over the air (OTA) tv in simpsonville? (Welcome: credit, movies)

[tj900]

Any one doing this? Id love dumping my ~$65/month bill every month with Directv.

Big problem for me is that since I have elementary school kids, most of the programming we watch is history, discovery, animal planet type shows. I know that the OTA is mostly main netowrk (ABC, NBC, CBS) broadcast, but wondering too if many of the episodes for family entertainment can be found via HULU or something I can download off the internet.

TIA! TJ900

[NoodlesKnowles]

Originally Posted by tj900

Any one doing this? Id love dumping my ~$65/month bill every month with Directv.

Big problem for me is that since I have elementary school kids, most of the programming we watch is history, discovery, animal planet type shows. I know that the OTA is mostly main network (ABC, NBC, CBS) broadcast, but wondering too if many of the episodes for family entertainment can be found via HULU or something I can download off the internet.

TIA! TJ900

ABC CBS and NBC all usually have their stuff on HULU as well as on their own websites, so do many other networks, I do watch some shows on the history channel website as well.

I have an antenna that picks up OTA in HD as well, it includes the usual networks(abc,cbs,nbc, fox + fox weather) plus a religious channel, NBC now has a second broadcast channel call THIS, I haven't watched it much yet its new, then theres a channel that usually runs educational programming for kids, cartoons and such, I think its called ei? etv which seems to be an educational channel(documentaries, news) channel, and a standard pbs channel, all in all its about 15 channels .

Netflix is now streaming many things over the internet, you can pick up many educational shows documentaries and movies that way.

I don't see the point in spending $60-100 dollars on a cable bill when I don't even watch most of the channels. I have a desktop computer tower connected directly via HDMI to my 42inch living room screen and thats how I watch tv .

Also many Tv's now include internet capability without needing a computer, I know a new tv can be expensive but weighed against the cost of a cable bill over a year you would probably still save yourself some money

FYI, I am in easley not in simpsonville, but I think these channels are pretty universal around the area, as long as you have digital antenna capability

[tj900]

Thanks for the information. I think Im going to try this route. Do you have an antenna routed thru the PC as welll or are you going internet for everything?

Do you know if there is a source for streaming FOX and/or CNN news (the national news service - not the local FOX)?

[NoodlesKnowles]

Originally Posted by tj900

Thanks for the information. I think Im going to try this route. Do you have an antenna routed thru the PC as welll or are you going internet for everything?

Do you know if there is a source for streaming FOX and/or CNN news (the national news service - not the local FOX)?

The antenna is run through the tv, oh and my netflix is run through my nintendo wii, I think xbox and ps3 all have netflix capabilities

[Eric_96SC]

We use Netflix and Hulu Plus through the PS3, with an HDMI cable connecting a DIY HTPC to the TV, as well for streaming the odd content that can't play through the playstation. No OTA antenna, as we have way too much tree cover without a big, multi-element rooftop antenna. If you're diligent, you can find everything from SpongeBob to NatGeo online to watch for free.

We cut our television (and Internet) bill down from over $100 per month to around $45, not counting the cost of the PC, which was really just thrown together from spare parts.

This site gives a pretty good idea of what OTA channels you should be able to get, and what type of antenna would be required to get those channels. AntennaWeb

[tj900]

Thanks again for the info. I tried to sell the wife on cutting the cable/sat bill. She wouldnt go for it cold turkey - bummer. However, she did bless the funding for a PC/TV Card/Antenna to demonstrate feasibility. That will be a hobby project for me the next 3 months to see how far I can get with this. I know its got to be possible, but I want to make sure that its useable by the other family members that are not as much of a geek as I am...

I forgot to mention that I did sell her on cutting the landline phone. That was costing us $40 /month in san diego when you looked at service plus all the taxes! If I can kill the TV bill, Ill be down to the $45 number eric is at above.

BTW, why do you run Netflix and hulu thru PS3 when you have a PC? I dont have a PS3, but I do have a WII. Why would I want to use that? Shouldnt the PC only make for a cleaner, simpler installation?

[Eric_96SC]

The PC was being used primarily with PlayOn and TVersity to re-encode and stream video and music to the TV back when Hulu was blocking the PS3 browser. I bought a bluetooth keyboard that pairs with the PS3 controller, which also can act like the trackpad on a laptop, so that makes it easier that having a keyboard and mouse sitting around all the time -- especially with a 2-year old wanting to push the buttons all the time.

Now that Hulu and Netflix have apps that make them are easier to use through the PS3, the PC doesn't get used anywhere near as much as it did before. I use it as something of a NAS server now, and to stream the stuff that isn't Playstation friendly, like many of the non-Hulu/Netflix sites are, and to rip all of those DVDs that we bought in the past to XVid for storing on the PC's internal 500 gig HDD. I also have a 500 gig HDD with two FAT32 partitions hooked to one of the PS3's USB ports, and almost all of our 300+ DVD collection is on the two drives for easy access (and all of those DVDs are now in storage - yay!).

As soon as I can afford to blow some money on a Blu-ray burner for the PC, I'll be doing the same with our couple dozen Blu-ray movies on the PC since the PS3 doesn't like files that large.

I hope that makes sense. It might sound kind of convoluted, but it works pretty well.

If it would help, I can snap some photos of the setup and DM them to you or something.

[Eric_96SC]

After reading my response, I realize that I didn't actually answer your question.

The Playstation is a better media center than the PC that I have connected to the TV right now, insofar as the quality of the video and ease of access to the entertainment that is Hulu and Netflix.

Credit to the PC, and as an aside, I very recently updated the video card to a relatively inexpensive Radeon 4670 and I've been able to watch bowl games through the PC to TV in HD quality for free. I'm sure Charter hates that.

[tj900]

Thanks for the info. Its a lot to digest. Im sure it will make more sense once I get into it. Ill look you up once I get situated and start diving into this! Thx, tj900