People under 25, how many of you are aware that you can get 1080p HD TV programming (and many live sports) for free over the air with no app sign-in or susbscription fee? : asklemmy

[-] egrets@lemmy.world 71 points 10 months ago

The cost to move to America is quite steep, though, and there are significant drawbacks.

[-] Mr_Blott@feddit.uk 32 points 10 months ago

Dunno where you are but most countries I've visited in Europe have hundreds of free TV channels broadcast over the air. Minimal ads because a lot of the channels are tax subsidised, or like the UK, a loicense innit

Where I am, you get a TV streaming box from your ISP for a few euros, and streaming is free for about 200 channels; ad breaks are around one minute long every 30 minutes

[-] hawdini@feddit.uk 14 points 10 months ago

Heck, here in the UK, we have a TV licence and the OG ad-free service, the BBC.

Yeah, the BBC has had its fair share of controversies over the years, but I’m still glad it’s there and still ad-free.

[-] Mr_Blott@feddit.uk 23 points 10 months ago

People who say the TV licence is a ripoff should be made to watch US cable TV. I nearly gouged my fucking eyes out with a rusty spoon.

The BBC produces the best quality TV programming on the planet

An awful lot of shite as well

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[-] Boomkop3@reddthat.com 52 points 10 months ago

I am aware. I am also aware that I haven't used cable tv over a decade and I do not regret ditching that garbage

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[+] spizzat2@lemm.ee 52 points 10 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

[deleted]

[-] yannic@lemmy.ca 11 points 10 months ago

Ditto. We went from having five channels, one snowy on a bad day, plus a bonus 6th channel when the stars aligned, to two channels at best.

The broadcasters and regulators took a basic fact about digital signals "We can get a better quality signal with less transmission power" and saw it as a challenge to set up their digital transmitters with the most conservative estimate of minimum power required. I haven't studied well enough for my amateur radio exam to know if I'm comparing apples to oranges, but I'm still shocked to see descriptions of transmitter power go from 100kW in one case to below 20kW.

[-] ch00f@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

I hear that. We have an attic yagi aimed directly at Seattle from 10 miles away, and we still get the occasional dropout even on our strongest signals.

Still when it works, it works really well. We watch Nature and Nova on Sundays, and the wildlife footage looks incredible.

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[-] mosiacmango@lemm.ee 49 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Ads, ads everywhere.

Besides there, there is also a 4k OTA standard, ATSC 3.0. Most TVs don't support it yet, but some do. Worth googling before you buy. You can also get something like an silcondust 4k standalone tuner and plug that into your home network instead. You then load its app to watch over the air TV in 4k.

If you do buy the silicondust tuner, you can go further and get a DVR going. Plenty of free projects that will help you setup and record TV like jellyfin, and many of them will auto-skip the ads too with an application called comskip.

[-] altima_neo@lemmy.zip 21 points 10 months ago

Atsc 3.0 requires an internet connection for it's bullshit DRM

[-] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

Woww, over the air broadcasts with copy protection? 🤮

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[-] Kushan@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

That seems entirely pointless then, why not just stream the content.

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[-] PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz 47 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I don't care about cable TV. In Hungary nearly all news broadcasts over here are just propaganda machines and spitting out literal garbage content. Also the ads.

UbO + Internet + torrent goes br

23 year old here btw

[-] observes_depths@aussie.zone 10 points 10 months ago

This (applies everywhere). Besides it's all aimed at boomers and not at all engaging. People who are internet savvy can easily find better free content.

[-] ch00f@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

See this is what I’m talking about. Cable is not the same as over the air. I’m not sure how your cable works in Hungary content/pricing-wise, but I do find it funny that a lot of younger people in this thread are lumping the two together.

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[-] Luffy879@lemmy.ml 7 points 10 months ago

Im really glad I moved to germany, aside from all my bad experiences there, the whole place was a shithole from the beginning. I just want to See that place burn

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[-] COASTER1921@lemmy.ml 36 points 10 months ago

The ads on over the air programming are so so terrible. And even with a great antenna the many channels aren't exactly the highest quality content even if they didn't have ads.

YouTube has taken the place of over the air TV and for good reason.

[-] jerkface@lemmy.ca 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

It has taken the place in people's behaviour but it has not taken the place functionally. No doubt, you use technology to filter ads out of YouTube viewing, and one could do the same with OTA broadcasts.

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[-] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 20 points 10 months ago

You mean OTA TV? I don't even watch sports, the rest has 10 minute advertisements. And considering it's digital, I don't find it interesting at all. Yes, a weird reason, but anyway.

[-] ch00f@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

For like $150, you can get a Tablo DVR or similar that records what you want to watch, auto skips the ads, and streams it over WiFi to your phone or laptop. Just leave it on for a year and boom: entire season of whatever show is now yours forever for free.

