I have Dish, and several months left on the 2 year contract.

Several weeks ago Dish and NBC parted ways for the moment, which is fine, except I was missing Sunday Night Football.

At first I bought a cheap antenna to try to watch the games, but did not work well at all.

Then I purchased a $150.00 antenna, and holy crap, I get 106 channels over the air now for FREE!

I had no clue there were so many channels that can be picked up for free, and so many that I watch on dish anyway.

Pretty much every channel except for ESPN, Discovery, and History.

I figure when my 2 year contract is up, I will offer to pay dish for 5 months a year during football season, and the rest of the year I will watch TV for free.

It does also depend on how well the reception is once the leaves are back on the trees. I have plenty of time to test the antenna.

I would love to start saving some money not paying for TV, but at the same time I figure life is short, so enjoy everything I can.

At the same time it would be nice if more and more people went to over the air free TV, so maybe ESPN and other channels would have to switch to over the air to keep up their advertising income. (over the air, no streaming or anything, just FREE!)

Over the air numbers are weird, like for NBC channel 11 local, it is 11-1 on this, and every channel has that - in between the numbers.

(I mounted the antenna on my storage building out back, which is higher up than my house).

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This is a great site for TV listings:

nocable.org/tvlistings

I need to test my antenna some more, but the other day it worked fine with the leaves back on the trees.

I have been weening myself away from shows that I can not get through the antenna.

As soon as my DISH TV contract is up I plan to go antenna only, unless I can get a deal somewhere to have ESPN for cheap during football season.

But at this point, for 80 bucks a month I can also miss a few football games.

My contact is up with Dish in a couple of months, and I am cutting the cord.

I am happy with an antenna I have, but I would like to know what the absolute best outdoor antenna there is, I would like to see if I can pick up even more channels.

Eventually I will also need to learn how to stream ESPN, for football next Fall.

I have been happy with Dish, but I am trying to move away from most TV shows that are not on local channels for free.

I have been paying $82.50 a month, and no longer worth it when all I need is 5 months of ESPN a year.

I had already posted this here:

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This antenna is very good for several local channels, while some other channels mess up more than they work.

ChannelMaster.com shows everything I should be able to get, but a few I do not get well, or at all.

Someone local had told me that they used to have the antenna that I have, and they found a much better one, and I do not want to call them about it, but at least I know there are better antennas.

Hopefully someone here will know the absolute best outdoor antenna and post it.

Never thought about that. I may see if Dish will let me freeze for 6 months after football season.

Depends on what I can learn about just streaming ESPN for 6 months at a time.

Any chance you have the make and model number of that antenna?

Is that the antenna, or something else?

Thanks!

That is what I really need to find, someone local that installs for a living.

My antenna is 18 feet up in the air, but plenty of trees, no direct view of Atlanta from here.

I have tested and found that the trees do not matter, signal is just as good in Summer with the leaves on the trees.

I guess it is just a HD thing, but kind of a pain that when there is a bit of a signal loss the picture goes black, instead of just getting fuzzy, like back in the 1970's.

The major local channels are strong and clear though, and so is COZI, but some other channels I had never heard of, but should get, messes up too much.

It would be sweet if enough people cut the cord, that the NFL started losing advertisers, and money, and cut ties with ESPN, and put Monday Night Football back on local channels.

I mean C'mon man! If we have to pay for ESPN to watch a game it should be commercial free, or just put the games back on local TV, and show commercials the same as always.

The more I think about it, even if Dish would let me freeze for 6 months, the 6 months that I paid 82.50 would really equal about 10 bucks for each game I watch, (college and NFL) and I really need to play my games more, and go fishing more, so I may get in a habit of just checking some scores, instead of watching games on ESPN.

Pretty sure the same company that owns ESPN also owns ABC, so no reason for all games not to be on local and free TV.

I can get rid of pay TV, but not internet. I am self-employed, and so much tax stuff and other stuff has to be done over the internet anymore it is just stupid.

With the post office always in trouble you would think that they would help keep it alive, but instead, everything has to be online, and no stamp money for mail to the post office. And this is nothing new, been going on for over a decade now.

If I decide to go free antenna only, and pay to stream ESPN during football season, how does that work?

My guess is I will need a smart TV, but not sure if everything is done through the TV then, or if I have to use my computer, and maybe even have to run the wire from my modem to the TV?

My modem does have 4 spaces for plugs available, and only one is being used, to go to my computer.

I have no problem buying a smart TV, my current TV is pretty old.

After I cancel Dish in January, I plan to go ahead and get a smart TV not long after that, and somehow get it all figured out, the least expensive way to never pay a dime for TV again, except for ESPN during football season.

I have no plans to ever watch TV on a phone, or even my computer monitor, I will want to watch ESPN on my TV only.

And I do want to say THANK YOU! To everyone here, for all the time you spend here helping and giving advice.

The buttons on the remote control on the old TV are pretty much shot. Also, it does not have the ethernet connection that I would need to plug my modem into it. Those are the main 2 reasons that when I cut the cord, I plan to get a smart TV.

Also, I have been told that smart TV's have ESPN right on it as an easy to find button.

