Not boating related

My only hesitation is the possibly of losing local/national news & sports (football.).  

Yup, that is the problem, particularly if you tend to care about that type of thing. My brother cut the cable awhile back and now has to go "hunting" to find a place to watch the local college team. Cable TV is still big business so although there are alternatives for movies and some TV shows, they still have a strangle hold on the "live" programming.
 
If you are looking for live tv for free (or very low cost) check out ip tv apps that you can add to a firestick or android box.  For around 20 a month you can stream all the live tv you want.....like a hopped up version of sling tv.
 
If you are looking for live tv for free (or very low cost) check out ip tv apps that you can add to a firestick or android box.  For around 20 a month you can stream all the live tv you want.....like a hopped up version of sling tv.

Interesting. How do you operate something like that?
 
We are cord cutters at our cottage.  We have wifi, so we have worked some of our T.V. entertainment around that.  For just over the air digetal signals, you don't need wifi, just a digetal antennae.  IF you are maintaining wifi, here is a lot more options.


For local and normal broadcast stations we went with this item:


Amazon 50 mile indoor digital T.V. Antennae:


https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Ultra-Thin-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B01IN26Z5A/ref=zg_bs_172665_19?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZP05RJQ9W7J8Q67KFK17


In Northern Michigan, away from all major cities, we pull in 20 stations with this baby...including 2 different CBS, NBC, and PBS stations, as well as 1 each ABC and Fox.  Then there are 12 other various speciality stations that we don't pay any attention to.  This doesn't require ANY wifi, subscriptions, etc...  Nothing else but the cost of the antennae, which is less than $30 in a one time purchase!


Here is the FCC website to check for what free over the air digetal signals you would get based on entering in your address (it will list out every station within range, and list them in order of expected FCC signal strength at your address):


https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps


For movies and such, we did the following and tied it into the pre-existing cable and streaming services we already subscribe to at home, and the Charter wifi service we subscribe to at our cottage:


Roku streaming sticks (Roku offers the most stations of any streaming devices on the market currently):


http://www.bestbuy.com/site/roku-streaming-stick-2016-model-black/4858200.p?skuId=4858200


We bought both types of items over the holidays on sale for $60 total with sales.  As priced above, about $78+tax per T.V.


From there, you could enhance the level of stations available with things like Netflix, or Hulu, Amazon Prime, CBS All Access, etc...  Just a matter of how extensive you want to be.


I was honestly shocked at how many stations we pull in with our cheap indoor Amazon digital antennae.  I have honestly contemplated cutting the cord at our actual house as a result of this.


Then via a few subscritions, some we already have such as Netflix, we could be pretty well covered for movies.  Anyway, my point is, there are some fantastic and long term affordable options out there.  Local stations free...streaming services needing wifi offering combinations of free and subscription based streaming services.


I might just repost all of this into another thread as a one stop spot for wire cutting options in a thread...
 
We are cord cutters at our cottage.  We have wifi, so we have worked some of our T.V. entertainment around that.  For just over the air digetal signals, you don't need wifi, just a digetal antennae.  IF you are maintaining wifi, here is a lot more options.


For local and normal broadcast stations we went with this item:


Amazon 50 mile indoor digital T.V. Antennae:


https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Ultra-Thin-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B01IN26Z5A/ref=zg_bs_172665_19?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZP05RJQ9W7J8Q67KFK17


In Northern Michigan, away from all major cities, we pull in 20 stations with this baby...including 2 different CBS, NBC, and PBS stations, as well as 1 each ABC and Fox.  Then there are 12 other various speciality stations that we don't pay any attention to.  This doesn't require ANY wifi, subscriptions, etc...  Nothing else but the cost of the antennae, which is less than $30 in a one time purchase!

Hey, thanks for the tip. We're down the street from you but only get three channels (NBC, ABC & PBS). Guess it's time for a different antenna!
 
Hey, thanks for the tip. We're down the street from you but only get three channels (NBC, ABC & PBS). Guess it's time for a different antenna!

Not sure if this will help, but when we first hooked up, we only brought in a small handful of stations.  Here is what helped increase it to 20 stations: 


1- We returned the 10-30 mile range antenae we first purchased and instead got a 50 mile range antenae (50 miles even though its still an indoor antennae - crazy).  The one I list above is the generic "Amazon" brand one, pulls in an amazing range of stations, 50 mile range, and under $30 bucks...win/win.


2 - This antennae has an amplifier, but when we use that (which in theory should extend its range) we get fewer stations - something like 3-8 depending on the weather.  I did some research, and amplifiers can sometimes cause signal interference and reduce station reception.  


Thus, if you currently have an antenae with an amplifier, try disconnecting it and see if that does the trick.  If not, get one rated for 50 mile range and don't use its amplifier...perhaps try the one we have.  It is economical, and really pulls in the stations for us on Houghton Lake.
 
New one on its way from Amazon! I'll let you know how it works.
 
Great!  I hope it works as well for you.  Side note...just read your entire signature.  The ending is fantastic! "...and other fascinating options chosen by my dealer."  
 
Beside the constant price increases ,and outages .Poor customer service 

Yeah your right. We have been known to call them up and bitch about it going up and end up getting some kind of discount for another year. Then the same process......
 
Great!  I hope it works as well for you.  Side note...just read your entire signature.  The ending is fantastic! "...and other fascinating options chosen by my dealer."  

That's what you get when you buy off the lot. LOL
 
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