> Is there any TV still available “over the air”. In other words, if you still have an old analog TV, is there some kind of antenna that pulls in anything, without having cable, dish, etc? Just curious.
Yes, emphatically yes! I quit satellite a year or two ago. There are more digital channels over the air than there used to be analog channels. You need a digital tv to see them, of course — which, I believe, all tvs are now — or an analog tv with a digital converter box.
I have an old indoor powered antenna, rabbit ears (about $20 or $30), and am near Columbia, SC, a medium-sized city. (A non-powered antenna wasn’t good enough.) I receive free — supported by advertising — over-the-air hd transmissions of NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, three educational channels (including PBS), two retro or vintage channels (old tv shows), a couple of old movie channels, a Spanish-language channel, a programming-for-blacks channel, several weather channels, and a religious channel (and maybe some more — I don’t have them all enabled on my tv). Also, I find many tv shows and old movies on the net.
The main thing I miss is access to some of the ESPN broadcasts. Through my ISP I can see ESPN2 and ESPN3, but I can’t see ESPN broadcasts live, only later in rebroadcasts on ESPN3. On the whole, though, I’m pleased with what’s available. It’s nice not having to pay monthly bills for cable or satellite.
https://archive.org/details/classic_tv
http://www.tvland.com/full-episodes
http://www.youtube.com/channel/SBpcHF0FYOb_k (Fawlty Towers!)
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv-shows.htm (beware pop up ads)
http://www.nbc.com/classic-tv/