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I'll be moving to Raleigh in a month (ITB near Cameron Village and Boylan Heights). I don't want or need cable or satellite TV because they overcharge by a ton for channels I have absolutely no desire to watch. (I never understand how people can complain about gas prices or even paying taxes when they are willing to pay $100-200 each month (!) to get channels that they'll mostly not watch anyway....) I will use the Internet as the primary way for me to watch things, but I am wondering what free over-the-air TV channels I can get in my home since I do prefer to watch sports and local news on live TV rather than on the Internet. I have an analogue TV with a digital converter box, with indoor rabbit-ear antennas. Please comment. Thanks!
I dumped my DirecTV last Feb after realizing that the majority of what I watched was on network TV and there was no point in paying $80/month for TV.
Depending on where you live and the signal strength, you might need to install (or have installed) a UHF antenna on the outside of your dwelling in order to pick up the most channels and the strongest signals.
You should be able to pick up about 20 stations (incl all the majors ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX/CW/PBS) and some more obscure ones too.
I have a converter box on the bedroom TV. I get about 18 stations. Sometimes I have to rescan just to get one to come in clearer. I get the major networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox) and PBS and some of the others that I don't watch much (my-RDC, CW22, etc.) WRAL has an alternate channel (5-2) which airs old movies. (I wish they still had their news channel) WTVD has three channels (11-2 shows a lot of health and wellness programs, 11-3 is weather). WNCN has 3 channels (17-2 shows a lot of beach volleyball for some odd reason and 17-3 is weather). There are 3 UNC channels (4-2 is kids, 4-3 is an explorer station. It used to be just an NC channel, which I miss.)
Considering that most of the shows I watch are either on ABC or CBS, I'm okay with it. The only problem I have is the lack of program guide, but I have found that there are some television sites online that you can program with your zip code and it will give you the broadcast listings.
We canceled our cable a few months ago and bought a powered antenna for our HD signal. It far exceeded my expectations and we added a TiVo onto it so we can record, in lieu of the less-than-stellar Time Warner DVR we had previously been using. All in all we're very happy we made the switch and are saving a lot of money each month.
I'm using Tivo as well. Purchased a 3rd generation Tivo box so I could record HD. Works great. Very happy to be rid of that monthly satellite bill, esp since I don't watch enough TV to justify the expense.
One thing is for sure, if you get good OTA reception with your built in digital tuner
in your snappy new HDTV, you generally get a much nicer HD signal that way.
Most cable companies compress the signal to save bandwidth. The OTA signals
come in full tilt. The PBS station here in Memphis is particularly crisp. I am sure
that the Triangle is about the same.
If you go to AntennaWeb, you can put in your address and see what stations you'll be able to get and which direction to point your antenna to. You can also go to TitanTV - Free Customizable TV Listings to see what subchannels there are for each station.
I'll be moving to Raleigh in a month (ITB near Cameron Village and Boylan Heights). I don't want or need cable or satellite TV because they overcharge by a ton for channels I have absolutely no desire to watch. (I never understand how people can complain about gas prices or even paying taxes when they are willing to pay $100-200 each month (!) to get channels that they'll mostly not watch anyway....) I will use the Internet as the primary way for me to watch things, but I am wondering what free over-the-air TV channels I can get in my home since I do prefer to watch sports and local news on live TV rather than on the Internet. I have an analogue TV with a digital converter box, with indoor rabbit-ear antennas. Please comment. Thanks!
Also between hulu and my $9/mo netflix subscription I get everything I want without giving the bloodsuckers at TW any money
Also between hulu and my $9/mo netflix subscription I get everything I want without giving the bloodsuckers at TW any money
If Hurricanes games were free OTA I'd drop satellite in a heartbeat.
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