Thanks again to everyone here that offers advice. I am trying to learn.

I will always have Comcast for internet, I need it for business, but cutting the cord with Dish TV soon, and will just be streaming ESPN somehow during football season. (Along with OTA local channels for free with my antenna for the rest of what I want to watch).

Anyway, I just got an email from Comcast, does anyone know about this stuff:

Get your free Flex box and enjoy premium entertainment

Flex is free with your Xfinity Internet, and includes movies, shows,
and more. Get yours in time to enjoy Free TV Week from Nov 22-28.

Thanks!

Thanks!

I have never bookmarked a post, never tried, but I did both of those.

Except for ESPN during football season, I will have no need to stream anything, and someone here has already posted that is 10 bucks a month.

I will try the FLEX first, but either way I am pretty sure there will be no need to upgrade to a smart TV now.

In a couple of months when my contract with Dish is up, I will no longer spend 1k a year on TV, at most hopefully 50 bucks for ESPN during football season.

My OTA antenna and wiring for it was around 350.00, and that is fine.

It picks up most channels I want very good.

After having cable or satellite since I was like 8 years old, I had forgot that TV can be free.

No complaints about internet, wish it was cheaper, but I need it for business, and goofing off here, and streaming football games next season.

I have no problems with commercials, as long as the mute button works. Most of the time they work out good for me to take a bathroom break and get another beer.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone here that helps give good advice on ways to save money, while still being able to watch what we like.

THANKS!

I was only paying 57.00 a month for Comcast, but they ticked me off being too slow to restore service after a storm hit (like 3 months before I got internet back, would have been the same time with TV), so that is when I went to Dish, and have been paying 82.00 a month, with a few more channels.

But I have found I get OTA reception pretty good, so in a couple of months I will cancel, and save some money.

I have pretty much already weened myself off everything that is not OTA, and to save money I can miss some football also if needed.

If enough people would stop paying, maybe more shows would go OTA, so they can make their money with paid advertising, like in the old days.

As long as my mute button works, I am fine with commercials, I need time to go get another beer anyway.

So, what kind of antenna do you have?

Thanks for the Amazon link, I will probably buy one of those. I am saving the info.

Can always just hit the mute button and go get another beer also.

What is the best way to make a payment then?

Just curious, recently I was talking to someone, and they mentioned that they were paying 16 bucks a month and had plenty of channels.

I am glad that I have been reading all of this for a while and talking to friends.

My Dish TV bill just went from 82.50 to 129.00. I am cancelling the 2nd week of January, as I have been planning to do for a while.

At first just using the antenna, but when one friend has time, I am going with some service that he has been using for 5 years that he loves.

Going to get him to hook all of that up.

In the meantime, I am going to get a prepaid credit card, or a gift card or something before then, just in case.

At the worst, if I stay 100% OTA and just pay to stream ESPN during football season, that will save a whole lot of money and I will be able to watch what I want anyway.

I finally cut the cord yesterday. Just OTA for now, and plenty of channels and stuff to watch, all good!

Dish TV wasn't too bad, so far, they are sending me a carton to put the boxes in to ship back to them. They did try to talk me into staying and giving me a $40 discount, after they had just gone up by $40. I had planned to cancel a long time ago.

The only thing I miss is not being able to pause live tv, and not having on demand.

I already have a firestick, and when we have time, a friend is going to come over and show me all about the streaming stuff.

I also recently switched my cell phone from Verizon to Comcast, supposed to save me 100 bucks a month, I will see.

I haven't counted how many I get. The major networks come in awesome, while some other channels mess up a tad.

One weird thing though, none of the channels match words and lips. I get sound about 2 seconds before picture.

I did buy a Fire Stick, haven't used it much yet. I may eventually pay a few bucks to stream Monday night football and college games, but no more money will be spent on cable or dish tv again.

If you look around in your Amazon, and see that Repo Games, and 1000 Way to Die are in there free with subscription, please let me know. I have been wanting my girlfriend to see those shows. Thanks!

Thanks, it seems better now, not perfect, but a lot better.

I have never done that before; I just always order enough to get free shipping.

Is their TV stuff included with a prime subscription, or does it cost even more?

I have 2 boxes on 2 different tv's for the antenna, and one just went out, will not power on. Name brand is Core, only one Wally World sells.

I really don't mind spending another 40 bucks for a box for all the free channels I get, but is this normal? Do these boxes fail often?

I stream a little for some other channels, and some channels are fine, and some messes up. At first I thought I needed more internet speed, but really seems like some channels just do not do well streaming, while others are fine.

Over the air digital tv converter and DVR.

Yes, same thing except for the brand name.

Thanks for posting this, I just bookmarked it for later, because these are 44 bucks at Wally World now.

I get 88 channels OTA, with several pretty good ones.

I have found, after someone told me, thought it was here, could not find it, that these boxes work best if unplugged daily for 10 seconds.

The lip movements and sound get way off, but after the unplugging and plugging back, everything works perfect.

I also unplug the firestick for 10 seconds and plug it back in when I am ready to use it, seems to make it work better also.

It is so awesome having free TV!

