OTA-only TV use on the rise again: More than 20 million households

[Nate Wesley]

But its not necessarily because of streaming internet offerings from Hulu or Netflix: It seems most folks are cord-cutting simply to save money in a still-shaky economy.

http://www.gfkinsights4u.com/insights4u.cfm?articleID=511

http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/...aign=US+OTA-Only+TV+Viewing+Hits+17.8%+Of+HHs

What's probably making the loss of subscription TV less painless? The original Gfk article (written by Gfk's media researcher Dave Tice) mentions the improvements DTV broadcasting brought over analog, specifically the availability of new programming services on digital sub-channels. Healthy sections of African-American, Latino, and Asian households are OTA-only, and increasing so amongst young households and low-income households overall--more than 50 million people making broadcast use of a digital TV set.

 

[landtuna]

I would disagree with the digital subs being the prime reason for the return to OTA viewing. Although they may help, particularly with retro and ethnic programming, most other services are worthless.

Here in Phoenix we have something like 60 total digital OTA services available to me. Ten of those are full-power primary broadcasters. The remainder are subs which include:

ThisTV ('B' movies)
RTV (retro TV programming)
ME (retro TV similar to RTV)
PBS Create & World
ION Life & Cartoon

The remainder are religion, Spanish language, infomercial or weather/traffic loops.

Of all of these the only subs I ever watch, and not very often, are ThisTV and PBS World. The remainder are a complete waste to me although I realize that there is a market out there, however small. But two out of 50 isn't a great track record.

I dumped cable simply because it wasn't worth the cost of subscription to me. I didn't watch enough of it. OTA is not great but is OK, and with the programming available at low or no cost via the Internet I am satisfied.

 

[vibe]

I had cable at my seasonal place in SW Fla. Just for the hell of it I bought a 50 cent antenna at a yard sale, was able to pick up 6 nice digital stations (11 subs total) from 35 mi w/ no drops. Yes the subs like Me TV WERE a factor in dropping cable for good. If I want to watch sports, there's a sports bar within walking distance.
Next step-outdoor antenna

 

[gregg75]

I saw another article on the web that predicts this Summer will be the lowest rated Summer ever for the networks. If this continues there will come a day when ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX are cable channels!!!

 

[Mediafrog+]

The economy still stinks, and people are being careful with their money. Only if and when the financial situation of Americans improves will we be able to see if this is a real trend, or just belt-tightening to get us through the bad times.

Price inflation for cable hasn't helped. If a la carte packaging becomes a serious option, we very well could see a reversal of the current trend.

While there are a few pearls amongst the digital OTA subchannels, most of what is offered is either ethnic niche programming (a positive if you are in the target demographic) or the ever present preachers, preachers, preachers, more preachers, yet more preachers, still more preachers, endless preachers, preachers, preachers, preachers, and preachers.

 

[arnoldevns]

In the DFW market, I can get 92 subchannels at my home on my outdoor antenna. Of those, only 24 or so are channels I would ever have any use for. There are numerous religious, infomercial and foreign language stations I have no use for. There are many duplicates too. If these station owners could figure out a way to make better use of the subchannels for the majority of the people in the market, the cord-cutting idea might be a lot more attractive to people here.

 

[therealjm12]

Seems like the most successful sub channels, so far, are the retro nets like Me-TV and Antenna which is fine with me. I think the sub channels and off air viewing will take off when (& if) quality news services and sports channels become available.

 

[KML0224]

The only reason I still have my limited basic service with Comcast is due to reception of local channels. A roof antenna is not practical for where I live in southern Hartford County (CT), especially being at the bottom of a hill and having sites in Farmington (CW, PBS, NBC and FOX), Avon (CBS and UNI), Hamden (ABC and MY) and Montville (ION).

 

[gregg75]

Did you get most of those channels before digital?

 

[wrsg915fm]

If I could have received anything near what is reported here (I got absolutely ZERO, but a neighbor with a much-better location received several stations on the antenna I sold him), I would have probably gotten off Dish (the cable company shut down weeks after the DTV conversion).

 

[landtuna]

I saw another article on the web that predicts this Summer will be the lowest rated Summer ever for the networks. If this continues there will come a day when ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX are cable channels!!!

With the Olympic Games yet to be played? I'm not a big Olympic fan but lots of people are and I see that as a huge boost.

