Scott Tilley: Life is good for this ex-cable TV viewer
As much as I absolutely love dealing with cable companies, I’m finally cutting the cord. From now on, my TV viewing will be from streaming online from sources such as Netflix, and free over-the-air signals from the major broadcasters. I’m saying “goodbye” to cable TV for good.
Why now? Because the local cable company is forcing me to install yet another device to receive their programming. They are going to an “all-digital” format in about a month. I hate having more boxes connected to the TV: more power adapters, more remote controls, more mess.
Moreover, I didn’t ask for it. I don’t want access to most of the new channels they are offering. In fact, I find TV in general to be a vast wasteland of annoying advertising and ridiculous reality shows that I’m not interested in viewing. I’m certainly not interested in paying for them. Dismal content is no better in HD.
One assumes this change is being made so that the cable company can reduce its infrastructure costs; carrying analog and digital signals is not as efficient as carrying digital only. But the official reason (according to the literature I received from them), reads like ObamaCare for TV: It’s better. Trust us.
But, “better” for whom? The answer should be obvious: for them. Not for me.
So I’m declining their offer and switching to a hybrid viewing model of new and old technology. The new technology is watching most programming streaming over the Internet. There’s a small charge to subscribe to Apple TV or Netflix, but the selection is great and there’s no commercials. This is the method I use for the majority of my viewing these days.
The old technology is using an antenna. When broadcasters switched to digital signals to support HD, it breathed new life into the antenna industry. Years ago most people used rabbit ears; some homes bristled with large and ungainly antennas on their roof. Today you can use a small antenna and receive free programming from all the major networks.
Even here in Melbourne, I can receive ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and so on, all in clear HD format, for no charge.
The antenna I use is from an American company, Winegard. It cost $60, is about the size of a dinner plate, and is as thin as a piece of paper.
It can lie flat or be attached to a wall or window. One cable connects it to the TV and voila – life is good.
Scott Tilley is a professor at Florida Tech in Melbourne