sharing a login with someone else across the city (or across the country) until that service decides to put a stop to it. For others, I don’t subscribe every month — I sign up, binge what I want for a month, and then cancel.
Last night, Abbott Elementary season 3 premiered and there were a couple of trending topics related to the show. One of the questions you see often is some version of “how do I watch ABC?”
(link)
People who have cut the cord want to watch live, not the next day, and most people whose TV experience is solely through streaming services do not have basic cable in their lineup.
Y’all. It’s time to bring the antenna back.
Before streaming, before the Internet, before satellite dishes, and before cable, we had broadcast television sent through the air from powerful towers and intercepted by antennas attached to the television. Those same towers still exist and they’re still sending out free television everyday, all day.
From the 1920s to the 1950s, broadcast television (usually called terrestrial or over-the-air outside of Canada and the US) was the only way available to watch TV until the advent of television signals piped in through wires instead of through the air when cable TV was born. Cable TV solved many problems faced by broadcast television because the broadcast signal was reliant on line of sight. With cable, there could be a mountain or a tornado in the way, and your television program would come through just fine.
Television antennas and the strength of broadcast signals in general have improved a lot over the past century. One, the signals are stronger, and two, the signals are mostly digital instead of analog these days. If you live in a large enough market, your broadcast television signal could even have a better, clearer, more crisp picture than your digital streaming service, with no lag-time or pauses due to internet issues. Put your address in here to see what’s available near you and how strong the signal is:
It’s not perfect, because the prognostication is based on an antenna 30 feet above the ground, but in a place like New York where 30 feet above the ground is still blocked by buildings, it’s a great predictor of whether your indoor antenna will grab a nice signal.
(but if you’re in the suburbs, just put one on your roof like ancient times)
If the channels you want have a nice signal in your area, go online and buy an antenna! Make sure the company has a decent return policy, just in case your TV signal really does suck, and now you can watch awards shows, sporting events, and primetime television live without an extra “Live TV Package Upcharge” on your favorite streaming service. There’s really no good reason for you to pay another $18 just two be able to tweet along with the Grammy Awards unless you really are made of money.
And if you are made of money, I am free Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons for dating purposes.
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