 

[KML0224]

@GREGG75: Most of them. Avon Mountain has always been the site for our CBS and UNI affiliates (channels 3 and 18). PBS Hartford transmitted from there until a year or so before the analog cut-off. As soon as they moved their site from Avon Mountain over to Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington, it was like night and day. No longer did I need to rely on a snowy color signal of their Norwich station (analog channel 53)! Our NBC and FOX affiliates have always transmitted from Rattlesnake Mountain and have never been a major issue. Our ABC affiliate (channel 8 ) was often better than my CBS 3 reception.

In 2012, we have it like this:

WFSB-TV (CBS) channel 3 [D 33] Hartford (SITE: Avon)...in most of the time
WTNH-TV (ABC) channel 8 [D 10] New Haven (SITE: Hamden)...Only received with an RCA "batwing" antenna
WUVN-TV (UNI) channel 18 [D 46] Hartford (SITE: Avon)...chops out a lot
WCCT-TV (CW) channel 20 [D 20] Waterbury (SITE: Farmington)...solid
WEDH-TV (PBS) channel 24 [D 45] Hartford (SITE: Farmington)...solid
WHPX-TV (ION) channel 26 [D 26] New London (SITE: Montville)...in much of the time
WVIT-TV (NBC) channel 30 [D 35] New Britain (SITE: Farmington)...solid
WEDN-TV (PBS) channel 53 [D 9] Norwich (SITE: Bozrah)...yet to receive it, same stuff as WEDH-TV
WCTX-TV (MY) channel 59 [D 39] New Haven (SITE: Hamden)...in most of the time
WTIC-TV (FOX) channel 61 [D 31] Hartford (SITE: Farmington)...solid

Obviously, anything from Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington is going to be solid, since it's 5 miles or less to my northwest. WTNH-TV must have a limited audience outside of New Haven County, using a VHF-high frequency for digital. It's not the site, since I usually get WCTX-TV from the same site. WCCT-TV is licensed to Waterbury, but their digital transmitter is in Farmington (analog 20 used to be down in Prospect, south of I-84). Lastly, if the antenna is in the right position for WHPX-TV from Montville (New London County), I'll get a blip of WPXQ-TV (ION) channel 69 from Block Island/Providence, RI. It helps that their transmitter is only a few miles further away in Exeter, RI, which is closer to Westerly than Providence.

 

[dave73]

I'm one of those who's strictly with OTA TV for financial reasons. I get more than I did with analog, but a couple of low power digital stations are difficult to get without a pre-amp & the UHF antenna pointed just right. I used to use a VHF/UHF combo antenna with a pre-amp, but switched to separate VHF & UHF antennas last December, but still use the same pre-amp I used with the last antenna. For Chicago stations, the channels I watch are:

2.1 WBBM-TV (CBS) (RF 12)

5.1 WMAQ-TV (NBC) (RF 29) watch some programs, but not often.

7.1 WLS-TV (ABC) (RF 7 & 44, but if things work out right for them on RF 44, RF 7 will be eliminated)
7.2 Livewell Network in crappy looking HD for a couple of shows.

9.1 WGN-TV (CW) (RF 19) (mainly watch for the syndicated programming & news).
9.2 Antenna TV

11.1 WTTW in HD (PBS) (RF 47) If I watch this channel at all, it's usually on weekends
11.2 WTTW Prime (locally programmed primetime programming,m anytime)
11.3 Create

13.4 WOCK-CD - America One (RF 4) Only get this channel if I use a pre-amp & an antenna optimized for VHF-Lo.

20.1 WYCC HD (PBS) (RF 21)
20.3 Mhz Worldview

23.1 WWME-LD (MeTV) (RF 39) this channel is iffy, due to a sharp null toward Indiana, protecting then WZZM, who used to be on RF 39, but went back to RF 13.
23.2 Bounce

26.1 WCIU (Ind.) (RF 27) only full power station that requires a pre-amp, or I don't get at all, due to sister station WCWW-LD South Bend, IN also being on RF 27, & broadcasts at 15kw non-directional, while WCIU has a sharp null toward Indiana.
26.2 U Too - time shift programming & some programming that can't fit 26.1's schedule
26.3 WWME-LD simulcast (MeTV) only watch from WCIU if I can't get WWME-LD in clearly.
26.5 This TV

