Interesting News Tonight

[Stompin at the Savoy]

5 minutes ago, JSngry said:

But even broadcast signal is digital now. You got subchannels and whatnot, and our cable company carries almost all of them.

And almost all network shows can be streamed at any time. Time-shifting as the called it when it was done with a VCR.

I think the reality is probably a lot more nuanced than this report says 

Digital broadcast tv has probably accounted for some drift back to broadcast tv.  You get high definition for free with an antenna.

[JSngry]

Cord-cutting is tempting, but the numbers aren't adding up for us yet.

[GA Russell]

I interpret the article to refer to the method by which shows are watched, rather than the shows themselves.

[JSngry]

So yeah, most people do cable, streaming, or both, and the trend continues.

[Stompin at the Savoy]

I used cable long ago but I've been using over the air broadcast tv since 2014.  Back in those days Windows 7 and 8 had a program called Windows Media Center which, along with a usb stick tuner, allowed you to view and record OTA and other inputs on a PC, which I've been doing since then. Microsoft eventually discontinued support and stopped supplying tv schedules for the program but there is a cheap service ($25/yr) called Schedules Direct which works with WMC.  I mainly watch PBS and am a member of Southern Oregon PBS so streaming with PBS Passport is taking over a lot of my viewing.  But picking up an inexpensive and small antenna and trying OTA on your tv set is an option people should consider, depending on the availability of signals in your area.  The resolution is superb and it's free.

Edited Wednesday at 04:34 AM by Stompin at the Savoy

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I haven't used OTA for about 45 years. None of the areas I've lived in have had adequate reception even if I wanted to. Plus, like Jim mentions, me & my wife time shift our TV watching so we can skip commercials, which is especially nice when political ads take over during elections.

These days, I use YouTube TV, which is suppose is "streaming", but we use it to watch broadcast TV.

Which brings me back to this graphic... we still watch "broadcast TV" channels but just not OTA. If this pie chart is trying to show that OTA TV watching is at an all time low, why doesn't that slice of pie say "Over the air"?

[Stompin at the Savoy]

3 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

 

These days, I use YouTube TV, which is suppose is "streaming", but we use it to watch broadcast TV.

Which brings me back to this graphic... we still watch "broadcast TV" channels but just not OTA. If this pie chart is trying to show that OTA TV watching is at an all time low, why doesn't that slice of pie say "Over the air"?

Because terms like broadcast tv, streaming and cable tv refer to the method of signal propagation, in other words OTA, internet, or using some sort of land cable.  Not which channels are carried.  Broadcast tv = OTA.

I can see why you are thinking like that.  When we were younger broadcast and cable were each synonymous with a set of channels.  Network tv was broadcast and CNN, etc were cable.  But now I receive channels that I used to think of as cable - but via OTA!

I live in a rural part of Oregon.  OTA tv signals are available here from a number of mountain top broadcast stations but they are all fairly far away, so my signal can be weak or intermittent.  Lots of mountains here and line of sight often won't work - usually has to be a bounce.  I use a signal amplifier, which is a small, inexpensive gadget that goes in between the antenna (a paper-thin sheet about a foot square) and the tv (or pc).  Numerous good signals from several directions.

Edited Wednesday at 02:15 PM by Stompin at the Savoy

[BFrank]

We finally cut the cable (Xfinity) early this year and switched to YouTubeTV for a fraction of the cost. Not only that, they carry more channels that we actually watch than the cable company (who BTW kept raising prices and taking away channels). I actually think the picture is better, too.

[rostasi]

Used only OTA until 2020. Bought FireTV Recast to record, but they stopped supporting it and then it started to breakdown, but OTA is still available to us -
tho an added extra problem is that we've had to often get on the roof to adjust the antenna every few years (by lowering it) because of the ever increasing number of cell towers that interfere.

[rostasi]

World’s oldest marathon runner, Fauja Singh, dies at 114 after being hit by a car.

[GA Russell]

White Man Pretends To Be Genderfluid Black Migrant,
Writes Horrible Poems,
Gets Published 47 Times