[-] n0clue@lemmy.world 23 points 10 months ago

Just pirate it at that point.

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[-] OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml 7 points 10 months ago

Or you could just use https://bitsearch.to/and save yourself buying a TV

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[-] uberstar@lemmy.ml 19 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yes.

https://fmhy.net/videopiracyguide#live-tv-sports

Although I don't tune in to live sports, I just share resources to find free livestreams/media with others :P

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[-] davel@lemmy.ml 17 points 10 months ago

What’s the password for the “UHF” wifi?

[-] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago

Password is WeirdAl.

[-] LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

We've got it all on UHF!

[-] nightwatch_admin@feddit.nl 6 points 10 months ago

SUPPLIES!

[-] TheRealKuni@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

SPATULA CITY!

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[-] Vendetta9076@sh.itjust.works 15 points 10 months ago

why would I use that when I have a *arr setup?

[-] turkalino@lemmy.yachts 10 points 10 months ago

People would be talking about it if there was anything actually worth watching on OTA channels

[-] ch00f@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

Have you looked? A bunch of the new shows on Hulu are broadcast. Lots of reality TV. PBS rules.

Also a bunch of movies. Especially shitty Christmas movies around the holidays which are a personal favorite.

[-] Microw@lemm.ee 10 points 10 months ago

Linear TV over an antenna? Well that's only technically free. You'd need to buy a receiving device - that costs money. You need to watch ads - that costs time.

[-] ch00f@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

Well considering many paid tiers of streaming services also serve ads, I consider it free-er than that.

Also, most of the hardware is already inside your TV. You just need a $20 antenna.

[-] Microw@lemm.ee 7 points 10 months ago

I have no TV. I watch all my movies and series via a big PC screen which has no TV functionality.

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[-] QuikxSpec@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

You can also watch Pluto TV. No sign in or fee. Lots of 24:7 dedicated channels for shows like Midsommer Murders, MST3K, Americas Test Kitchen, etc as well as variety genre channels

[-] lohky@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Are you my wife? Since we discovered Pluto, our TVs are constantly flipping between America's Test Kitchen, MST3K, Antiques Roadshow and Jersey Shore if we're feeling especially rowdy.

There's also a Mr Rodger's Neighborhood channel that our we leave running in the mornings for kid and dogs when we leave hah.

[-] thepreciousboar@lemm.ee 9 points 10 months ago

(Assuming you mean DVB-T). In some place OTA is just the standard. Where I'm from cable TV is simply unheard of and all terrestrial digital channels are free with varying degree of ads.

Another great example of how things work so different in different parts of the world

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[-] RIPandTERROR@sh.itjust.works 9 points 10 months ago

You can also just pirate

[-] 11111one11111@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

A $10 antenna to watch NFL games is so much more convenient and better quality than any of the pirated streaming options. Broadcast TV trumps Pirating for live shit 100%. Pirate everything else.

[-] RIPandTERROR@sh.itjust.works 9 points 10 months ago

Yeah but then you have to watch football. Why go through the suffering? Lol

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[-] Interstellar_1 7 points 10 months ago

I assume this depends on where you live, though.

[-] spicytuna62@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Living in tornado alley, having a TV antenna and a weather radio is almost a requirement. If the Internet gets knocked out, OTA still works. Also, my Internet is shit so I wouldn't rely on it if a tornado is bearing down on my location, but I do also love watching 9½ hours of nonstop tornado coverage when nasty storms might come my way.

Outside of that, I know to tune in at about :15 past the hour during newscasts to catch the weather report, which gets uploaded to their website later anyway. If the football game is on, I might catch that if I care to watch. I don't really watch OTA otherwise.

But I'm 32 lol

[-] Boomkop3@reddthat.com 7 points 10 months ago

Whatever, all free broadcasts are on YouTube anyways. But on demand and adblock exists

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[-] TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works 7 points 10 months ago

17 here, my grandparents used it before switching 1-2 years ago. Can't imagine the ads are any better that less people watch it and staticy stations were annoying.

I myself don't watch TV that much, mainly YouTube or music. In the last month I've watched ~3 episodes of impractical jokers on the family TV, and 8 episodes of South Park on my Steamdeck before bed.

[-] GrammarPolice@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Bro is 17 in this economy 💀

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[-] Roldyclark@literature.cafe 5 points 10 months ago

I love my rabbit ears. Watch local news and the super bowl if I care that year.

[-] flashgnash@lemm.ee 5 points 10 months ago

Vaguely aware that's a thing you can do, but I have no reason to use it as I don't really watch anything on regular TV anyway

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