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I had never really thought about any of this, until over a year ago when DISH was in a dispute with the station that carries SNF, and after missing a few games I looked on here to see what antenna works best.

I am still amazed at how well the antenna does, and what all I can pick up for free.

My girlfriend has mentioned Pluto TV, and I noticed it is already on my firestick. I looked at it, and it seems very good, and free. Even has Weather Nation, which I like a lot better than the Weather Channel.

A while back I think it was mentioned that someone wants a tv guide with streaming services.

I just keep 2 browsers open on my computer, one for the antenna, with the weird number channels like 2-1 and 5-1, and another is the tv guide channel, so I can look over everything very easy by network.

It is very sweet having plenty to watch on tv, with no monthly bills anymore.

I killed DISH at the beginning of this year.

I was already using an antenna to get local stuff that they were always in conflict with anyway, and it got old.

I was amazed how well the antenna does.

I had no clue about IPTV stuff, until a friend hooked me up. I will not name the service I use, nor would I recommend it, because like the other day I wanted to watch Skin Walker Ranch, and that channel was not available.

The movies in the IPTV works fine though, if they will play at first. It is hit or miss, but for the cost I am not complaining.

One thing I really liked with DISH was having Weather Nation for weather stuff, screw The Weather Channel, with all of their stupid shows they have turned into MTV, in a certain way.

I actually looked into Weather Nation, and found they were on Pluto TV for free, so I downloaded that, and it is even better than DISH ever was, on the left of the screen it is always my local weather, and not other crap.

I haven't tried Pluto for anything other than Weather Nation, but I know they have a lot of movies there for free also, with commercials.

Commercials do not really bother me, I need to go get another beer, or take a leak when they are on anyway.

I see VPN mentioned here sometimes, I still have no clue what that is.

My friend hooked me up with this IPTV because I mentioned I was cutting the cord, but eventually I will have to pay something to get ESPN for football in the Fall.

I like the movie selections on the IPTV, but still no Cocaine Bear yet.

I talked to my friend about it, and he said he uses something else for movies, and he can hook me up. I said no thanks, I am trying to save money, and I am happy with what I have for less than a month for an entire year, than what I used to pay every month.

This thread has been very helpful for me, thank you!

I do love the IPTV stuff, but if someday that were to go away, I would just use my antenna, and do without shows that are not over the air for free.

I would think that advertising companies would want their shows on networks that show commercials anyway, instead of limited to pay sites.

I would never pay more money to watch shows without commercials. I need breaks anyway.

If I ever miss a college football game or NFL game, it is no big deal, I can look the score up anytime I want on the internet.

I am not paying a dime more than I am now ever again, which is 7 bucks a month.

It can be a pain in the ass, but well worth the savings for me anyway.

I would have said HELL NO!

I still have Comcast for internet, and I guess internet is needed anyway for streaming, but I have to have internet for my small business anyway.

I am lucky that they have a store about 5 miles away, so any time I have an issue, I go there, instead of calling on the phone.

They do accept tips, so keep that in mind.

If anything ever happens to IPTV, I am very glad my antenna picks up a whole lot of channels, and I am also glad for Pluto TV.

I really liked Weather Nation on DISH, and that channel is free on Pluto.

No matter what I decide to do in the future, I will never ever pay more than 10 bucks a month for any TV.

I did a splitter and have OTA perfect on more than one.

I stream also, but I have found with local channels a lot of the time OTA is working better.

During football season, all the games that I can get with the antenna, doing that. Just my 2 cents.

I love my antenna, lots of channels, and all are crystal clear.

I do recommend getting a Fire Stick also, plenty of free content there, Pluto TV is great.

I only pay 7 bucks a month for tv now, because I went with one site for NFL games and movies.

As far as a tv guide, I just Google tv listings and get that info for free.

For NFL games, I love when I can watch on antenna, because sometimes streaming does mess up and pause sometimes, gets annoying.

I can put up with some annoying things to save money though.

I wish someday all channels would just go to antenna, they make plenty of money with ads anyway. I would still pay a few bucks to watch more movies though. So far this year we have watched over 170 movies with the streaming service.

No Cocaine Bear yet, and not paying more for another service just to watch that.

I just Google "tv listings" to see what is on.

I miss that feature with cable and dish, but not paying them a cent ever again.

For sure get a Firestick, plenty of free stuff to go along with the antenna, and other choices available to spend a tad and get a lot.

For the record here, I have my antenna mounted on top of my storage building out back, around 20 feet above the ground, with 50 feet of cable to the splitter, and 5 feet from the splitter to one tv, and then another 20 feet of cable to the next tv, and I'm all good.

When it is very windy, it messes up a tad, but not bad enough to complain about.

Also, I have the cheapest tv's that HH Gregg used to sell, and they are old. I love free tv.

I'm not having any luck with the digital converter boxes for antenna to tv. They go out every few months.

Been buying them from Wal-Mart, but I have already looked at reviews on Amazon and Best Buy, and same thing.

My antenna is awesome, these converter boxes suck.

Do they make any kind of tv, that can plug the antenna into, and not have to deal with these converter boxes?