32.1 WFLD (Fox) (RF 31)

38.2 WCPX - Qubo (RF 43) Watch some non-E/I cartoons
38.3 Ion Life (watch when bored, though I've seen practically every episode of every show I like on this channel

48.1 WMEU-CD (MeToo) (RF 32) Local MeTV, & get this channel without a pre-amp

50.1 WPWR-TV (MNT) (RF 51) Mainly watch for some syndicated programming outside of the MNT timeslot.

56.1 WYIN (PBS) (RF 17)

I only listed what I watch & not what I get. There's more I get than what's listed, but I'm only focusing on what I get that I watch.

 

[CrankyYankee]

We're trying to save a few bucks so we've cut Comcast back to basic/lifeline cable only, which is all the broadcast and sub-channels, which makes my bill for the moment in the mid 20$ range. We'll try this for the summer. One big plus is, that by holding on to the digital/HD box, we get on-demand included, but not all channels are available. (I.E. We don't have TNT in our line-up, so we don't have access to TNT via on-demand.)

 

[ansky212]

In the NYC market, most subchannels are either foreign language (Spanish, Asian, Indian) or shopping/infomercial channels. With the exception of Antenna TV and This TV there really aren't any worth watching.

 

[rgseark2009]

There are not any THIS or Antenna TV affiliates in the Little Rock TV market. MeTV is relegated to a low power LPTV station. All stations listed are LR/PB market except for KTVE and KETZ which are licensed to El Dorado AR

KETS (7) 2.1 AETN/Main PBS HD
2.2 PBS Create (in stretchovision)
2.3 AETN Plus/PBS World (all PBS-W programming in stretchovision)
2.4 Radio Reading Service for the Blind (static slide video/mostly audio)

KARK (32) 4.1 KARK (NBC affil) HD

KATV (22) 7.1 KATV (ABC affil) HD
7.2 RTV
7.3 Live Well (SDTV letterbox)

KTVE (27)*10.1 KTVE (NBC affil) HD
10.2 KARD (sub relay of FOX affil KARD) SDTV

KETZ (10)* 12.1 // with KETS 2.1
12.2 // with KETS 2.2
12.3 // with KETS 2.3
12.4 // with KETS 2.4

KTHV (12) 11.1 KTHV (CBS affil) HD
11.2 THV2 (local news/wx sub) SDTV

KLRT (30) 16.1 KLRT (FOX affil) HD
16.2 The Cool TV (pop/rock music videos) SDTV

KVTN (24) 25.1 KVTN (ind religious programming, some Fam Net shows) SDTV

KASN (39) 38.1 KASN (The CW affil) HD
38.2 The Country Network (country music videos) SDTV

KARZ (44) 42.1 KARZ (Ind, w/ MyNetwork prog) HD
42.2 Bounce TV (African-American retro shows, movies) SDTV

 

[gregg75]

Looks like RTV is about the best sub you have...........and that ain't saying much. Can't
believe the ABC station has stuck with RTV instead of switching to the more popular
Antenna TV and Me-TV.

 

[rgseark2009]

Looks like RTV is about the best sub you have...........and that ain't saying much. Can't
believe the ABC station has stuck with RTV instead of switching to the more popular
Antenna TV and Me-TV.

Actually it should be PBS World, but the Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN) has bullheadedly insisted on showing the channel (part time at night) in s t r e t c h o v i s i o n. MeTV is on KMYA-LP 47, a low power station that I cannot receive here 24/7. The stations I listed in the other post were those I receive OTA 24/7.

 

[Fieldtech1]

We cut the cord when we built our new house. The cable company wanted $300 plus dollars to run a burried cable from their pedestool to our home. I purchased a good antenna, and a netflix subscription. I leech wifi using a 802.11x bridge from a nearby school with an open access point. I dont have kids attending school so i figure its retribution for the property taxes I pay to them. ;D

 

[nocomradio]

I dumped DirecTv about 5 years ago, simply because I was paying $70 a month for what amounted to about 4 watchable channels for me. The rest of the stuff wasn't worth it. Bear in mind, this was only for one tier over basic service too. No movie channels. No locals. It was far too expensive and ultimately I haven't missed a thing. I put up an antenna and get around 4 channels. I watch the local (45 miles away) news and that's about it anyway.