If you have followed the news over the past several months, then you are probably aware of the shifting streaming video and TV broadcast service provider landscapes. There is, however, a cost-friendly solution available to consumers that has evolved to stay technologically relevant: OTA (over the air) broadcast media antennas.
Yes—old-school broadcast—the format that many grew up on; rabbit ears and the “big three networks of CBS, ABC and NBC.
Providing a brief overview of the pay TV broadcast landscape, over the past couple of years, large service providers, including Dish, Comcast, and DirecTV, have gone through a series of carriage disputes with media companies such as Cox Media Group, Tegna, and Altitude. These disputes have led to channel blackouts that include many regional sports networks (RSNs), as well as affiliate stations for broadcasters that include NBC, CBS, and Fox.
Ultimately, these disputes leave consumers in the lurch, unable to watch their favorite shows and sports teams because these media companies don’t have a grasp on the current state of home entertainment where service providers are shedding subscribers as consumer increase their streaming media consumption, and the service providers are fighting to maintain their subscription bases, which means holding the line on subscription costs.
Laying out just how bad it’s been for service providers, Nexttv.com reports that Comcast lost 543,000 paid TV subscribers during the second quarter (Q2) of 2023. Meanwhile, Charter, the story continues lost 241,000 during the first quarter (Q1) of 2023.
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Citing the broadcast TV subscription losses more succinctly for Q2 2023, Leichtman Research Group, Inc., states major pay TV service provides lost approximately 1.7 million subscribers during the period.
Streaming Media Popularity Wavers
During the pandemic streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ were major sources of entertainment for millions of consumers through shows like The Queen’s Gambit, The Boys, The Mandalorian, and Tiger King.
That was three years ago however, and throughout the summer and fall of 2023 the major news surrounding the streaming services related to rate hikes and account sharing. As a result of these trends within the streaming market churn rates have increased with users subscribing and then dumping streaming services at a higher rate than ever before.
Back in August 2023 Yahoo Finance reported data from Antenna that found U.S. subscriber churn has increased reached a figure of 6% in July 2023, which is 1.3% than the same month the previous year.
Reporting the Antenna data per streaming service, the Yahoo Finance story says Netflix’s churn rate lessened just a little bit from 3.1% to 3.0 in these comparisons, while Apple TV+ experienced an increase from 5.5% to 6.4%; Disney+’s churn rate increased from 4.0% to 4.6%, while Hulu, Max, and Peacock’s churn rates respectively increased by 0.8%, 1.1, and 1.5%, according to the story.
What do these churn rates mean in the grand scheme of home entertainment … it means that people are less satisfied with the overall value these services provide and the increasing subscription rates are motivating users to find alternative entertainment sources.
OTA Broadcast Comes Full Circle
Unlike the days of rabbit ears, modern OTA broadcast TV is experiencing a renaissance. While not at the level of say vinyl and analog audio, NextGen TV has been actively promoting the benefits of broadcast TV’s newest format: ATSC 3.0. Next Gen TV broadcasts are available in many locations, including large metropolitan markets such as Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Seattle.
The format provides amenities such as 4K HDR video, as well as immersive audio capabilities, and interactive content options. According to NextGen TV, ATSC 3.0 content is available in more than 80% of the U.S., and top television manufacturers such as Sony, Samsung, LG, and Hisense incorporate products with built-in tuners that are compatible with the format.
Helping dealers and homeowners to maximize the ability to receive NextGen TV signals, the organization includes a link to The Free TV Project.org website. This site helps users find the best OTA broadcast antenna for their situation, and it provides information on items such as getting the best ATSC 3.0 signal.
Experiencing Modern Broadcast Television
For many of the reasons discussed earlier, I like millions of other Americans have been affected by the carriage disputes between media companies and service providers. In my case I am a Dish customer and, in my area, the major broadcaster that I no longer have access to is Fox. As a sports fan this means I cannot watch Fox’s broadcast of college and NFL football, which has become an increasingly frustrating situation.
Deciding that I’ve had enough I made the decision to purchase an OTA broadcast antenna and bypass the entire Fox access situation. Going to the website Antennasdirect.com, I found a search bar that allows site visitors to find antenna recommendations based on simply typing your zip code in to facilitate a search.
After I typed my zip code into the search bar I clicked on the “Learning Center” feature at the top of the website’s title bar. Once I found my city—Boston—I was able to see all of the OTA broadcast channels available to me, including the local Fox affiliate. Digging into more of the resources located on the website under the “Learning Center” in the title bar, I click on “transmitter locator” and a new dialog box pops up and asks for my zip code. I type in my zip code again and then click, “view channels.” This time the list of available channels are accompanied by the distance I am from the broadcast transmitter.
According to the website the Fox affiliate is just over 33 miles away. So, I order the ClearStream Flex model indoor antenna.
Arriving less than a week later in a medium size, but light box, I quickly unpacked the antenna. Making the simple connections—all I needed to do was to connect the RG59 cable with threaded termination to the antenna and then to my Sony 4K television, which I believe is a 2022 model. Because the OTA broadcast antenna includes a built-in amplifier, it also includes a USB connector that I plugged into the TV to power the amplifier. Finishing the installation, I simply used some thumb tacks to hang the lightweight antenna on my wall above the television.
Turning the TV, I went into the Sony menu system to begin the channel scan. Taking about 10 minutes, the scan was completed, but only a handful of channels came up. Initiating the scan for a second time, it again took about 10 minutes and this time my “channel” input on the Sony TV was populated with many more OTA broadcast stations.
Running through the stations, I immediately noticed that there were several channels that were not coming in, but the stations that I was receiving looked exceptional. OTA reception delivers improved clarity and resolution over cable and satellite signals. I also noticed several channels that I was not receiving from service providers such as Me TV, Story Television, Fave TV, and Cozi TV.
Unfortunately, my biggest goal with the antenna was to receive signals from my local Fox affiliate and those signals at least with this antenna are volatile when the weather is unsettled. Looking at the reasons for this problem, I did more research and according to an app I found on the Apple App Store called TV Antenna Compass USA, the Fox antenna is just over 50 miles from my location. This differs from the Antennas Direct information, which says the Fox antenna is just over 30 miles away. The antenna I purchased is rated for 50 miles, and my conclusion is that I am on the edge of the antenna’s reception capabilities and stormy weather can interfere with my signal reception.
Now, after having gone through the experience of adding an antenna to my home, here are my takeaways with the process: Adding an antenna to a home entertainment system without question saves users money and the investment can payoff quickly. An OTA antenna can solve the issue of getting caught in these increasingly more frequent carriage disputes, and it can save users from having to subscribe to yet another streaming service.
Other benefits include the pristine picture quality, and down the road as ATSC and NetGen TV mature, homeowners can look forward to more features being added to the platform. Additionally, as I alluded to earlier, the investment into an antenna is centered on the upfront cost of the antenna, and for outdoor roof-mounted antennas that are more advanced, the cost of installation, which includes the physical installation and pre-installation processes such as the use of signal finders to maximize an antenna’s reception.
In my case, as a DIY installation, it cost me less than $50 because I caught the antenna during a sale, and a few minutes of my time to setup the antenna. As a teaching point for myself, I’ll emphasize that I wish I had done more research prior to buying the OTA antenna to validate the information on the Antennas Direct website, but with that said, I am happy to have the antenna as another means of bringing AV entertainment in my home, and going forward I can easily fix my antenna range issue.
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