Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Why is Antenna TV Thriving in the Age of Netflix?
PrimeTimer ^ | 1/27/2021 | AARON BARNHART

Posted on 03/16/2021 7:56:37 AM PDT by Republican Wildcat

... Antenna TV is, in fact, the name of a TV channel. It’s just one in a group of quietly successful channels that include MeTV, ThisTV, SmileTV, Laff, Grit, Bounce, Comet, Decades, and more. These are channels fueled by nostalgia for TV from the era when theme songs were a minute long and black-and-white wasn’t just an effect. A time when Johnny Carson was the king of the night and Murphy Brown was a household name. Best of all, you don’t need a subscription to watch — as the name suggests, all you need is an antenna and a TV.

You may not have noticed them on your TV dial because, for many of us, “the TV dial” is an increasingly irrelevant concept. TV is what you watch on tablets and phones and Fire sticks and Rokus.

...

The first time people saw Antenna TV was probably when their cable provider tacked it onto the grid, way down there in the 800s. (Seeing Johnny Carson in his plaid Nixon-era suits does get your attention.) Once viewers began cutting the cord, their CNN and MTV went away, but the window wire kept the NBC, ABC, and CBS signals coming in… along with MeTV, Bounce, Antenna TV and the rest. New multicast channels kept coming online, backed by the biggest names in local television. Your rabbit ears can pick up more channels today than your cable company offered 25 years ago. According to one ratings report, ThisTV — an all-movies channel backed by MGM and Nexstar — would be the eighth most-watched cable channel in America, except you don't need cable to watch it, which is why ThisTV is available in 88 million homes, more than ESPN.

(Excerpt) Read more at primetimer.com ...


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: antenna; antennatv; bounce; cancelnetflix; comet; decades; freetv; grit; laff; metv; netflix; smiletv; streaming; television; thistv
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-100 next last

1 posted on 03/16/2021 7:56:37 AM PDT by Republican Wildcat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Republican Wildcat

Obviously these folks have no problem with the rampant BS on nutzflix.


2 posted on 03/16/2021 7:58:10 AM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rktman

“Obviously these folks have no problem with the rampant BS on nutzflix.”
We call it gayflix.


3 posted on 03/16/2021 7:59:23 AM PDT by Da Coyote
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Republican Wildcat

I am an avid watcher of all flavors of Antenna TV.

Get some 45 off-air-channels north of Tampa here.

Cut the cable and satellite some 10 years ago.


4 posted on 03/16/2021 7:59:30 AM PDT by George from New England
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Wildcat

It is popular because of nostalgia for old TV shows, compared to some of the dreck on modern TV. And you can’t beat the price.,,


5 posted on 03/16/2021 8:00:15 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Wildcat

I would need a 5,000ft antenna to get reception at my house. Anyway I have drastically reduced watching the TV. It’s all bad news. I’m basically watching YouTube. I watch what I want to see...the TRUTH.


6 posted on 03/16/2021 8:00:32 AM PDT by HighSierra5
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Wildcat

Does anyone know if the latest “window wire” devices have improved in the last 6 or so years?


7 posted on 03/16/2021 8:00:51 AM PDT by Avalon Memories (Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HighSierra5

“I watch what I want to see...the TRUTH.”

And big brother thanks you. And oh, didn’t we tell you, we know you are watching and exactly what you watch and when. Everything streamed is now tracked, no need for Nielsen, its part of the bundle when you stream. NSA gets your viewing habit info too.

Try a hot air balloon to hoist your antenna. Time it for the hour you really want to see !


8 posted on 03/16/2021 8:03:57 AM PDT by George from New England
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Republican Wildcat

Not many channels here but the Spanish channel and springer channel seem popular. I could get Baton Rouge on antenna from 1400 miles away and since the government assassinated am TV I only get a couple channels.


9 posted on 03/16/2021 8:07:09 AM PDT by mountainlion (Live well for those that did not make it back.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Wildcat

Price surely has something to do with it,too. I have a very low grade selection of channels which is nowhere near the price I pay through Dish Network. Much of it is just plain junk or reruns. Maybe more channels being received on antenna will force cable & other networks to do something about their outrageous prices.


10 posted on 03/16/2021 8:10:10 AM PDT by oldtech
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Avalon Memories

I picked up an antenna at Walmart that mounts on my roof. I can get dozens of channels, including MeTV, AntennaTV and several others. While I still pay for cable in order to get the baseball games, I watch more over-the-air broadcasting than any other channels.


11 posted on 03/16/2021 8:13:20 AM PDT by Repealthe17thAmendment
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: HighSierra5
I would need a 5,000ft antenna to get reception at my house.

Given your screen name, I would expect that you'd need to dig a hole to get your antenna to 5000'.

12 posted on 03/16/2021 8:13:28 AM PDT by PAR35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: HighSierra5

Or a pizza sized dish...................


13 posted on 03/16/2021 8:15:28 AM PDT by Red Badger ("We've always been at war with Climate Change, Winston."..............................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: George from New England

I dumped TV in 1997. Until we discovered a couple of years ago that Amazon Prime gave us free streaming on our smart TV, all we did was DVD’s and Blue Ray. Now we’re pretty much exclusively streaming from Amazon, Netflix and Hulu, the latter two on our kids’ accounts.

My wife has Fixer Upper, Last Man Standing or Gilmore Girls going on in the background pretty much constantly.

I love getting some movies and enjoyed the first three seasons of The Expanse, the “classic albums” documentaries and other stuff. I’ve gotten so spoiled that when we go to my in-laws in Chicago - who only do cable TV - It’s impossible to bother because I’m stuck to only watching “what’s on, right now”. It’s like going back to the 20th century.


14 posted on 03/16/2021 8:17:25 AM PDT by cuban leaf (We killed our economy and damaged our culture. In 2021 we will pine for the salad days of 2020.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: George from New England

I am in central Florida and my parents cut the cable and I put up a antenna and they get a bunch of channels, of course some are shopping channels and spanish speaking but they are getting all there locals and one that shows old westerns all day and night. My dad is loving it.


15 posted on 03/16/2021 8:17:55 AM PDT by glimmerman70
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: rktman

I just ignore the junk. And yeah, there is a lot of it.


16 posted on 03/16/2021 8:18:29 AM PDT by cuban leaf (We killed our economy and damaged our culture. In 2021 we will pine for the salad days of 2020.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Republican Wildcat

I be a pirate.


17 posted on 03/16/2021 8:18:33 AM PDT by Leep (Save America. Lock down Joe Biden!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: George from New England

Over 80 channels here. Of course, if you cut out the Spanish, Vietnamese, and shopping channels, you end up with about half of that. The only one I can’t get broadcasts on a VHF frequency, but they offer their main channel on another broadcaster’s UHF subchannel. So I only miss out on their 3 subchannels.


18 posted on 03/16/2021 8:19:06 AM PDT by PAR35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Republican Wildcat

Older programs are not as filled with leftist agenda.

Too much of the ‘modern’ programming is social agenda lecturing and tear-jerking.


19 posted on 03/16/2021 8:20:03 AM PDT by TomGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Avalon Memories

Antenna technology, is science, electronics, and engineering reality. Buy a real one not a dinky window wire that promises the moon and delivers very little.

Depending on your distance from the source, and what physical features are between you and the source will determine the size and type of antenna needed for reception.

There is no cheat code.


20 posted on 03/16/2021 8:21:13 AM PDT by wita (Always and forever, under oath in defense of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-100 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson