As the Time Warner Cable CBS retransmission spat drags on, impacted cable subscribers (or is that former subscribers?) have resorted to HDTV antennas and free OTA broadcasts, if RadioShack’s surge in sales is any indication. And, should you find yourself in a similar situation, let me recommend the amazing Mohu Leaf (~$40). We tend to shy away from hyperbole, but prior to the Leaf review unit I sporadically received a single major network over-the-air… but the Leaf’s stellar reception capabilities have brought the full gamut of broadcast television into my kitchen and allowed me to evaluate Simple.TV (despite AntennaWeb indicating need for a rooftop solution). Its thin profile and reversible black/white presentation also allows for subtle yet effective placement around the house. Of course, your mileage may vary, dependent on a multitude of factors, but I’m a believer.
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That's an interesting correlation.
I never considered going OTA. Instead, I added the RSS feeds for CBS shows to my torrent program so they automatically download. Just another chip in the wall separating me from cutting the cord entirely.
I only pay because I have the money and feel I _should_ pay. It's the adult thing to do. But when they take away that option... shrug. They're forcing my hand.
When my tivo dies, will I buy a new one or just cancel cable TV? Hmm. Difficult to say.
So a few people are *FINALLY* going OTA? All I can say is WELL IT IS ABOUT BLOODY TIME!!! My wife and I made the not-too-difficult decision to dump paying for TV in 2005 and we haven't missed a damn thing. Way back when (and I'm referring to the late 70s when cable first hit my neighborhood), the primary benefit of paying for TV was to enjoy commercial free programming. That never happened - except for the pay on top of the pay TV channels such as HBO and the like. On the regular channels, there have always been commercials. Over the years the frequency and length of the breaks - the overall commercial "density" has steadily increased to the point where my wife and I literally forgot what show we had been watching. It is the commercials and the commercials ALONE which drove us as customers away from cable. It is a monumentally stupid thing to pay $100/month for 22 minutes of commercials per hour.
Dave - thanks for the link (though you could have at least linked to one of RadioShack's antennas.....;))
The other thing that most people don't know about OTA HDTV is that it's actually higher quality, because it's uncompressed. The signal you get from cable or DSL or whatever is usually compressed, so you MIGHT be getting 1080i, on a good day, instead of full 1080p.
Also, as an FYI, the RadioShack Antennacraft brand antennas are pretty impressive - we test them ourselves, in a testing lab here at our Fort Worth headquarters, through a number of impressive tests. At least I was impressed when I found this out.
Disclaimer: I work at RadioShack on the Social Media Team. I've been a reader here for years, and just wanted to chime in.